=== ECHOMAIL TUTORIAL === 



This is a brief tutorial about the FidoNet phenomenon called EchoMail. It
explains what an EchoMail Conference is, and how you can effectively use
EchoMail to send messages to others without becoming unpopular!  



An EchoMail Conference is a discussion on a particular topic which takes
place on a number of FidoNet bulletin boards almost simultaneously. A
message placed in an EchoMail Conference on one bulletin board is
"echoed" to all the other boards in the network which are
participating in that conference. There are many conferences available,
including international ones, which cover a wide variety of subjects.  Not
all conferences will necessarily be available on all FidoNet bulletin
boards. For a list of subjects, ask your friendly Sysop.  



EchoMail allows you to talk to people on other FidoNet bulletin boards
across the country and the world without having to know who, or where they
are. You can tell an EchoMail Conference Area from the Area Name. It will
say something about the echo, eg. DESQVIEW, AUST_MODEMS etc. All you have
to do is enter a message in one of these areas, and it is automatically
sent out to any and all FidoNet bulletin boards participating in that
particular EchoMail Conference.  



=== ORIGIN LINES === 



At the end of each message in an EchoMail Area there is a line called an
Origin line which shows the name and FidoNet address of the board on which
the message was entered. At the end of the origin line there are three
numbers in parenthesis. This is the FidoNet address of the originating
bulletin board, eg EchoMail messages entered on Sentry have an origin line
ending with "(3:711/401.0)". The "3" is the Zone number
for Australia/NZ/PNG, the "711" is the network number, the
"401" is the node number and ".0" is the (optional)
point number. You can find a listing of all the zone/net/node numbers in
the entire world in a compressed file on many FidoNet bulletin boards
called "NODELIST.???".  



If you wish to send a private FidoNet NETmail message (not a public
EchoMail message) to a person who has entered a message in an EchoMail
Conference, you can discover the person's FidoNet address by checking the
origin line on the particular message. If you do not know how to send a
FidoNet netmail message, ask your friendly Sysop.  



=== PRIVATE MESSAGES === 



All the messages in an EchoMail Conference area are sent out to all the
other participating bulletin boards. Many FidoNet bulletin boards only
allow public (not private) messages in EchoMail Conference areas. Some
FidoNet bulletin boards automatically send private messages entered in
EchoMail conferences by netmail. Check with your friendly Sysop!  



If you want to send a private message to someone, you should generally not
use an EchoMail area. You should, instead, use the FidoNet netmail area
(also known as the Matrix area on Opus bulletin boards).  



=== PERSON-TO-PERSON MESSAGES === 



Generally, person-to-person messages should not be entered in an EchoMail
Conference. If you have a message for Bill Bloggs, and no one else is
likely to be interested in it, then use FidoNet netmail and not EchoMail
otherwise the sysop of every bulletin board participating in that EchoMail
Conference will pay to receive it. A message between two users in Sydney,
received on a BBS in Perth, is not likely to win you any friends. It can be
worse! If the particular EchoMail Conference is an International one, your
message could end up on numerous FidoNet bulletin boards across the world. 




=== THANK-YOU MESSAGES === 



If you do receive a flood of replies to a question which you entered in an
EchoMail Conference, it is only natural to want to thank each individual
who replied. DO NOT do it! Those 15 messages saying "Thanks for your
reply " will be echoed everywhere and are only
of interest to the addressees. You have two choices: (1) send a private
FidoNet netmail message, or (2) send a single "global" thank- you
message in the EchoMail Conference (eg "Thanks to all those who helped
with my modem problem. It is now fixed").





--- QM v1.30