Background

Our online discussion group is called "PaperweightCollectorsCircle" and is set up under the well-established Yahoo! Groups pages. By using Yahoo! Groups, we are able to offer a no-cost, fully moderated forum which is open only to registered members. This provides a simple and safe environment in which to raise questions, post photos and respond to other members' queries. No messages or photos can be seen by anyone who is not a registered member.

Each member of the discussion group can, if they wish, elect to receive email copies of messages and, if this is done, responses to the group can be made via email but note that no photos can be included in email copies of messages.

Yahoo! Groups provides free access to its systems as a result of its use as an advertising medium. This does not mean that you will be inundated with adverts or "pop up" windows. But it does mean that when reading messages via the forum, you may be presented with an advert at some point in the usage, although these are not overly intrusive. If you choose to receive messages by email, then you will usually find a short advert at the end of the message.

Spam / Abusive Messages

Because the group is open only to registered members, any unacceptable messages or images can be dealt with by the moderators, usually by amending or deleting offending items. If necessary, a member making inappropriate postings will be barred from further access.

Accessing The Forum Access The Forum

If you are familiar with the Yahoo! Groups procedures you may go directly to the PCC forum through the link above (which opens in a new browser window) to either "Sign Up" [join Yahoo! Groups], "Join This Group" [request membership] or "Sign In" [use the group as a registered member].

If, however, you are new to these concepts, please click the Access link above and note the following points which will help you get started. (Although it may appear daunting to have so many notes, the actual procedures are quite easy, but this assistance should make some things even simpler for you.)

At the top left of the PCC forum "home page" (see the new window from the above "Access" link) are two standard links:
"Sign In" - for access to the actual forum for registered members
"Sign Up" - to create a new user Yahoo! Groups account (this is free)
Near the top right and the bottom right of the page are buttons for "Join This Group".

Follow the stages below according to your needs. If you are new to all of this, then note that both stages require the completion of an online form. Once these stages have been completed, you then only need to Sign In to Yahoo! Groups and select the PCC Forum from a list presented.

Signing Up to Yahoo! Groups
This has two main actions: a) Completing a registration form and b) Responding to a Confirmation email message.
Clicking the "Sign Up" link in the PCC Forum home page presents the Yahoo! Groups registration form. This is generally straightforward but it can be useful to do three things before beginning to fill in the details:
1. In the first section, there is a field called "Preferred content". Use the drop-down button to choose your country. For UK users, selecting "Yahoo United Kingdom" will refresh the whole page and some of the other options will no longer be required.
2. Scroll down the page to view the section for "Verify Your Registration". This requires entry of a "code" which is shown in a large box as a random mix of letters and numbers, with one or two "wiggly lines" through it. If the code is not clear to you, just refresh this browser page (use the standard "Refresh" button or the keyboard function key (F5 for Windows users) and a new code will be generated.
3. While you are at this part of the form, read the Terms of Service in the final section.

When you are happy with the verification code, enter it into the required box. Then scroll up to the top of the form and complete the rest of the details. You do not have fill in the "alternative email" box, but it is usually best to put in a regular email address as the system needs to send a confirmation message from which an activation link is used.

Finally click the "I Agree" button at the bottom of the page. If the process did not seem to like the verification code you entered (even though you thought it was ok!) it will present a new code for you to enter.

When you receive the Confirmation email message, simply click the link it provides and your Yahoo! Groups membership will be completed.

Joining the PCC Forum
Use the link above (under Accessing the Forum) to go back to the PCC Forum home page. Now click the "Join This Group" button. Complete the form and click the "Submit" button. As with the "Sign Up" form, the system may reject your entered code, but again, just try again with the new code given. When the code is accepted, you will be shown a page stating, "Membership Pending". The group moderators will respond to your request as soon as possible but you should allow a day or two for receipt of the relevant emails - one from the group moderator and another from Yahoo! Groups.