General Information
What's the Purpose of the E-group?
This e-Group has been established to enhance communications and simplify event planning among the scouts, parents, leaders and committee members of Boy Scout Troop 494 of Cupertino, California. By joining Troop 494's e-group, you will automatically receive all troop reminders and messages via e-mail. To gain access to the e-group site, you will need a Yahoo! ID to get to the files and information at the site.

How do I join the e-group?
To join the e-group, go to the URL listed above (if you're reading this in Word format, you should be able to just click onto the address to visit the site.) You will need a Yahoo!ID to join the group. If you do not have one, go to Step A. If you have a Yahoo ID, go to Step B.

Step A: The following URL will start the registration process to join Sign up now. If the link doesn't work, go to Troop 494 e-group site and there will be a link that asks if you want to register to get a Yahoo! ID.

When you open the link, the application asks you to choose a Yahoo!ID and password. There is also a place to list your ‘alternate’ email. Please type in the primary e-mail you want to use to receive email from the e-group. If you leave it blank, the default is for Yahoo to create an email based on your ID @ yahoo.com. Don’t forget to type in the word that’s shown at the bottom of the form. Yahoo does this to prevent spammers from automatically filling in a large number of forms in order to get addresses from which they can send junk mail.

You should receive an email confirming your registration. Make sure to record your Yahoo! ID and password. You will need these to sign into Yahoo! Groups. After you receive your Yahoo! ID, go to Step B.

Step B: Now that you have your Yahoo ID and password, click on the following URL to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BSATroop494/join/ If you don’t have HTML enabled, you’ll have to cut and paste the URL or type it into your Internet Browser.

After you make the request, you will get an e-mail reply with a request that asks for your name, your scout’s name (if you’re not the scout), home phone number and home address. This information is to ensure that we are only giving access to people with a direct connection with Troop 494. Typically, approval will only take a day or two. Once approved, you will get all group e-mail messages to the e-mail that you used when applying to join. We cannot change the email due to the way the programming is established by Yahoo. If you wish to change the email address used for this e-group, you have to reapply with the desired e-mail address and make sure you send a request to deactivate or delete the old address.

Information and services through the e-group:
The primary function of the e-group is to broadcast messages to all members of the e-group.
Please note that when you post; a message at the site, you are sending messages to all 100+ members!! We have a list of available e-mail addresses in the Troop Directory under the Databases link. We ask you to maintain your entry in the directory.

Databases: Troop directory and outing sign-ups are contained at the secure site.

Photos: Photos from events and outings can be uploaded here. Photos from recent outings are kept here.

Members: This lists all of the members of the e-group. Members of the e-group may not have access to the files and information unless they have a Yahoo!ID. Members can still use their primary email and do not need to get or use a Yahoo email address. Membership is limited to parents/guardians of scouts, uniformed leaders of the Troop, and for scouts in senior leadership positions.

E-group administration: The e-group site owner is Bobby Toda and themoderator is Suresh Kadiyala. Either of us can provide assistance with the e-group site.

FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)
What happens if I send an email by posting a message through Troop 494 e-groups?
The message is sent to every member of Troop 494. If you need to send a message to a few of the members, look up their email addresses in the Troop Phone Directory under Databases. If you respond to an egroup message, it is also sent to every member.

Can I get access for my scout, myself and my spouse?
Yes, we can accommodate as many e-mail addresses as you need and in some cases, some members wanted a duplicate set of messages sent to their work email as well as their home email. However, we limit the access to the egroups to adults and key junior leaders as there may be sensitive information listed. The scouts have their own egroup for scouts with email and a parental approval form on file. By having one location for the sign-ups for outings, we can ensure that the parent is aware of the outing and their scout's desire to attend and also see if the parent can provide rides.

Can I modify the entries in the phone directory?
Yes, you can add, modify or delete entries that has your information in the database. In fact, we ask that you update the information for your scout as this will not be done by the moderator.

Who can gain access to the site?
Only users that are authorized can gain entry to our site. We ask people that are requesting membership to provide us with the name of their scout, phone number, home address and the names of the parents so that we can verify if needed.

Can I post any type of message?
Posting messages not related to Troop 494 matters is a form of spam and is in poor taste, especially since there are other avenues to send email messages.

I'm getting too much e-mail. Is there a way to reduce the amount of e-mail from the troop?
Yes. Log into the e-group site and click on the link Edit My Membership. You can then select the amount of messaging you receive. For example, emails can be consolidated into a digest that is sent once per day, or you can choose to only receive important e-mails.

Privacy and Security Policy
As an on-line community, we need to remember to keep the site secure and safe. Lots of private information is contained within the site. Do not let others have access to your Yahoo!ID and password for entry into the website. Remember to log-out or close the site window when you’re done, especially if you’re using a computer located outside your home. If you print out a copy of the troop’s directory, please keep it in a safe place.