[ADMIN] MINI-FAQ for soc.support.aids-hiv+
Brian Mailman
Please address suggestions for this mini-FAQ to the
moderation team, ssah-board at zorch.sf-bay.org (obviously, remove the
spaces, and the "at" is "@.").
For details on our moderation policies and goals of this
Usenet newsgroup, see
ftp://ftp.isc.org/usenet/control/soc/soc.support.aids-hiv+.gz. (link can
be opened in a program like Winzip) although that document is out of
date. As the lawyers say, any differences between those posted and this
are superceded by this one. And always, if there's any question, feel
free to ask at the address provided below. This mini-FAQ may be amended
at any time, it should be reviewed periodically to note any changes.
One change is widening the focus of this group. While
originally intended for support messages only between or for people
infected with HIV, we've opened up the topics allowed to most things
HIV-related from anyone interested in the topic--with the exception of
dissident/denialist posts.
It is assumed that there is a virus, HIV, and it is the
cause of the syndrome called AIDS. It is assumed there are medicines
that can slow progression, although they do have side effects (postings
on alternative/complementary treatments will be allowed).
If someone wishes to post a dissident/denialist message
contravening those assumptions, they are welcome to post in the
unmoderated Usenet newsgroup, misc.health.aids.
The moderation team can be reached by writing to
ssah-board at zorch.sf-bay.org
(obviously, the "at" is a "@" and no spaces)
The current moderators are
Brian Mailman
As traffic increases, I will put out a call for others
interested in moderating this group.
HOW IT ALL WORKS:
The 'Bot:
soc.support.aids-hiv+ is moderated Usenet newsgroup. The
moderation program is referred to as "the 'bot" (short for "robot
moderation").
When you submit a message, the 'bot will examine it for
key words or phrases that may signal a further human review. We are
constantly fine-tuning the 'bot so an occasional spam *will* slip
through. If you are reading this from a server where there is more than
one or two spams a year you may be reading this from a server where the
group is flagged as unmoderated. Please write to the moderators and let
us know.
If you have a replyable address, you'll get an
acknowledgement (an "ack") from the 'bot on how the submission was
processed, if you don't have a replyable address--then unfortunately you
won't receive one. Please provide a way to decode a replyable address
in your submission, so in case it is necessary the team can communicate
with you privately.
Rejections:
If the moderator who processes your message rejects the
message, she or he may or may not provide a personal explanation--which
is not official--in addition (IF there's an easy way to reply), but you
will always be given the main reason in a boilerplate template from the
'bot.
These boilerplates are simply the usual reasons we
reject a message, and are only an approximation, so if you don't
understand what it means, please ask the team.
You will ALWAYS have recourse, whether to question the
reason the moderator gave, or to appeal the rejection outright to the
entire team, whether or not a moderator gives a personal reason.
The rejection notice will give instructions on how to
appeal (write to the team saying why you're appealing, and include the
entire text submitted and the rejection boilerplate. Do note, that if
you do not have a replyable address, you cannot receive notification of
how your message was processed so if you wish followup on why any one
particular message hasn't appeared in the group, you'll have to contact us.
"I Posted and Haven't Seen My Message":
If you make a submission and nothing happens for more
than 48 hours write to us and we'll investigate whether or not the
message was rejected, or there was something wrong with the transmission
of the message. Also, the submission address receives so much spam that
it's possible your message was misclassified.
Posting something will test the 'bot. If it's broken,
the moderation team won't know someone's posting so let us know!
The Moderation Team,
soc.support.aids-hiv+
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For AIDS/HIV+ resources, visit the s.s.a.h+ website at :
http://www.webcom.com/benny/ssah/ssah+.html
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