I am a Member of HOS and want to Join the Forum

Send an email to main+subscribe@HardyOrchidSociety.groups.io from the email address we hold for you. Include your membership number. If you have changed your email address, then we definitely need your membership number - or else provide an explanation of who you are. We need to identify you.

In case of problems, send an email to the Membership Secretary – see the Journal for the address.

I want to send a message to the Forum

Send an email to main@HardyOrchidSociety.groups.io This must be from the email address you registered with us.

I saw a Message about a Topic but now can’t find it

Go to the Forum via your web browser and use the Search box
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/topics

I saw a Message about a Topic but now can’t find it

Go to the Forum via your web browser and use the Search box
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/topics

I Want to Send Some Photos

We generally ask members to post photos separately on the Forum, via the web interface, so as not to fill up members’ email inboxes. Use this link: https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/photos
You can refer to this location in the text of your message.

You can post one or two small-sized photos with your message, however.

Replying to Messages

If your reply moves the subject on, please simply reply.  This sends the message to all Forum members - hundreds of people so please make sure your message is relevant to them. Please don’t bother hundreds of people with your feelings for a subject or to give thanks to the author – your message will usually only be appreciated if it adds to the subject.
If your remarks are better addressed just to the author of the message, please just reply to the sender.    To do this you must change the email address of the reply, rather than use the email address of the whole group.

If your email client displays text in web page format, you can use the links provided for you at the bottom of the message by groups.io, like this:

If your email software does not show this footer, and does not show you the individual email address you need, please use the web interface:
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/topics
More information on this can be found here:
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/message/558

Why Doesn’t my Message Appear Immediately

The Forum is moderated, which means that your message is checked by a human before it is sent on to all subscribers. Please be patient as this is done by volunteers – it will always take some minutes, but may take several hours on occasion.

Why Was My Message Rejected

We generally won’t post messages which:
- are private in nature,
- contain large attachments,
- violate accepted web posting standards,
- may solicit harm to wild orchids
- may be advocating an illegal act
- are commercial
- we regard as being too aggressive in nature

If you are posting site details, we may ask you to provide evidence that the site is open to the public.

Please note that we view impolite or offensive messages very seriously. Excessively impolite messaging to members or moderators will result in you receiving a warning and potentially a ban from the Forum.

Of course, there may be other reasons we haven’t yet thought of :-).

Why Was I Asked to Amend My Messages

We have hundreds of members worldwide and you will be taking their time and attention by posting. The moderator may decide that your message may be more understandable and useful if you make some simple changes.

I’m Getting Too Many Messages

If you wish to reduce the number of messages you receive, go to
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/editsub

and change your message options to either “digest”, “summary” or “special”. This means you will get far fewer, or even hardly any, email messages.
You may still use the Forum if you wish to in future by using the web interface.

I Want to Use My Online Nickname as my Username

You can’t. The Forum is not anonymous and every correspondent has the right to know who wrote the message. If you don’t like this, use Facebook or Twitter.

I Want to Unsubscribe

You may unsubscribe any time by using the link on each message. But please consider changing your settings to “Special” messages only, so you will  only get a few important messages a year:
https://hardyorchidsociety.groups.io/g/main/editsub

I Want some Site Information – Should I Ask for Messages to be Sent Privately or to the Forum?

In general, please reply to the group.  Replies can be searched later by someone wanting the same information and the answer won’t have to be rewritten.
Some orchids may be vulnerable due to lack of care by the owner of the site, such as a retail park or a local authority. It can be very valuable that such sites become better known and become subject to public record. Consider reporting this to the relevant authority so that a suitable mowing or cutting regime is set up – if you need help with this, ask on the Forum.
However, if the orchid site is private, or the orchids are particularly rare and the information is not already in the public domain, then please reply privately in the first instance. For private sites, we may ask you for you evidence that the site welcomes visitors or is open to the public.
Do not give exact grid references to the whole Forum for particular plants if the orchid may then attract many visits – there may be other plants next to it that are just as valuable and we do not want to encourage their destruction by visitors or photographers stamping on them. Orchids are only about 50 species out of several thousand plant species in the British Isles – we have a duty to all of them.