![[Up]](/images/up-button.gif){kind=small}
The idea of an welcome email for all new posters to alt.fan.pratchett isn't a new one. In 1997, Hamster ran a system, known as Meerkat, for a while, as a way of providing that personal, welcoming, touch to new afpers. In March 1999, the idea of a welcome mail was resurrected (under new ownership) as the AFP Welcomer.
Whenever a new poster appeared on alt.fan.pratchett, The AFP Welcomer contacted them via email welcoming them to the group. This email contained info on the group's FAQs, a couple of other Usnet resources plus an offer of help with any queries they may have from AFP's very own Clue Fairies.
The AFP Welcomer was officially retired on 24th June 2006.
For the terminally curious, a copy of the AFP Welcome mail is included at the bottom of this page.
Any information stored by the AFP Welcomer will be totally confidential.
Only one welcome email will be sent to each new email address.
Multiple copies of the Welcome email will be avoided whenever possible.
Any email addresses stored by the AFP Welcomer will not be divulged to any third party.
No personal information (including names) will be stored by the AFP Welcomer system.
Hello, and welcome to Alt.fan.pratchett,
You have been sent this message because you recently posted
for the first time to the newsgroup, alt.fan.pratchett and
we would like to offer you a warm welcome to the group.If you are not a new poster to alt.fan.pratchett, then you have
received this message in error - possibly because you have
changed your email address in which case we apologise sincerely
for the inconvenience.If you have been receiving multiple copies of this mail you may
be able to avoid further repetition by contacting cluefairies@lspace.org,
giving details of the domain(s) involved and requesting to be removed
from any future mailings.If you're new to the Internet or Usenet in general, then we suggest
that you subscribe to news.announce.newusers where a number
of helpful documents are posted regularly, including
"What Is Usenet?".Alt.fan.pratchett is a high-traffic newsgroup and over the years
certain conventions have developed. In order to avoid potential
embarrassment or confusion, we recommend that you read
the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding alt.fan.pratchett
posting procedures and general internet behaviour. They can be
found at:It might be a good idea to start with the Mini "Welcome to AFP",
the Lspace.org FAQ or the "Subject Tagging" FAQ initially and
then try reading the rest of the documents in the order they're listed
on the main page. That way you shouldn't get overwhelmed too
quickly.Alternatively you can subscribe to alt.fan.pratchett.announce
where all the relevant FAQs will appear as newsgroup postings
over a few weeks.For more detailed information on alt.fan.pratchett in general, try
looking at:http://www.lspace.org/fandom/afp/
Also, the entirety of http://www.lspace.org/ is a good resource for all
things Pratchett-esque and may help you avoid that "am I asking a
stupid question" feeling.If you feel you need further help regarding AFP, then please mail
the Clue Fairies at afp-help@lspace.orgThank you for taking the time to read this message and thank you
in advance for reading the information referred to above. We hope to
see you again soon on alt.fan.pratchett.--
The AFP Welcomer
The L-Space Web is a creation
of The L-Space Librarians
This mirror
site is maintained by A.H.Davis