Greeting, Fellow Clubbers! 

This email is VERY important, so please read through it all, and then save it for future reference. Much of the information below has been ferreted from the Yahoo! Help Files and other sources. It has compiled for you to help you with some vital concerns about the upcoming Yahoo! changes.

As you may know, Yahoo! acquired eGroups in August 2000. In January of 2001, they rolled out Yahoo! Groups--the old eGroups system renamed with some great custom features added--and are now working on merging Clubs with Groups, making them one product. However, they are already a little behind schedule as they had intended to have the merge complete by the first quarter of 2001, now passed. The latest news is that they expect the new product to be released by June 1.

Some of you may be familiar with Yahoo! Groups already and some of you may be familiar with eGroups--there are slight differences as already mentioned. Those of you who are familiar with both might be a step ahead although there are yet to be changes even to the current format of Yahoo! Groups. The actual final product of Groups has not been unveiled, and they are hoping to make it much better by including more of the great features we have in clubs.

First, let us ease your minds about when this will happen, whether you will have a warning. Yahoo! will put an automated post in all clubs when the merge is imminent. As your founders, we will continue to keep everyone up to date as information about the rollout becomes available as well. You'll have plenty of warning.

Second, let us tell you about the options you will have to choose from in how you interact with our club/group in the future. There are two main ways to receive any group: 1) e-mail only, or 2) web access.

1. EMAIL ONLY. With this delivery option, current members will need to do nothing. Posted messages, notices, and owner/moderator directed files will be delivered to your personal registered e-mail account. This delivery option is the default when the club is transferred, and you will automatically begin receiving club messages when the actual merge takes place. With EMAIL ONLY subscription, you will be able to POST messages, RECEIVE messages, CHANGE your Delivery Settings, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, and EMAIL the Founders--all from the convenience of your personal e-mail interface (Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Earthlink, AOL, whatever you use). However, you will not have web access to actually go to the group site and view the messages, files, and some of the other great features available in the group unless you link your e-mail address to your Yahoo! ID, activate your browser, and input the group URL as with regular web access now.

Under this type of delivery option, you can choose individual e-mail such that posted messages, notices, and files are sent as created (the default option). Or, you can choose the digest format, which groups posted messages until a preset number have been gathered per time interval (daily, weekly, monthly) to be sent. This latter saves you space and is less likely to flood your mailbox but at the cost of the immediacy of posts.

2. WEB ACCESS. This delivery option presents you with the comfortable environment similar to what clubs are and have always been. It gives you access to all the great features in the interface which will soon include: polls, files, photos (not yet available), chat, calendar, searchable message archives, and more!

Note: This delivery option will not be automatic on the transfer of clubs and requires the link of your e-mail account with your Yahoo! ID. This ability to choose what e-mail address is linked to your account is great because you do not have to use your Yahoo! Email as your message email address. Too, you can opt for NO EMAIL as you can in clubs presently. It is easier in the long run, and it pretty much preserves the sense of relationship you have with clubs now.

Link it NOW before the rush of Yahoo! clubbers All Around the World try to link their emails at the same time! We recommend linking your e-mail regardless of the delivery option you eventually choose because it will allow you the flexibility to move from one to the other and back at your convenience. We suggest doing it now because, if everyone waits until the last minute to link their e-mail accounts to their Yahoo! IDs, it is really going slow the system up, may cause glitches in the conversion, and is likely to be one frustrating mess. Doing it now will render you 100% ready and prepared for the merger. It will give you the option to start enjoying the great tools and features immediately. So, take action now, and beat the rush!

Below are the simple instructions on how to link your email address with your Yahoo! ID. If you have ANY problems, please let us know!

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