NOTE:   It might be useful to print this page off for future reference.

Step 1   Find the Web Interface and Get a Password

For security the Biotutor Web Interface is password protected. Each individual user is able to generate their own passowrd.

Thus begin by going to the webpage:

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?GETPW1=SUBED1=biotutor-l

Enter your email address and make up your own password containing letters and/or numbers. It's probably best if you do not include any spaces, and use lowercase characters only.

Once you click the "Register Password" button the server will send you a confirmation email to your email account. This is an intentional security feature which prevents others pretending to be you.

Within a couple of minutes your email should arrive and all you have to do is click on the hyperlink in the email to confirm your password.

Step 2   Let's Browse the Web Archives

Once this is done you can now go to the main Biotutor Webpage http://www.uclan.ac.uk/archives/biotutor-l.html

All mail is archived each month, and on clicking any of the months listed you will be prompted to enter your email address and the password which you have just created.

You can then login. Note you can also opt to save your password as a cookie on your PC - this means that you never need to remember it (but this is not a good idea if the PC is in an insecure environment as other will also be able to gain access). Information on removing cookies (password information) from your PC is given later in this page.

You can now browse the extensive archives at your leisure.

The "Search the archives" link at the top of the Biotutor Archives Page (shown above and at http://www.uclan.ac.uk/archives/biotutor-l.html) also provides a useful feature if you are looking for something specific.

Clicking on the"Search the archives" link reveals a search page as below. This allows you to search for keywords and/or authors, and to limit your searches to specific periods, or else search the entire archives - which go back to March 1998.

Step 3   Let's Customise Things

Most importantly you can now also customise Listserv to do just what you want in terms of mail delivery.

Essentially you have three main options

• OPTION 1   Real-time Mail Delivery

  By default (when you first subscribe) Listserv will deliver mail in real-time, as it is received. This keeps you in touch with discussions, but the volume of mail can be overwhelming to some users.

• OPTION 2   Weekly Digests

  Fear not, it is easy to set Listserv to deliver just a single email each week. This email will be a weekly compilation of all postings to the List. Such digests are sent out each Friday. Digests are good for people who don't want to clutter up their mailbox with lots of single postings, and who might want to read the week's postings in one sitting.

  Go to http://www.uclan.ac.uk/archives/biotutor-l.html and click on the "Join or leave the list (or change settings)" link. We want to change our settings.

If you are not logged in you will get a page - as below - with a section entitled "To alter subscription settings for the BIOTUTOR-L list" this basically tells you to log in (if you have no password then follow the intructions in Step 1 above).

Once you log in you will come to a page:

Scroll down this page until you come to following six radio buttons:

"Regular" means real-time delivery (=default).

To receive a weekly digest it is best to select the "Digest (HTML format)" option. The traditional digest will also work, but this is just a long text file which is more difficult to use than the HTML digest, and since virtually all email systems now understand HTML the HTML digest is usually the better option.

Finally scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Update your "options" button.

You will get a page confirming the actions taken.

• OPTION 3   Web Bulletin Board

  A further alternative is to set the system to deliver no email at all, but rather to use the List like a web-based Bulletin Board, receiving no mail at all but seeing what is going on via the Web Interface. Threaded discussions can be followed via the web and you can post your emails via the web too.

  Go to http://www.uclan.ac.uk/archives/biotutor-l.html and click on the "Join or leave the list (or change settings)" link. We want to change our settings.

If you are not logged in you will get a page - as below - with a section entitled "To alter subscription settings for the BIOTUTOR-L list" this basically tells you to log in (if you have no password then follow the intructions in Step 1 above).

Once you log in you will come to a page:

Scroll right down to the bottom of this page until you come to following two checkboxes:

Simply click on the "Mail delivery temporarily disabled" checkbox, and then click the "Update your options" button.

You will get a page confirming the actions taken. Mail will now no longer come into your mailbox and you can view the web archives as you would a bulletin board. To use this click on the current months archives.

By default the system shows mail sent in descending chronological order (i.e. newest at top of page). However by clicking the "Sort by topic" button i.e. the third button from left on the toolbar above,

the mail will appear as topic-threaded Bulletin Board.

It is also worth noting that when you are actually viewing an email the toolbar will alter to display the following button:

Clicking this will allow you to post a reply directly from the web - there is no need for you to have (or use) any email programme on your PC at all.

Going on Holiday?

You can also temporarily stop and start email delivery. Simply go to the "Mail delivery temporarily disabled" checkbox as described in the previous section (entitled OPTION 3   Web Bulletin Board).

Change of Email Address?

Go to http://www.uclan.ac.uk/archives/biotutor-l.html and click on the "Join or leave the list (or change settings)" link. We want to change our settings.

If you are not logged in you will get a page - as below - with a section entitled "To alter subscription settings for the BIOTUTOR-L list" this basically tells you to log in (if you have no password then follow the intructions in Step 1 above).

Once you log in you will come to a page:

In the text box which holds your current address, simply delete the address and insert your new email address. Then click on the "Update your options" button.

Forgotten your Password?

We can't find your old password for you, but you can create a new one (and effectively overwrite the old one) from the webpage:

http://www.uclan.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?GETPW1=SUBED1=biotutor-l

Removing Cookies (password information) from your PC

If you selected the option to "Login and save my password in a cookie" the system will have stored your password as a cookie on your PC so that you don't have to keep entering it every time you want to view the web interface.

However, if you have stored a password cookie on a PC and now want to remove it, simply go to the page http://www.uclan.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?RESET-COOKIE

Thats it !
Peter Robinson
(07/04/2004)