FAQ
Submitted by dan on Sun, 2008-01-06 12:53.
This is the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) CONTENTS -------- 0.1 ABOUT this FAQ 0.2 Statistics in this FAQ 1.0 Sending a message to the group 1.1 Formating new messages to the group 1.2 Include a signature line in messages to the group 1.5 Replying to messages sent to you 1.6 How to control the 'From' name on sent messages 1.7 Close a thread with a FIX 2.0 Vote In/Create a Poll(Survey) 3.0 To PERMANENTLY stop receiving E-Mail from the group 3.5 To TEMPORARILY stop receiving E-Mail from the group 4.0 How to change subscription mode (Normal or Digest) 4.1 How to change your email address 4.2 How to find a lost password for Yahoo Groups 5.0 Group hosted by: Yahoo 5.1 Archived copies of messages 5.2 Message attachment archiving 5.5 Files area uses 5.6 Photos area uses 6.0 The PTECHS.NET website 6.1 The PTECHS.NET website login 7.0 SPAM from Group 7.1 Group discussion of fees or charges 7.2 Discussions taken outside of group 7.4 None Technical/off topic messages 7.5 Advertisements in messages(Yahoo! Groups Sponsor) 7.7 Virus' and attachments sent in messages * 8.0 How many members are in the group 8.1 How many members are bouncing 8.2 How many members have been removed for bouncing * 8.3 How many members have left group * 8.4 What is the combined years experience of all members * 8.45 What is average percentage of work done on Porsche 8.5 Members list and profiles * 8.6 How many Applications have been denied * 8.61 How many Subscription requests have been rejected * 8.62 How many Applications have been discarded * 8.63 How many pending Applications are there * 8.64 How many pending members are there 8.7 How the minimum requirement to join are set 8.8 How new members are validated * 8.81 Experimental Grading System 8.9 How to invite other Porsche Technicians you know 9.0 Who owns the group 9.5 Private messages to me as the owner of the group 10.0 Does anyone make money from the group 11.0 How can an irritating person be BANNED from the group 901.0 Porsche trademark disputes 911.0 Trademarks * These sections are updated automatically. 0.1 ABOUT this FAQ ( updated 02/23/2008 ) ---------------------- The FAQ is a new dynamic version which is a replacement for the old static version. The Table of Contents now contains hyper links to the various sections. It is updated frequently, and will no longer be stored at Yahoo Groups. It will also no longer be sent to members each month. A link to this FAQ is included in the footer of all messages to/from the group. However, the messages archived do not contain the links configured for the footer as Yahoo strips those out before archiving the messages. Much of this FAQ is edited by hand, but some parts are generated automatically. Membership statistics are dynamically read from the membership database. An online copy can be found at this location. http://www.ptechs.net/faq 0.2 Statistics in this FAQ ( automatically ) The Statistic in the FAQ were last updated on Tue, 06 Jan 2009. The Statistics in this FAQ are updated automatically when specific types of changes occur to the membership database. Additionally, an automated process should update the statistics daily. 1.0 Sending a new message to the group ( Updated 11/02/2008 ) ---------------------- To send a New message to the Group use Porschetechnicians@yahoogroups.com Since it is so long, just add it to you address book. If away from your regular PC(your e-mail account), you can send a message from the http://groups.yahoo.com site by logging in, Click 'POST' next to 'PorscheTechnicians'. You CAN NOT send e-mail to the group from an e-mail address that is not a member of this Group unless you configure an alternative email address at Yahoo! Groups 'My Preferences' page. 1.1 Formating new messages to the group ( Updated 11/08/2008 ) ---------------------- Messages sent to the group should be formatting in a standard predictable way. Several suggestions have been made with a few different variations. This should help to cut down on follow up questions to clarify details about the vehicle in question. Below is a suggested format. Simply copy and paste into a new message. This will be adjusted over time as needed. Not all fields are required, but the author should be careful and pay close attention to what might be needed. (Subject line entry format) Year Model subject/issue(brief) (Message body) VIN: Engine: Mileage: Prod date: Transmission: Misc: Fault codes: HELP TEXT Followed by a proper signature The below email link can be used as a template to help format a message. Porschetechnicians@yahoogroups.com 1.2 Include a signature line in messages to the group ( Updated 02/01/2008 ) ---------------------- It has been suggested members be required to include a signature line that states their name, shops name and contact information in messages sent to the group. This has been suggested several times, and is a good idea. Currently, members can only agree that this format should be a minimum. Full name, (first and last) Company Name Later we may change this minimum to include more info when members can agree more is the minimum. Members should now use the above format as a signature in messages sent to the group. See your email program on how to create a signature. Most email programs allow signatures that can be automatically added to out going messages. For example my ISP's Webmail program adds my signature automatically when an edit window is opened. I can then delete any parts of the signature I wish before sending. If you have difficulty setting this up you can ask the group for help. Member Robert O. will be in charge of policing signatures. 1.5 Replying to messages sent to you ---------------------- To reply to a message sent to you, choose 'Reply' option in your e-mail program. The message you received from the Group will show who the message was from, and will show 'PorscheTechnicians@yahoogroups.com' in the 'To' field. There is also a 'Reply-To' field that will automatically send all replies back to the Group. That means all replies are sent to all members. 1.6 How to control the 'From' name on sent messages ---------------------- The 'From' name on all messages sent FROM the Group is pulled from the message sent TO the Group, NOT from the name used on the groups.yahoo.com registration. This is controlled by Your E-mail programs settings. Your E-mail address will be shown on the e-mail. 1.7 Close a thread with a FIX ( Updated 10/08/2008 ) Post a FIX message once your job is fixed. Add the word FIX to the subject line so it can be easily identified. Be careful to make sure the FIX is posted to the same thread to keep the archives organized. If needed login at yahoo groups to find the original thread. Or better yet, I suggest you keep your original email message to the group in your INBOX until your FIX message is ready. Then send the FIX as a reply to the original message. Keeping the original also will help to remind you a FIX should be sent. 2.0 Vote In/Create a Poll(Survey) ---------------------- Poll, formally called Surveys, are now open so anyone can create one. There are many options on how the Poll is done. It is basically one question with up to 25 single or multiple choices. Results can be hidden or visible during polling. It can be done anonymously or not. Anyway you should get the point, it is versatile. When a Survey is created a message is sent to all members. It will show the question and the possible answers. A hyperlink to the web page to place your vote is also included. You will need to log-in with yahoo user name and password at Yahoo Groups to place your vote. The survey results are also available there. Also previous Poll(surveys) are archived and available for viewing. The New page is at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/polls. If you do not want to create the Poll your self, send your idea to mailto:PorscheTechnicians-owner@yahoogroups.com. 3.0 To PERMANENTLY stop receiving E-mail from the group ---------------------- send a blank message mailto:PorscheTechnicians-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com You can also go to the groups.yahoo.com web site, log in, Click 'PorscheTechnicians', below 'Membership' click 'Unsubscribe', then click 'Unsubscribe' button. If you unsubscribe you will receive a confirmation/good-bye message and instructions on how to re-subscribe. This would require that the application process be done again, so do not do it, if you intend on it only being temporary. See section 'To TEMPORARILY stop receiving Mail from the Group' for a better way. 3.5 To TEMPORARILY stop receiving E-Mail from the group ---------------------- To temporarily stop receiving e-mail from Group, and still be able to read messages at groups.yahoo.com, change subscription option to 'No Mail / Web Only'. To do this, go to the groups.yahoo.com web site, login, On the right side of the 'My Groups' page below 'Delivery Options', Choose 'No Mail / Web Only' from the drop down list, then click 'Save changes' button. You must later undo this to start receiving again. While you can keep your membership/subscription this way, and will be able to send mail in the normal way, this would keep you out of touch with what is going on, so I would suggest you avoid doing that. 4.0 How to change subscription mode (Normal or Digest) ( Updated 10/07/2008 ) ---------------------- To only receive one E-mail a day, typically (Digest mode)... send blank message to mailto:PorscheTechnicians-digest@yahoogroups.com - switch your subscription to digest mode. To change to normal mode, use... mailto:PorscheTechnicians-normal@yahoogroups.com - switch your subscription to normal mode. Digest mode actually sends messages in groups of up to 25. For example, it will send all messages for the previous day in one large message 'Digest'. If there are less then 25, that's what will be sent. If more then 25 exist for the previous day, they will be delivered in separate digest messages containing 25 messages per Digest. Changing to Digest mode can be useful if you are being overload by too much mail from the Group. This does happen now and then, since there is a lot of activity on the Group from time to time. There are a few down sides to digest mode. It also can make replying to posts a bit more complicated as the message will not properly thread in other peoples In-Box, or within the archives. Images sent in a message are not included in the digest. I subscribe to a few Groups, and only one in digest mode. That for me makes sense since in the few years I have only sent a few messages. And that group, is even more active then the Porsche Techs group. For Our Group here I would recommend all of you to use the normal mode, unless you only check your mail once a week. Another point you should consider is, if you are subscribed in digest mode it will be much more difficult for you to help others. 4.1 How to change your email address ---------------------- It is important for you to know that the moderators can NOT change this for you. To change it yourself go here http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/ Click 'Sign In', and enter yahoo id, password, and click 'Sign in'. Click 'Edit Membership' Next to your current email address, Click 'Add new email address'. From 'Add Email Address' page. Enter the email address you would like to use for the PorscheTechnicians group. click on the 'Continue' button. You will be asked to complete email verification. Verification ensures that you are the owner of the email address. Follow the email verification instructions carefully. Once completed your new email address should work. 4.2 How to find a lost password for Yahoo Groups ---------------------- The Yahoo groups password lookup is broken. I reported this to Yahoo long ago. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/, and click 'Forgot your password?'. From there use the box labeled 'Forgot your password?' with the button labeled 'Get NEW Password'. Follow the instruction shown. You can also try the following technique in extreme cases... Go to Yahoo and register for a new ID. At alternate email address put in your *current* email address you are using. Yahoo will tell you that that email has an ID assigned to it. They will ask if you want to transfer all the mail accounts to the new ID. Select the new ID for all the accounts. You should now have access to all the the online features with the new ID and Password. 5.0 Group hosted by: Yahoo ---------------------- There are many things with Yahoo hosting the Group that I have not been happy with. To name a few: Advertisements in messages, some suspicion that SPAMMERS are buying email address' from Yahoo, digital pictures appear to be removed(lost) from the message archives. I have wanted to move the Group to a better server that would not have these problems, and now I have a promising option, and it would not cost anything. I will be doing some testing on it soon and update the FAQ when I have more to report. 5.1 Archived copies of messages ( Updated 11/08/2008 ) ---------------------- Archived copies of old messages are available at Yahoo! Groups, but you must Log-in to access them. The Advanced Search works best and can be found here. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/msearch_adv The Advanced Search allows filtering on multiple criteria. With practice it should work to find what you are looking for. The archives are stored in the standard form. If you have a question or a problem you want a answer to, it is customary to make an attempt to search the archives first before posting a message to the group. This helps avoid long time members from telling you 'The answer is in the archives', or worse simply ignoring the help request, as I have done many times. 5.2 Message attachment archiving ( Updated 12/22/2007 ) ----------------------- Yahoo! Groups will continue to deliver all attachments sent via email, however, the attachments will no longer be archived within the Messages area. You may continue to upload files and images to the Files and Photos areas of your groups. Please re-upload any attachments you would like to preserve to the Photos or Files areas of your group. On Aug. 7, 2003 all attachments in the Messages area will be removed, and Yahoo! will be unable to retrieve such data. 5.5 Files area uses ( Updated 01/06/2008 ) ---------------------- The shared files area at the Yahoo Groups site originally was used for storing the various text files such as 'Application Notice', 'FAQ notice', 'Good_Bye', and 'AppRejct'. They are setup to automatically be sent out when appropriate. Storage capacity is 20mb. Members can now upload their own files. But please, no copy written materials. Anyone found up loading copy written files will have their upload privileges revoked for both Photos and Files. Also, if you have any more ideas on how else we could use this, let me know. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/files/ 5.6 Photos area uses ( Updated 12/30/2007 ) ---------------------- The Photos area is now open for upload and download, and can store up to 100MB. It does require members to log in to view or upload files. So far we have used 1% of the space available. http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/photos 6.0 The PTECHS.NET website ( Updated 01/25/2007 ) ---------------------- The PTECHS.NET domain currently serves as a replacement to the pages previously located at http://www.speakeasy.org/~dleit/ptechs/ In the future we will be able to do things we are not able to do with Yahoo! Groups. This is a better place to refer people to who are interested in learning about the group. Keep an eye open for changes, coming soon. http://www.ptechs.net 6.1 The PTECHS.NET website login ( Updated 01/26/2007 ) ---------------------- Current group members are not yet able to Login at PTECHS.NET, and would not have much to do there if they did. Later additional functionality will be added as we move forward on developing the website. Current members who would like to Login at PTECHS.NET should contact Dan so they can be setup. The user name and password for PTECHS.NET is NOT the same as for Yahoo Groups. The login form is hidden form normal view but can be fouind here. http://www.ptechs.net/user 7.0 SPAM from group ---------------------- SPAM is something I DO NOT EXPECT to see as a problem. Yahoo! Groups system is set up very intelligently just to prevent that sort of a problem. That is mostly why joining to this Group can be so involved. Go to Yahoo! Groups and check out the details. If one of you ever suspect you are getting because of Yahoo! Groups or the Group in general, please let me know. 7.1 Group discussion of fees or charges ( Updated 10/06/2007 ) ---------------------- Many countries have strict legal guidelines regarding group discussion of charges for items or services. For this reason absolutely no group discussion of Fees, Charges, Prices or Labor Rates is allowed on this group. This could be interpreted as 'Price fixing'. Price fixing is an agreement among competitors to charge a certain amount for their services or products or to stabilize prices. Price fixing is considered anti-competitive by the US government and is therefore illegal. Experts generally advise that competitors avoid even the appearance of agreeing on price. It is OK to quote what a published labor guide time states, but not to use the expression 'What we charge'. Although I would prefer the questions were never asked. More info on price fixing can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing 7.2 Discussions taken outside of group ( Updated 10/08/2008 ) ---------------------- When a thread is started INSIDE the group and goes OUTSIDE the group during a phone call, report back to the group what was discussed. Others will want to know too. 7.4 None Technical/off topic messages ( Updated 10/08/2008 ) ---------------------- Messages that are not technical in nature, or off Topic are subject to scrutiny by the moderators. Some topics that are acceptable, or unacceptable may change with time as needs arise. Generally messages should be about repairing Porsche's, and NOT Advertisements. Here are some examples to help clarify. Requests for hard to find parts new or used are acceptable, in moderation. Advertising parts you have and want to sell, are NOT acceptable messages. Messages about a job opening at your shop are acceptable for now. I do not have a problem with this. If others members have a problem with this, I would expect them to tell me about it. 7.5 Advertisements in messages(Yahoo! Groups Sponsor) ---------------------- Ads will be changed to the top of the messages when subscription mode is configure for html, or as before, at bottom when configured for plain text. An option at the Yahoo Groups site controls whether you receive HTML or plain text e-mail. Unfortunately before choosing a specific setting, this defaults to html, so you must log in then make the change to plain text to disable html mail. I changed to plain text because html just slows downloading e-mail. I was planing to eventually pay a fee to Yahoo Groups to stop the Ads at bottom of messages once the Group became much more active, but it really is not(Yet). I do not know how much this costs anymore since I have not checked since the 'eGroups' days. Anyway I really have not been too concerned about it, but now I might have a couple different solutions. First, I got my DSL line, and my New ISP offers hosting mailing lists. The price is about the same $60 per year or so. Secondly, the service I am getting will have 2 static IP's address's and 10mb of Web space, plus much more. The static IP's would allow me to Host a Web site from my home PC. To run the Group should also be possible by using one of the two e-mail address's and using an open source mailing list program. The features would be quite different, but maybe more versatile. Most importantly there would be NO ADVERTISEMENTS and as always FREE. If anyone wants to discuss this, send a message to Me or to the Group if you wish. 7.7 Virus' and attachments sent in messages ( Updated 01/11/2002 ) ----------------------- The on line poll on whether attachments should be allowed has been closed. The poll has shown very little concern from members about receiving email attachments from the Group. Because of this attachments have been turned back on. All of us will need to be responsible for Our own PC's protection from Virus' sent to us from the Group by running Anti-Virus software as needed. The results of the Poll also suggested no one be punished for sending a Virus as an attachment to the Group. For now, we will not establish a written policy on this situation, but we will address this if and when a problem arises. The Poll can be found here http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/surveys?id=988798 * 8.0 How many members are in the group ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There are 103 Members in the Group including those bouncing. See section 8.9 on inviting others you know to join. 8.1 How many members are bouncing ( Updated 12/30/2007 ) ----------------------- There is 1 members who's email is refused by their ISP(messages are bounced back). Yahoo! Groups calls this bouncing. After a few bounces the member is moved from the regular 'Members' list to the 'Bouncing' list. They will stay on the Bouncing list until either the Member does login at Yahoo! Groups and changes that, or a Moderator sends a reactivation request. If a Members email box becomes too full and their ISP rejects new email, this will cause a bounce. If an email account is closed this will also create a bouncing problem. 8.2 How many members have been removed for bouncing ( Updated 01/06/2008 ) ----------------------- There have been 14 members removed by the moderators because e-mail sent to them has been rejected by their ISP for far too long a time. If their mail server reports them as an unknown user they will be quickly removed from the Group. If you plan on changing your e-mail address you need to reconfigure your yahoo group email address setting quickly to prevent being removed from the Group. To rejoin the Group you will need to repeat the process. People who rejoin the group after being removed will make this number go back down. * 8.3 How many members have left group ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There has been 2, and I do not know why. I would expect any member not happy with the group would tell me when something bothers them. Those who return to the group after leaving will cause this number to go back down. * 8.4 What is the combined years experience of all members ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- 2346 years combined experience. This is based off the info returned in the Application. One year is automatically added after a year membership. * 8.45 What is average percentage of work done on Porsche ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- On average members report their work as 75% Porsche. This is calculated as an average among all current members. There are currently 53 members who report their work as at least 90% Porsche. This new statistic was added 12/22/2007 and is updated automatically. 8.5 Members list and profiles ( Updated 01/14/2007 ) ----------------------- A complete list of members can be found at http://www.ptechs.net/members We hope to improve this list so it can be more usefull. The goal would be so members, and the general public, can use it to find a shop from members in the group. All Members should review their Information and submit changes to Dan via email. More info on members can be found in the Yahoo group members profiles here. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PorscheTechnicians/members. You can also set your own profile from that page by selecting the small edit button by your name. There are options to control if your profile is available to others. Check the option 'Display my profile to members of this group' will make it available to only the members of this Group. * 8.6 How many Applications have been denied ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There have been 31 Applications denied. Usually applications are denied for not meeting minimum years of experience and also not currently working as a Tech. Furthermore Applicants working at a business that does not appear to specialize in Porsche work may also be rejected. Applications that are simply unimpressive or do not provide enough justification for acceptance will also be denied. * 8.61 How many Subscription requests have been rejected ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There have been 29 Subscription requests rejected. These are Yahoo Join/subscription requests that did not submit an application. * 8.62 How many Applications have been discarded ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There have been 4 Applications discarded. An Application is discarded when the Application is accepted, but the applicant never follows through with the Yahoo Group Joining. * 8.63 How many pending Applications are there ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There is currently 3 pending applications. These applications are still being reviewed. * 8.64 How many pending members are there ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- There are currently 0 Pending Members. A Pending Member is one whose application has been accepted, yet the Yahoo Groups Join has not completed. 8.7 How the minimum requirement to join are set ----------------------- The minimum requirement are shown in the Updated online Application which is now fully enabled and can be found here at http://www.dlworld.com/ptechs/application.php I am open to suggestion, so If you guys want to change the minimum requirements, let me know. The 'Application Notice' sent out with a subscription request is changed to simply point to the online application. 8.8 How new members are validated ( Updated 12/08/2007 ) ----------------------- Validating New members has been a problem over time, and only seems to get more difficult as the group grows. A small committee of two has been formed to share the duty of evaluating applications. A few other members have shown some interest in helping, and we plan to expand the committee to at least three. * 8.81 Experimental Grading System ( Updated Automatically ) ----------------------- I am experimenting with a grading system for members. Each member will be given a grade based on a few factors. Those factors will be explained later. In the short term I only expect to use these for listing the total count for each grade. See below. Currently Grade counts. Grade A members=60 Grade B members=24 Grade C members=33 8.9 How to invite other Porsche Technicians you know ( Updated 12/08/2007 ) ----------------------- Tell them to go here 'http://www.dlworld.com/ptechs/'. They should also use your name in the 'Who referred you' field when filling the application. We will probably contact you for confirmation when your name is used. The Application processing is currently disabled in order to catch up on the current backlog of Pending Applications. Additionally the Application system is being improved in several ways. 9.0 Who owns the group ----------------------- My name is Dan Leitner, and I am a Porsche Technician. 9.5 Private messages to me as the owner of the group ----------------------- Private messages to me as the Owner can be sent mailto:PorscheTechnicians-owner@yahoogroups.com If a question you have is not answered here, I want to know about it. 10.0 Does anyone make money from the group ----------------------- Yahoo! Groups makes money by selling the small ads at the bottom of each message coming from the group, and from banner ads at the Yahoo! Groups web site. The Owner of the group does not make any money directly from the group. He only makes money by repairing Porsche's. 11.0 How can an irritating person be BANNED from the group --------------------- This never happened, and no one has even come close to being banned. Not that I suspect it will be a common thing, but I thought I might make it clear, it is a possibility. So do not be too up-tight about what you say in messages. I do not want to make everyone over cautious when sending their thoughts, and discourage lively discussions. Just relax. This is supposed to be a place we feel comfortable with voicing our opinions. To Ban someone, who is not welcome, from the group. Send a private message to the owner requesting they be BANNED. If enough people request a BAN, the user will be BANNED. The BAN can be made temporary or Permanent. I really do want this to be a Democracy. If enough people asked for ME to be Banned, I would even do that. mailto:PorscheTechnicians-owner@yahoogroups.com 901.0 Porsche trademark disputes --------------------- Since Porsche, by law, is required to self impose enforcement of trademark infringements, they may quickly jump on Me as the owner of the group and demand the trademark names not be used. Since they most likely will see this message here at some point, I will state my position clearly in plain English. I would like to discuss the issues of how the name 'Porsche' is used. Just like an article written in a Newspaper story, or an advertisement for a used car, I believe the name is being used in the same fashion as it would be used in any personal correspondence between any 2 or more individuals. This is simply free speech. No money is being made from its use. I do not think it makes any sense to complicate the Technicians sources of technical info by interfering with how this Group operates. If Porsche wants to take over control of the group from me, and the members vote in favor of that, I will quickly comply. I would not expect any money or compensation from Porsche for the group. 911.0 Trademarks -------------------- Porsche, the Porsche marquee, Carrera, Targa, Boxster, Cayenne, Cayman, Tiptronic and Tequipment are registered trademarks of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. faq.php was last modified: January 06 2009 23:11:08.
