H-Net Help - Editor's Questions
- Profile
- Training
- Messages/Posting
- LISTERV & List Management
- Network Webpage Management
- Using Mailers
- Review Processing and Publication
- Job Guide
Q. How can I update my profile?
A: Visit: http://www.h-net.org/people/update/
Q. What if I forgot my password for logging into H-Net pages like my profile or Reviews Management?
A: Visit: http://www.h-net.org/people/update/ and click on “forgot password.” This will send an e-mail to the address listed in your profile.
Q. What if I forgot my password and no longer have access to the e-mail account listed in my profile?
A: Write to help@mail.h-net.msu.edu. Someone should reply within 48 business hours.
Q. I created a profile but it does not appear on my list’s homepage. What should I do?
A: Your profile is probably waiting to be approved by a staff member. Contact help@mail.h-net.msu.edu for further assistance.
Q. How long is a training session?
A: The training session takes place over a two day period.
Q. How long does training take each day?
A: Each list editor training day takes about 1-2 hours each depending on how familiar you are with e-mail and LISTSERV. The review editor training can take a little longer because it involves actually reading and editing reviews.
Q. Do I have to work on the training at a particular time each day?
A: No, the training is done completely online and can be done at anytime throughout the day. This includes times outside of normal work hours.
Q. Do I have to go through the training?
A: H-Net training is required for all editors who will have access to list settings and subscribers via listserv or will be handling reviews, before they can assume their duties.
Q. Do I have to repeat the training before every turn at editing?
A: No, however if you feel that you need a refresher course please contact the trainer trainer@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. Do I need both list editor and review editor training?
A: You need list editor training if you are going to be listed in the list's header or performing list editor duties. You need the review editor training if you are going to be handling reviews for your list. If your duties fall into both categories then you will need both types of training.
Q. How do I sign up for a training session?
A: See the training calendar to log in for a session. Contact the trainer if you have problems logging in trainer@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. Why won't the training calendar let me login?
A: To log into the calendar you will need to make a calendar profile. To do this login with matrixAdd and matrix as your username and password. Once you have created your profile login with your personal username and follow the instructions to sign up for a training session. Contact the trainer if you have problems logging in trainer@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. Why do I have to confirm my postings?
A: Viruses can forge e-mail addresses and spam your subscribers. The confirm setting allows you to verify your post to make sure it was intended to be sent from you and it also gives you one last chance to edit it.
Q. I don't receive confirm messages for my post so it is never posted, what do I do?
A: It is possible your mail server or your mailer's spam filter is moving confirmations for posts out of your site. You may want to check your junk mail or related folders for these misdirects or talk to your mail systems administrator. If your service provider is running anti-spam software on its network, it is possible that the confirmations are being trapped there. You will need to contact your service provider and ask them to white list H-Net e-mails. If they have questions that need to be answered by H-Net have them contact help@mail.h-net.msu.edu or call 517-432-5134.
It is also possible that our server is temporarily slow do to high traffic and it may take some time to receive a confirm message.
Q. My posts look funny. How do I fix them?
A: Set your mailer to send plain text/ascii, 72 character wrap, and no indents. You can also refer to our mailer help section.
Q. How do I keep the original author and subject displayed in a message posting?
A: Editors need to edit the header information down to the From, Subject and Date lines. Some mailers will automatically generate these 3 lines when forwarding to the list, but others (like TWIG) need them typed or pasted in. The message should be formatted to look like the following at the top of your message:
From: Marcy Brown
Subject: Anglican Doctrine in the late 17th Century
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 14:31:04 -0500
[Insert body of message here]
The from List Editor and Editor's Subject lines will automatically be created by LISTSERV so do not add them.
Q. Why do I need to change the ‘from’ line of my list postings to the author’s name?
A: This is so the logs will be searchable by the author’s name. If all the posts were listed as from the list editor the search function would not be useful.
Q. Why do I need to create a subject line for the postings to my list or change generic subject lines (i.e. query) to something more specific.
A: This is necessary so that the search by subject function for the logs will be more accurate.
Q. My digest subscribers are complaining that their digests are not readable. How can I fix this?
A: Visit the List Management Center, login, and click 'edit subscription settings.' Find the subscriber and choose 'MIME Digest' for his settings. If this does not help contact help@mail.h-net.msu.edu for more options.
LISTSERV & List Management
Q. How do I update my subscriber survey/questionnaire?
A: Send the updated survey to webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
Q. I cannot login to List Management Admin, what do I do?
A: Make sure to create a password for the email address you are logging in with. Click where it says "CLICK HERE to get a LISTSERV password." The email address you enter must match the one that is listed as owner in your list header in order to gain access. We do not keep records of LISTSERV passwords. So if you forget yours you will need to create a new one following the above steps.
Q. How do I change the e-mail address that receives subscription requests?
A: Send a note with the updated e-mail address and list name to webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. How do I update my welcome letter?
A: Send the updated welcome letter to webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. How do I update the list of editors and advisory board members that appears on the list's webpage?
A: Editors and Advisory Board members who are not listed in our database should visit: http://www.h-net.org/people/editors/submit.cgi to fill out a profile. Once they have filled out the application send notification to help@mail.h-net.msu.edu. After verification, they will be visible on our pages.
If your editors and board members page is not automatically generated by the editors directory then you will need to contact your web editor or webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu to perform your update.
Q. How do I update the links on my webpage?
A: Contact your web editor or send a request to webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
Q. Who should I contact with questions?
A: Visit our Contact Page for details.
Q. If I want to edit a message after I see the confirmation from listserv, what do I do?
A: If you do nothing, the message will simply expire and not be sent. Re-post your edited message as a new message.
Q. How do I format links so that they will work on the web logs?
A: Long URLS can be troublesome. Usually if you use a space or a carriage return after an address it will link properly in the web logs.
Q. Listserv refers to me with old information or "No Name Available" when I post or certain commands are performed. How do I update this?
A: Send an e-mail to listserv@h-net.msu.edu (FROM the e-mail address that is showing old information) with only the following text at the top of the body of your message (no subject needed):
register Firstname Lastname Affiliation
Or
Sign onto the List Management Center, sign in, and select command from the list management drop down menu, type ‘register firstname lastname affiliation’ into the command box
Q. How do I unlock the list header?
A: Send an e-mail to listserv@h-net.msu.edu with only the following text at the top of the body of your message (no subject needed):
unlock listname
Or
Sign onto the List Management Center, login, and select command from the list management drop down menu, type ‘unlock listname’ into the command box
Q. How do I edit the list header?
A: Visit List Management Admin (requires login setup) and click 'list configuration' then ‘manual configuration’ from the list management drop down menu.
Q. When I log into List Management Admin, none of the lists I edit are showing up. What should I do?
A: Make sure the e-mail address you are logging in with is the same one that is listed as an owner in the list header. To add your address as owner of the list, contact one of your co-editors or help@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
Q. How do I change subscriber settings?
A. Visit List Management Admin (requires login setup) and click 'subscriber management' from the list management drop down menu.
OR
B. Send an e-mail to listserv@h-net.msu.edu with only the following text at the top of the body of your message (no subject needed):
to add:
add listname sub'saddress fullname, institution
to delete:
del listname sub'saddress
to change e-mail address:
change listname oldaddress newaddress
Q. How do I stop a subscriber from receiving duplicate postings?
A: Often this is due to duplicate or forwarded addresses subscribed to a list. Have the subscriber forward a copy of each duplicate message with the full headers displaying along with an explanation of the problem to help@mail.h-net.msu.edu
Q. How do I update my list's web page?
A: List pages can be updated by the list's designated web editor. Web editors should see the H-Net Web Design Help area for details.
Q. I've lost my password to edit my list's web page, who do I contact?
A: Contact webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu to set up a password.
Q: My list’s webpage needs updating but we do not have a web editor. Who should I contact?
A: Send any changes you need made to webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu. Someone will contact you and let you know if your changes are feasible. Keep in mind that is can take up to two weeks for the changes to go into effect.
Q. How do I get an H-Net e-mail account?
A: Contact webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
Q. Do I need to use an H-Net e-mail account?
A: We strongly encourage editors to use an email account at H-Net. This allows you to separate H-Net correspondence from other mail and provides strong server-based spam protection. Also, H-Net’s mail server and its squirrelmail web-mail work well with listserv.
Q. How do I check my H-Net e-mail account on the web? What is squirrelmail?
A: Squirrelmail is a Web-based groupware suite written in PHP. Its features include IMAP email, Usenet newsgroups, contact management, scheduling, shared notes and bookmarks, a todo list, and meeting announcements. You can use squirrelmail if you have an H-Net email account by logging in at http://mail.h-net.msu.edu/squirrelmail/.
Q. When I am listed as editor I receive a lot of spam. What can I do?
A: We suggest setting your list to only allow subscribers to send messages to your list. This will mean non-subscribers will have to confirm their messages which will weed out a lot of the mail generated by spambots. You can also try adjusting the spam settings for the mail program you are using.
Q. When I login to squirrelmail it says "Error: Login failed - Probably a misspelled username or password, please try again." even though I know I am using the correct info, what is wrong?
A: The server is having temporary problems, try again later.
Q. How do I use spam filtering if I have a mail.h-net e-mail account? (filtering does work in squirrelmail)
A: Under 'rules' in Outlook, 'filters' in Eudora or ‘options’ in squirrelmail (or similar tools in other mailers), you can send messages you receive with certain criteria to a specific folder (eg. Junk mail). H-Net's Spam Assassin software, running on its mail server, flags messages as spam according to a detailed point system. It adds '****SPAM****' to the subject line of these messages and also adds other useful information to the message header to help you customize your spam filtering. Your best bet is to set your filter to automatically move any message that contains ****SPAM**** in the subject line to the junk mail. You will also want to check your junk mail from time to time so see if any errant messages were sent there.
Q. Is my mail.h-net e-mail account sending spam or viruses?
A: Some viruses (called worms) spread via mass e-mailings to addresses they locate on an infected computer. The best protection against this abuse of your account behavior is to run updated anti-virus software on your computer. Perform a full system scan frequently to check for viruses. Also to confuse matters, spam/viruses can easily fake an e-mail address so that a message may appear to have come from you, even if it hasn’t. If you need information on performing a system scan write to help@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
Q. How do I configure my computer/mailer to use/see foreign characters?
A: See: http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/
Q. When I try to confirm a post by replying to listserv with OK at the top of my message it is returned to me with an error, what do I do?
A: Make sure you are REPLYING to the CONFIRM message that listserv sends for your post. Type OK and a carriage return, so the OK is on its own line at the top of the message body.
Q. How do I get rid of all the ">" in my postings?
A: Most mailers have the option to remove these when replying or forwarding a message. This is necessary to have clean posts. In squirrelmail, use "recompose" to get rid of them. Another way to remove them is to copy and paste into a word processing program (or notepad) and do a search and replace. Search for ">" and replace with "".
Q. Antivirus software detects a virus in incoming mail, and quarantines the file in which the virus resides. What does this mean?
A: Click here for more information.
Review Processing and Publication
Q. How do I use the database?
A: You can find detailed instructions for using the database at http://www.h-net.org/revmgt/instructions.php
Q. The database won't let me login. What do I do?
A: First make sure that you have filled out an editor's directory application and are listed as a review editor. If you have done these two things please write to help@mail.h-net.msu.edu for further help.
Q. How do I know if a requested book has arrived?
A: When a requested book arrives in the office the status of the book will change to reserved and appear under your reserved page in the books database.
Q. My reviewer has not yet received his/her book. Now what?
A: Keep in mind that it can take anywhere from 1-6 weeks for a book to arrive with the reviewer, especially if it is going overseas. If it has been longer than 6 weeks then it is probably safe to assume that the book has been lost in the mail. The first step is to look in the reviews database to double check that the book was not returned in the mail. If the book is not in the database then contact the clerks at hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu to make sure that the book was sent out. If the book was sent out and seems to be lost you can either request a new copy of the book or find a different book for your reviewer from your page of reserved books.
Q. Who do I contact if I have any questions?
A: See the contact page
Q. Can I request two copies of the same book?
A: You can request as many copies of a book as you would like to review. Keep in mind that publishers send us gratis copies of the books and will often balk at sending more then one copy if their books have not been reviewed in the past so please only order the number of books that you will be able to review.
Q. What do I do with the books that publishers send directly to me?
A: You have two options in this case. You can mail it to H-Net for processing or mail it directly to a reviewer. If you mail the book to us please include a note explaining what happened so that we can be sure to reserve it for you once it is entered into the database. If you mail the book to the reviewer please let the clerks hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu know in an e-mail that contains the reviewers address so that we can mail the reviewer the formatting information that is included with our book mailings.
Q. Can I request books from the publisher myself?
A: We ask that you not do this as we have an agreement with most publishers to send the books directly to us. This may create confusion among the publishers if they are receiving multiple requests for H-Net books from many different people.
Q. You sent my reviewer the wrong book. Now what?
A: Unfortunately this happens from time to time. Please ask your reviewer to return the book to us at 310 Auditorium, Michigan State University , East Lansing , MI 48824 . Also notify the clerks at hbooks@ mail.h-net.msu.edu of their error so that they can send out the correct book.
Q. Can you send international books with a customs form?
A: When a book is sent internationally from our office it always contains a customs form so that the reviewer will not have to pay duties on the book.
Q. How long does it take to get a copyedited review back?
A: Turnaround varies with demand and the condition of reviews in process. Normally, you should expect a month turnaround time. Reviews are more likely to be processed efficiently if they are submitted a few at a time instead of in large batches.
Q. Where do I send my completed review?
A: You should submit your completed reviews for copyediting through the web submission process. You can find instructions for doing this at http://www.h-net.org/revmgt/instructions.php. Once you and the H-Net reviews office have approved the final version, submit it via the web for official publication. You may then send the same version as an email to your list for posting.
Q. How many books can I request at a time?
A: You can request as many books as you want. Keep in mind that publishers send us gratis copies of the books and will often balk at sending us lots of books if their books have not been reviewed in the past so please only order the number of books that you will be able to review.
Q. What is the length limit for my review?
A: H-Net does not set an absolute word-limit on book reviews, although many lists have established their own limits. All lists, however, should strongly discourage reviewers from writing more than 1,750 words on any one work: (1) to keep reviews concise, and (2) to insure that time spent by editors and copyeditors on any one review does not detract from the timeliness of others. Reviewers should aim for a concise, well-organized review which succinctly covers the necessary information (major arguments, sources, methodology, etc.).
Q. Do I have to have my review copyedited?
A: According to H-Net policy, all H-Net Reviews published on the web must be copyedited by the H-Net review staff before they are published to the particular discussion list. This process helps to ensure that the version of the review published on the discussion list is the official version, which is also published on H-Net Reviews.
Q. How long will it take my review to be posted to the H-Net website?
A: Once a review has been posted to the discussion list, that version is forwarded to the copyeditors for posting to the H-Review website. This can take up to four weeks. Remember that a review is not officially an H-Net review until it has been posted to the H-Reviews website.
Q. How can I only receive jobs that apply to my list?
A: The Job Guide will send out a weekly digest of all the new jobs added to the Guide for that week. You can either post this digest in its entirety or extract the individual jobs that apply to your list.
Q. How do I know if a job has already been posted to the Job Guide?
A: If someone wants to post a job ad to your list write back and explain that the job needs to first be posted in the Job Guide. If they write explaining that they already posted the job ask for the url so that you can link to it in your post. Your other option is to do a search in the job guide for the individual job.