(Web formatted version of this document)
(Updated 11/18/2019)
Yahoo Groups will be deleting our files, photos and message archives on December 14, 2019. Many moderators and Groups remain unaware. Please forward this message and this link: https://opendoors.transformativeworks.org/yahoo-groups-rescue-project/ to all of your Yahoo Groups and ask your fellow Group members to do the same. And then request a copy of your Yahoo Groups data from Verizon at: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/getmydata
“Yahoo Groups will be closing, files and message archives will be deleted on December 14, 2019: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN31010.html
Here is a step by step guide on how to download your Yahoo Groups here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/17fnAilYIKs08IxvgucJgPBJ3JUnSZNct_BGGKYnsidY/edit?usp=sharing
The short version of the guide
1. Admins - back up your Groups and decide whether and where to move
2. Members - back up your Groups - don't leave this to the admins.
3. Everyone - consider documenting Yahoo Groups on Fanlore, help spread the word: https://fanlore.dreamwidth.org/93917.html
The OTW has made an announcement. Their Open Doors preservation program is open to providing storage of Yahoo Groups backups that are assembled by moderators and non-moderators alike. Details here: https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/14117
Additional announcements will be here
https://yahoo-geddon.tumblr.com
If you need help, fans have set up a “Save Yahoo Groups” Discord server to ask for and provide tips https://discord.gg/DyCNddf
Some groups ask you to send info about yourself when you subscribe - in 200 characters or less. Options 1 and 2 below will both work.
Wait! Who is the moderator? How do I reach them?
If you are not asked to include a note when subscribing, you can always email the moderators directly by sending an email to:
owner-LISTNAME (where LISTNAME is the name of the Group)
Ex: owner-BuffyFanFic@yahoo.com
I'm one of the volunteers backing up fan sites before Yahoo Groups are deleted. I'd love access to the group & am happy to answer any questions about archiving files & messages. I am over 18. Thanks.
Gendered Female for person asking:
Hola - Soy voluntaria de un equipo que está haciendo copias de grupos antiguos de fics antes de que sean purgados. Me encantaría poder acceder al grupo y estoy dispuesta a responder a cualquier pregunta que tengan acerca de cómo guardar archivos y mensajes. Soy mayor de 18. :) Gracias!
Gendered Male for person asking:
Hola - Soy voluntario de un equipo que está haciendo copias de grupos antiguos de fics antes de que sean purgados. Me encantaría poder acceder al grupo y estoy dispuesto a responder a cualquier pregunta que tengan acerca de cómo guardar archivos y mensajes. Soy mayor de 18. :) Gracias!
I come from a fan group trying to archive Yahoo Groups before they close & all hosted content is removed. We'd love to access this group so we can save what we can. We will share this file with you.
Hola, mi nombre es [name]. Vengo de parte de un grupo de fans que está tratando de archivar el contenido de tantos Grupos de Yahoo como sea posible, antes que Yahoo Groups cierre sus puertas y elimine todo el contenido albergado allí. Nos encantaría poder acceder a este grupo para poder guardar lo que podamos. Compartiremos con ustedes este archivo.
I'm part of a fandom effort looking to archive Yahoo Group contents before they’re purged. I'll share the files with you. I am over 18.
Soy un miembro de un grupo de archiveros y quiero transcribir sus datos antes que su Yahoo Group esta cerrada. Vamos a compartir nuestra copia con quien quiera. Soy mayor de 18
Another Spanish version - Not a translation, just a rewrite
Hola, mi nombre es [name]. Vengo de parte de un grupo de fans que está tratando de archivar el contenido de tantos Grupos de Yahoo como sea posible, antes que Yahoo Groups cierre sus puertas y elimine todo el contenido albergado allí. Nos encantaría poder acceder a este grupo para poder guardar lo que podamos. Compartiremos con ustedes este archivo.
I'm a long term fan of [fandom] want to download [fandom] fanworks for posterity/personal use. I am over 18.
Option 5 ENGLISH: (written by Doranwen , this is too long for the 200 character ‘tell us about yourself’ space, but might work if you are sending send an email message to the moderator)
Hi, I'm XXXX, and I'm one of the many volunteers who are attempting to make backups of Yahoo Groups before all of the data disappears thanks to Yahoo's recent decision to scale back Yahoo Groups to mailing lists only. I have applied to join your group ****** in an effort to preserve this data. Let me explain what I will do, if you'll approve my membership:
- I will use a software program to download all of the files and photos for safekeeping.
- I will use the same software program to crawl all of the messages and save them to a database format (db3).
- I will export the messages to a single HTML file. (Future export possibilities include a nicer formatted HTML, as well as a couple SQL types.)
- I will upload these to a *private* Mega.nz folder, and provide you with the link to your group's messages and other files. I will also send a copy to the Open Doors project for preservation. They are committed to preserving the data, but will not share it publicly unless given permission by group moderators (indeed, at this time they have no framework in place for sharing it at all, but simply wish to preserve while we still have the opportunity to do so). You can see more information about these efforts here: https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/14117
Thank you for considering this request.