Moderation creates the following differences between WordFun and most other email groups, including WordPlay:

"They also serve who only stand and wait." Surely, John Milton had a deeper meaning than meets the eye.

• "Serve" must refer to a list server such as Yahoo or Topica. Milton accepts them as legitimate wannabes ("also"), despite their inherent inadequacies.
• "Stand and wait" clearly refers to a situation in which your message is not posted right away on the list server. This is acceptable, according to Milton – and who am I to argue with him?

We can therefore understand various other issues relating to moderation.

• On occasion, the moderator deal with the other things that he has to do in life, and messages will be delayed.
  • These delays will be exacerbated by the moderator's ISP, by Yahoo or Topica, and by hackers.
  • They will probably also be influenced by other Internet-based issues over which nobody seems to have control.
• There may be entire days in which the moderator does not review messages, just as there may be entire days in which you do not handle or attend to your urgent computer business. As Milton says, I will still be serving you, even though your message will stand and wait.
• On the other hand, there may be days in which the moderator checks the messages every hour. You are likely to be annoyed with your overflowing emailbox on those days.
• Subscribers who opt for a daily digest or those who visit their emailbox only once a day may not notice the delay in postings.

Some messages will not be put through. The moderator, who has a life to live, will not explain each rejection. As Milton didn't "c'est, la vie." (OK, that was a triple entendre).

Some subscribers with the right connections may have their own moderation lifted. This will be determined on an individual basis, after negotiations with the moderator.