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Virtual Gingerbread Chat Group Guidelines
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April 2008
Gingerbread Chat is a Single Parents Group, associated with the charity One Parent Families|Gingerbread see www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk. The Group exists as a place for lone parents to meet online. Content posted should be relevant to lone parents or members of single parent families.
By registering for this Group you have also agreed to our Virtual Gingerbread Group Terms and Conditions see http://tinyurl.com/4vym8u.
Virtual Gingerbread Groups are one of the ways for One Parent Families|Gingerbread members to meet and get to know each other. Members of the Virtual Gingerbread Groups who are not already members of One Parent Families|Gingerbread are encouraged to join, see www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk/join. People who are no longer lone parents and/or want to stay in touch to support One Parent Families|Gingerbread's work are welcome to join as Friends of Gingerbread, email membership@oneparentfamilies.org.uk for details.
Moderation of the Group
Gingerbread Chat is not moderated, but the mails are monitored by moderators. Please be advised that breaking the Group Terms and Conditions may result in mails being published only when approved by a Moderator, or removed from the Messages list. Persistent offenders will be removed from the Group.
The Moderators reserve the right to intercept a member's posts and publish them only when approved, if they feel this may avoid a possible infringement of the Terms and Conditions and is in the Group's best interest.
Mail from new members is checked by a moderator before it is sent to the Group. This is because we have had problems in the past with spam emails. Unfortunately this means that there may be a short delay before new members' messages appear on the Group.
If it is your opinion that a message published in this Group ought to be removed, please email gingerbreadchat@yahoogroups.com stating which message you are referring to and why you think it should be removed.
Joining in Group discussions
Messages on new topics should be sent to gingerbreadchat@yahoogroups.com.
Any mail sent to the Group is forwarded by Yahoo to all group members, so you will get a copy of your mails sent back to you. This is quite normal.
When and how you read messages from the Group
Some people, especially those using Webmail accounts such as Hotmail with limited inboxes find the volume of email is a problem if they get individual emails every time someone posts to the Group. If this applies to you, you can select your mail delivery preferences to be either Daily Digest or No Mail. You can do this either by using the 'Edit my membership' link on the group's Yahoo home page, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gingerbreadchat, or by sending a blank email to gingerbreadchat-digest@yahoogroups.com or gingerbreadchat-nomail@yahoogroups.com.
Daily Digest means you get an email listing posts to the Group every 25 posts or daily, whichever comes sooner. Because Yahoo removes all attachments, pictures, etc., from the Digest it takes up much less space in your inbox.
No Mail means that no email is sent to your inbox, but you can still read the mails on the web site. This is a useful option if you will not be checking your emails for a while, for example when you go on holiday. You can change back to normal mail either on the web site or by sending a blank mail to gingerbreadchat-normal@yahoogroups.com.
Replying to posts
When you read an email from the Group and wish to reply, just click on the reply button in your email program, type your answer and send. Remember though that your answer will be read by all members.
Giving and receiving advice
From time to time, Group members will ask for and give one another advice. While responses may always be well-intentioned, they may on occasion be wrong or misleading, or not right for your situation, especially it they relate to financial or legal information. One Parent Families|Gingerbread cannot check all advice given by Group members so, if you want to check any information you've been given - from fellow Group members or anywhere - please call the Lone Parent Helpline on 0800 018 5026 (Mondays to Fridays 9am to 5pm, with extended opening on Wednesdays to 8pm; calls are free from landlines, mobile rates vary).
Contacting other Group members
Please do not send emails to the personal email addresses of other members until they have had a chance to get to know you through the Group. Many members will be feeling vulnerable after the break-up of a relationship and will not wish to be contacted directly by strangers. Use your own judgment here but, if in doubt, send an open mail to the Group asking permission to email directly before doing so.
Virus protection
Bear in mind that it is very easy for computer viruses to spread through an email group, but with a little care you can prevent this happening. If using a PC, please make sure that your Windows installation is up to date - Microsoft issues updates to Windows that prevent many common viruses from spreading. Also get, use, and keep up to date an anti-virus program. There are free programs available for download that do a good job - just ask other members for their recommendations.
Finally, enjoy Virtual Gingerbread! It is a friendly and supportive group please help us keep it this way.
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