• How Do I Join the ListServer?
• ListServer Rules
• ListServer Etiquette Guidelines
• ListServer Website Instructions
• ListServer List Directory
• MHCA.COM Security FAQs & Help
• Username / Password Reminder

The MHCA Discussion ListServer hosts several discussion lists which are intended for the exclusive use of MHCA member center CEOs and staff. The following questions and answers should answer many of your questions regarding the use of our ListServer. Before attempting to join a list, please take the time to read through this FAQs Page, the ListServer Rules, and the ListServer Etiquette Guidelines.

1. Who Can Use The MHCA ListServer?

   • General Public - NO

   • MHCA Member Center CEOs - YES

   • MHCA Member Center Staff - YES

2. How Can I Join or Use A List?

   • Register For An MHCA.COM Account

   • Subscribe To A List

3. What Is A ListServer?

   • Email Component

   • Website Component (Web Interface)

   • Why Should I Use The Website Component?

   • Website Component Instructions

4. What Lists Are Available & Who Can Join?

5. ListServer Rules & Disclaimer

6. ListServer Etiquette Guidelines

7. Do I Need To Have An MHCA.COM Account Before I Join A List?

8. Can I Search List Message Archives?

9. How Do I Login To A List Website?

   • What Password Do I Use?

   • What Username Do I Use?

   • Why Won't My MHCA.COM Account Password Work?

10. Where Can I Find More Instructions On Using The ListServer?

11. Which Lists Am I On?

12. Username / Password Reminder

13. How Do I Send Messages To A List?

    • Send Via Email

    • Send Via List Website

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• General Public - NO. Because the MHCA Discussion ListServer is a member benefit of MHCA, the general public is not invited to participate in any of our discussion lists. If you do not work for an active MHCA member center, your subscription requests will be denied.

• MHCA Member Center CEOs - YES. Some lists are restricted.

• MHCA Member Center Staff - YES. Some lists are restricted.

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Step #1: Register For An MHCA.COM Account

  NOTE:   Because the MHCA Discussion ListServer is a member benefit of MHCA, the general public is not invited to participate in any of our discussion lists. If you do not work for an active MHCA member center, your subscription requests will be denied.

To join or use any of the lists that are not RESTRICTED, you will need to first register for an MHCA.COM Account. When activated by your CEO, this account will allow you to access the ListServer Quick Access Page, from which you can Join or Use the various lists.

• Register For An MHCA.COM Account

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Step #2: Join / Use Lists

When you have an activated MHCA.COM Account, you can access the ListServer Quick Access Page at the following link:

• ListServer Quick Access Page - (Join / Use Lists)

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A ListServer is a great way for people to communicate via email. Rather than a static Discussion Group where members simply post messages on a "bulletin board", a ListServer offers a way for members to post those messages to a mailing list, which are then automatically sent to each member of the list via email.

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The MHCA Discussion ListServer includes two (2) components:

• EMAIL COMPONENT - The most familiar and easiest to use. Once you're on a list, all you have to do is SEND and REPLY to ListServer messages just as you do with your regular email. All ListServer messages are sent to your email address, and you use your email software (Outlook, Eudora, GroupWise, Netscape, etc.) to communicate.

  CAUTION: When you REPLY to a ListServer message like you do with regular email, your reply will be sent to EVERYONE on the list (can be very embarrassing). This is because the message actually comes from the ListServer, not the individual author of the message. To respond to just the author of the message, use the link immediately under the message header that says:

  ** To respond to the author of this message, send mailto:someone@somecompany.com **
  (omit "mailto:" if addressing manually)

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• WEBSITE COMPONENT - In addition to being its own email server, the ListServer is a website as well, separate and distinct from MHCA.COM. It has its own security structure, independent of MHCA.COM, based on your email address (Username) and a password in each of the lists to which you may be subscribed. This is why you must complete another registration (subscription) process after you have registered for an MHCA.COM Account.
  
  NOTE: Initially, you will be assigned a random password for each list you join, which will be emailed to you in a "Welcome" message. You may then set the password in each list to match your MHCA.COM Account password if you wish, or to whatever you like.

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• WHY USE THE WEBSITE COMPONENT? - Because it allows you to do the following:

• Access archives of list postings, sorted by date, author, or subject.

• Change list membership settings, such as your email address, name, password, and receipt options.

• Ask for a password reminder to be emailed to you, if you forget your password.

• Search for keywords in list postings.

• Look for a particular message by jumping to the date it was posted.

• Unsubscribe from a list.

• WEBSITE COMPONENT INSTRUCTIONS - Click here to see more instructions on using the website component, including screen shots of all the ListServer menus you will encounter.

• ListServer Website Instructions

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Please click on the following link to see a directory of all the lists offered by the MHCA ListServer. Included are brief explanations of the lists and who is eligible to participate on each list. RESTRICTED lists are limited to the groups indicated. Other lists are primarily intended for the groups indicated, but subscription is open to all MHCA member center staff.

• Directory of Lists

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Yes.

You need an activated MHCA.COM Account to access the ListServer Quick Access Page, from which you can Join or Use the various lists. Your CEO may then decide whether or not to grant you access to the restricted MEMBER Areas of our website.

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Yes.

You can search through archives for previous list messages, by using the keyword or phrase search function after you login to a list's website. Messages are sorted by "threads", the SUBJECT line of list postings.

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When you have an activated MHCA.COM Account, you can use the ListServer Quick Access Page to login to each of the lists you have joined. Click on the link that says LOGIN, enter your email address and your password, and then click on "Click here to enter {list}".

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• What Password Do I Use? - When you subscribe or join lists, you will be issued a random password for each list which will be sent to you in separate registration notices for each list. Later, when you login to a list website, you may change your list password(s) to match your MHCA.COM Account password or to whatever you desire.     
  
  Ultimately, we plan to develop a utility that will allow you to easily set all your list passwords to match your MHCA.COM Account password, if you elect to do so.

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• What Username Do I Use? - When you login to a list website, enter your email address, not your MHCA.COM Account username, when prompted. This is your "username" for logging into the list websites. Why? Because email addresses are unique, and the ListServer already uses it to identify you. There is no need for a separate username on the ListServer.

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• Why Won't My MHCA.COM Account Password Work On The ListServer? - Because the ListServer and MHCA.COM are really two, separate and distinct, websites, each with its own security structure. We're trying to make those separate security structures as "transparent" as possible, but we're not there yet.
  
  Security on the ListServer is based on member accounts in each list that someone may have joined.

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You can access more instructions for using the ListServer list websites at the following link:

• ListServer Website Instructions

These instructions will tell you how to:

• Login to list websites.

• Access archives of list postings, sorted by date, author, or subject.

• Change list membership settings, such as your email address, name, password, and receipt options.

• Ask for a password reminder to be emailed to you, if you forget your password.

• Search for keywords in list message archives.

• Look for a particular message by jumping to the date it was posted.

• Unsubscribe from a list.

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When you login and access the ListServer Quick Access Page, you'll be able to use a handy little utility to find out what lists you may already have joined. When you click the link, a popup window will appear asking you for your email address. Enter it, and then click on the Search button. The query will return the lists you've already joined, sorted by subscription date.

• ListServer Quick Access Page (requires Login)

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You can get an automatic password reminder for each of the discussion lists you may have joined. Similar to the Username/Password Reminder utility for your MHCA.COM Account, the ListServer offers an option for a password reminder when you login to each list.

To use this feature, do the following:

1. Go to the ListServer Quick Access Page.

2. Click on Join / Use Lists.

3. Scroll down the directory to the list you wish to enter.

4. In the list menu bar, click on Login.

5. On the list Login page, scroll down to the option for "Did you forget your password?", type in your email address (not your MHCA.COM Account username), and then click on "Get password".

6. Check your email for the reminder.

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There are 2 ways to send messages to a list:

• Via Email

• Via List Website

SEND VIA EMAIL: To send via email, do the following:

1. Go to the ListServer Quick Access Page.

2. Click on Join / Use Lists.

3. Scroll down the directory to the list you wish to send to.

4. In the list menu bar, click on SEND EMAIL. This will cause the email software associated with your browser to generate a new email message, pre-addressed to the list. Type in a Subject, then type your message, then click on SEND like you normally would with other email.

Sending messages this way should work most of the time, unless you are using someone else's computer whose email settings are different than yours. ListServer security is based on your email address. If the ListServer gets a message that comes from a user it does not recognize (i.e., "johndoe@company.com", when your email address is really  "janesmith@company.com"), the server will not validate the sender and will reject the message.

To overcome this issue, you can send messages by logging into the list's website to send directly from the ListServer. This is similar to logging into a web-based email service like Yahoo or Hotmail to send messages.

SEND VIA LIST WEBSITE: To send via the list's website, do the following:

1. Go to the ListServer Quick Access Page.

2. Click on Join / Use Lists.

3. Scroll down the directory to the list you wish to send to.

4. In the list menu bar, click on LOGIN.

5. Type in your email address and password, then click on "Click here to enter {list}.

6. On the list menu page, click on "Create a New Message".

7. In the new message form, type a subject in the Subject text box, then type your message in the Body text box.

8. Click on "Send Message Now".

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