When submitting surnames to the List Owner, please do not use all capital letters. Visit Genealogy in St. Louis for the complete listing of surnames submitted.

Looking for a specific surname? Click the CONTROL key on your keyboard and letter "F" key at the same time for a short cut to FIND a specific name. After the FIND box opens, type in the surname you are looking for. Your program will take you to that name if it is on the page. There is a separate alphabetical listing of all the St. Louis surnames that have been submitted.

How to Post a Query - Once you are registered, send your email to [email protected]. [Note: this is a slightly different address than the one to which you subscribed]  Be sure to indicate the topic of your posting in the Subject area of the email. If you are posting a surname query, it is a good idea to list the surname(s) in the Subject line. In the body of the message it is helpful to capitalize the names of specific people, first and last name, to make it easier to spot.

Always ask yourself, what is the simplest and clearest way to post my message? What will make it easier to read? People will not always take time to read a long and difficult to follow message. Look to other postings on the list for good examples.

If you are requesting a search, i.e. a listing for your grandfather in the St. Louis Death Register, be sure to provide as much information as you can, such as his full given name, and other spelling variations of the surname, the date or at least approximate date of death, his age at death, etc. Try to make it easier for the person who is volunteering to help you.

How to Reply to a Message - If you would like to reply to the person who sent the message, and not to the list at large, click "Reply". If you would like the posting to go to the list at large as well, click "Reply to All".

Many browsers allow you to include a copy of the message you are replying to. RootsWeb asks that we not repeat entire messages - it uses up a lot of space. If you have your browser set to automatically include the original message, please delete the bulk of it. Retain only the portions that you are specifically replying to.

When replying to a digest formatted message, please note that the Subject line simply tells which Digest #. It does not reflect the subject of the message. Delete the Digest # from the Subject line and type in the actual topic or subject of the message you are sending or to which you are replying.

Using the RootsWeb Archives - The RootsWeb server not only provides the means by which these genealogy mail lists are able to operate, it also stores the messages for future use. You can search the archived messages for the St.Louis-Metro list. When the page opens, type key words or surnames in the Query box. An Operation Summary page will list the number of matching records for your query, if any. Entries list the subject of the message and allow you to view the message.

In addition to searching for specific surnames or topics, you may also browse the St.Louis-Metro archives chronologically by month. Opening a specific month/year will provide a listing of the email subjects for that month.

You can search the archives of most of the RootsWeb mailing lists by visiting Mailing List Archives. You will need to enter the name of the mail list you wish to search. Aren't sure of the mail list name? The page provides an alphabetical search for you to locate list names.

Signature Lines - Some people use "signature lines", automatic text that can be set up to appear at the end of each message, such as the person's name, the URL of their personal web page, a favorite quote, etc.  Sometimes people also include a list of the surnames they are researching. This can create a problem for the archive system, because surnames listed in a "signature" will appear at the end of a message regardless whether those names have anything to do with the message. Result: someone does a search on Fitzgibbon, and finds a multitude of matches, the majority of which are all found in "signatures" and so, of little value to the researcher.

If you would like to include surnames in your "signature", please type them without spaces: Birkenbach/Buchele/Delworth/Fitzgibbon/Kaylor.

Courtesy - Occasionally people may type something that offends another list member   It happens on just about every list at one time or another.  This can sometimes be avoided if we think about "how" we phrase something before we post it.  If you disagree with a list member, please post to them directly, or just delete their message altogether.  Please do NOT involve the entire list, as this takes time away from the main reason we are here: genealogy :) If a problem persists, please contact the List Owner.