Launched in September 1999, the Ciderspace mailing list primarily allows Yeovil Town fans to exchange information about the ongoing activities at the football club, and to give their opinions on what is going on around the club.

It has been set up to compliment the successful Web-based Fans Forum. Whereas the Fans Forum allows for more spontaneous postings, and greater banter with opposition fans, the Ciderspace mailing list is more likely to appeal to those who use the Internet less frequently, or want to join in the discussions, but not at the expense of their phone bill.

If you've not been on a mailing list before, its operation is simple. When a member of the mailing list sends a message, they send it to a single e-mail address, but the contents of the message go to all of the other members of the mailing list. They consequently have an opportunity to reply, or to start up their own conversation.

If you really don't log on very often at all (less than once a day) and that speed of information is not critical to you, you can subscribe to the list in "digest" mode, which allows you to receive "batched up" compilations of the days messages. The advantage is that your mailbox may be less cluttered; the disadvantage is that you may have to wait up to 24 hours to read what others have been talking about.

An alternative compromise to "digest" mode is to use filtering as part of your mail reader. This can be done because every message to the list is identified by having "[yeoviltownfc]" cleverly inserted into the subject title by the mailing list program. Therefore if you use something like MS Outlook, you can use the In-Box assistant to filter messages into a separate folder, so that it doesn't interfere with your other mail. Rather handy if you are at work, and don't want your boss to see all those Yeovil Town e-mails popping in one-by-one!

The mailing list is hosted by YahooGroups and the Ciderspace mailing list is called yeoviltownfc. There you can find all the details you need about how to subscribe and unsubscribe and generally how to manage your subscription, including switching to and from digest mode.

Note that to manage your YahooGroups account from their Internet site you will need to create yourself a Yahoo Mail Account. You do not have to use this account to receive mail from the mailing list - you can subscribe with any valid email address.

You can also skip the whole Yahoo account subscription thing by contacting the list administrators directly, or by sending emails to the addresses shown below. The only downside to this is that you can't manage your own account - you have to get Ciderspace to do it for you. But we're nice people, so if Internet access is generally a problem for you, take note of the email addresses below.

The four most important e-mail addresses for the Ciderspace mailing list are as follows:

[email protected] : Subscribes you to the list
[email protected] : Unsubscribes you from the list
[email protected] : Posts a message to the list
[email protected] : Sends a message to the list owners

1. If you have any questions about the list or its running, you can contact the people who look after the list by sending a message to the list owners. Generally this will be Jon, HHH and Badger, but use that address or the Ciderspace mailing address in case one of us is in the pub and doesn't come out. Contact us if you've got stuck trying to subscribe or unsubscribe - please don't mail the list with your request. The list owners can subscribe and unsubscribe people as requested, so if you're feeling lazy then drop us a line.

2. If you are entirely new to the list, and don't know anyone on the list, have a quick read of some of the digests that are archived on YahooGroups in the yeoviltownfc section. These archives are only available for members though. Once you've done that, how about introducing yourself ?

3. To reply to a message, just hit your reply-to button. You'll find that the address for the mailing list is already filled in for you. Try to get rid of any unnecessary text, particularly advert banners, that may exist from the original message, as this will make your post easier to read for others.

4. The main topic of conversation is that of Yeovil Town Football Club. However, postings relating to other Third Division clubs, local rivals, major sporting events, West Country culture etc will be tolerated as long as it doesn't take over the main focus of the list. This is not a hard-and-fast rule ...... just use your brain over what you think is sensible.

5. If you disagree with someone's viewpoint, then state your own view. However, please do not ridicule or insult that person for their views. Everyone has got an opinion and no-one is right or wrong! You'll gain far more credibility if you don't put people down, even if you are having difficulty in seeing their point of view.

6. Don't be afraid to post!! If you are sat on an idea or an opinion, or your morning newspaper has a news story that no-one seems to have noticed, then share it with everyone!

7. Stay clear of extreme foul language. We've registered this list with YahooGroups as being "Safe For Kids" so we don't want angry parents bashing on the doors of Ciderspace Towers! If you want to use such words for effect then don't put them in the subject title at all, and make good use of the "*" key!

8. Don't get too stressed out by the rules! Most of it is common sense, and the rest you will pick up by what others are doing.

9. Finally, if it don't make sense, then drop us a line!