Technology Problem Solved: I Belong to a Yahoo Groups listserve, yet I can't access group messages and other features online

I manage several listserves on Yahoo! Groups. The listserves work fine once they're set up, but the Yahoo system is complex and non-intuitive. If I were starting a new listserve group, I'd use Google Groups.

In a future post, I hope to provide information on how to set up a group. Today, though, I want to address another issue.

The "Subject" of this blog post describes the problem. Someone - let's call her Sondra - is a member of a Yahoo! Group, and decides to try to access group information online. Maybe Sondra wants to read group messages online, or perhaps there are photos or files to access. Sondra tries to click on the link that's included on the listserve emails, but is stymied.

What's wrong? And how can Sondra's problem be solved?

Before answering, I must acknowledge that the solution is an [expletive deleted] nightmare. No wonder Yahoo! is losing money. But, it CAN be done. And, it only has to be done once. That is, once this solution is implemented, Sondra will be able to view messages and other Yahoo! Group content on the web.

The process doesn't take very long, but, as you'll see below, it involves a large number of non-intuitive steps. I've tried to set the steps out in great detail below. I suggest you print out these instructions and follow along.

Overview: The problem is that Sondra doesn't have a Yahoo identity and access to Yahoo! Groups requires a Yahoo ID. Therefore, Sondra needs to create a Yahoo! ID in order to read the posts online, even though she doesn't receive Group posts at a Yahoo email address.

Let's assume that Sondra receives emails from GroupA@yahoogroups.com at sondra@anyemail.com.


Sondra should follow these steps:

1) Sondra should go to groups.yahoo.com

2) She should scroll down and until she sees (under the login boxes) - "Don't have a Yahoo! ID? Signing up is easy." Click on the "Sign Up." link.

3) Next, Sondra selects a Yahoo ID and answers the other questions asked. She should INCLUDE THE email sondra@anyemail.com address under "Alternate email."

4) After Sondra creates her Yahoo ID, the next screen will have a link "Edit Marketing Preferences." It's not necessary, but I'd suggest Sondra click on this link and opt out of all the marketing stuff - to cut down on spam. I'd also advice Sondra to KEEP the Yahoo email address (for the Yahoo identity she just created) as the place for Yahoo to contact her. She'll never check that email address, so the spam can just pile up there - what does she care?

Sondra should not give Yahoo! her phone or snail mail address. She should then click on "save changes." It will appear that nothing has happened, but actually Sondra's changed preferences HAVE been saved.

5) Now Sondra should go to the top of this screen. She should see a (fairly small) link that says "My Yahoo." Click on "My Yahoo."

6) On the next screen, Sondra must scroll down the left side of the screen and click on link to "Groups."

7) On the next screen, on the left near the top, Sondra should see a link inside box that says "Click here if you receive Yahoo! Groups email but don't see your groups listed here."

8) After Sondra clicks, she'll be asked for an additional email. She should enter her sondra@anyemail.com address.

9) Sondra will then be asked to click a link to "verify" her sondra@anyemail.com email. What this means is that Yahoo needs to verify that she really does receive mail at the @anyemail.com address. After Sondra clicks on the "verify" link, Yahoo will immediately send an email to her @anyemail.com address. Sondra must then check her @anyemail.com address for an email from Yahoo. She'll click on the link in that email and her @anyemail.com address is now verified.

10) Now all Sondra has to do is use her newly created Yahoo! ID to log in at groups.yahoo.com. Voila! - she should see all the Yahoo Groups where she's subscribed at the sondra@anyemail.com address. And, henceforth, she'll be able to access her groups this way with her now-created Yahoo! ID.

NOTES:
A) Further complications will ensue if Sondra has multiple emails where she receives messages from different Yahoo Groups. Suppose, for instance, that her subscription to GroupA@yahoogroups.com comes to the (now familiar) sondra@anyemail.com, but that she receives posts from GroupB@yahoogroups.com at sondralady@someotheremail.com. Sondra is going to have to add the second email to her Yahoo identity. She will not have to create a different Yahoo identity. I can't give detailed instructions on how to do this, but at some point after she's linked her first email to the Yahoo! ID, Sondra will be asked if there are any other (non-Yahoo) email addresses she wants to link to this same ID. And she'll probably have to verify the second email address too.

B) I make no representations about how long these instructions will remain accurate. I think the basic idea of having to create a Yahoo! ID will probably persist, but the details may change in terms of links to click, etc. (Another charming aspect of doing battle with Yahoo - and yes, that's meant sarcastically.)

C) I know I have not been consistent and have sometimes called it Yahoo! (Exclamation point! I'm so excited!) and sometimes just plain ol' Yahoo. Deal with it.