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Bouncing Members - How to Administer, Remove and Maintain

What are bouncing members?

If messages sent to a member are consistently returned to Yahoo! Groups with an error, that member is considered "bouncing." Their Yahoo! Groups account is deactivated, and group messages will not be delivered to the account.

Once an account is considered bouncing, Yahoo! Groups will send a series of test messages to the member. If the test messages are returned as undeliverable, then the account will continue to bounce. However, if a message is delivered and not returned as undeliverable within five days after it was sent, the account will automatically be reactivated.

Please note: If Yahoo! Groups determine that an email address has been bouncing for more than 6 months, they may remove it from their system.

Where do I find a list of "bouncing" members?

A list of bouncing members is available to moderators in the Members area of the group web page. To reach the bounce area:

1. Visit the My Groups page.
2. Click the group name link.
3. Click the Members link in the left-hand bar.
4. Click the Bouncing link in the gray tab above the Search Members button.

What does the bounce information on the Bouncing Members page mean?

This page lists all the group members whose Yahoo! Groups account status is "bouncing." These members' mail accounts have been deactivated because they consistently reject email sent from Yahoo! Groups. Next to each bouncing address, you will find:

1. Bounce Status: Hard or soft bounce or date of status change.
2. Probes: Yahoo! Groups automatically tests bouncing accounts by sending "probes" (test emails). If these messages are not returned with an error, then the member account is automatically reactivated. This area lists the number of probes that have been sent to the member's account.
3. Joined: The date the member joined the group.
4. Edit: The Edit button links to the member's preferences page, which displays the member's information, privileges, status, and bounce history.
5. Remove: Check the Remove boxes for the members that you would like to remove from the group and click Save Changes.

What does the Account Status information on the Member Profile pages mean?

This page lists provides a detailed view of a member's bounce history, including:

· Bounce Status: Date this account was deactivated for bouncing email.
· Bounce History: Weekly summary and details of recently bounced messages.
· Last Bounce Message: In some cases, you may review the latest error message sent to Yahoo! Groups from the member's mail provider. While these errors messages typically include technical information, you may find some useful information ("mailbox full," "mailbox does not exist," etc.).

How do I reactivate "bouncing" members?

Yahoo! Groups uses an automated system to test and reactivate email accounts that bounce. Also, users may also make a "Reactivation Request" to unbounce their account or an account in a group that they moderate.

Automatic Reactivation

Yahoo! Groups periodically send automated test ("probe") messages to bouncing members. If a test message is not returned to Yahoo! Groups with an error, the message was probably successfully delivered. The account will be automatically reactivated. This process does not require any action by the moderator.

Manual Reactivation

To bypass Yahoo! Groups automated process and manually reactivate a member account:

1. Go to the group home page.
2. Click the Members link
3. Click on the Bouncing link above the list of members.
4. Click on the Edit link next to the bouncing member.
5. Click the Reactivation Request button under the Email Account Reactivation section.
6. The recipient must then follow the instructions in the Reactivation Request email. If the email doesn't bounce after 5 days, then you can also go back to the Edit Members page and click the Reactivate Now button to manually unbounce the member.

Note: The automatic unbouncing process can take several days before a user is sent email again.

Unsubscribe Member

To unsubscribe bouncing members:

1. Go to the group home page.
2. Click the Bouncing link under Members.
3. Check the boxes in the Remove column next to the members that you would like to remove from the group.
4. Click the Save Changes button.

Before removing any bouncing member, it is a good idea to send a courtesy email first to let the member know you are removing him/her from the list. Send the e-mail from the web site via the post option (by clicking the envelope under the bouncing member's name). An example of a courtesy e-mail for bouncing members can be found under ADMIN Notices.

At this point, if the account has been disabled on the member's side or is otherwise not responding, you will receive a failed mail delivery notice in your personal e-mail. Once that is verified for the last time, you can remove the member from the group. DO NOT BAN the member. Removing the member allows him/her to rejoin at a later date. Banning disallows all future activity with the group.

Yahoo defines their timeframe for removal at 6 months. Give your group members the benefit of the doubt on bouncing accounts. Your group should determine a timeframe for manual removal and make it policy. It is suggested that you give you bouncing group members enough lag time to give them the opportunity to check mail in case they are out of town on vacation, on Internet downtime, or just plain remiss on checking their email account. That is just simple courtesy on your part as a moderator.

Several things can cause accounts to bounce, one of which is an inactive account in which the member fails to login to their Yahoo Account. If the member has their group settings on "No Mail", you will never see a bouncing account. That is why it's a good idea to have your members on "Special Notices" as a minimum email requirement. With this email setting in place, your membership list remains current, reflects active members only, and identifies accounts not responding to group email. Your group totals will also be accurate, since membership includes all accounts, active or not.

If you need to add a policy for emails, it can be a part of the Etiquette File or sent under separate cover as an Email Group Policy Letter. It is imperative to inform your membership of any policies you institute, especially if you enforce those policies by doing manual changes. An example of Email Delivery Options can be found under ADMIN Notices.

The complete and unabridged Yahoo help files for bouncing members can be found under Group Members Help.