Would you like to change the address at which you receive TidBITS each week? Perhaps you'd like to switch from the plain text to the HTML edition? Maybe you're tired of reading in your Web browser and would prefer to have TidBITS delivered to you automatically each week? All that is now easily done with our integrated Manage Mailing List Subscriptions page. If you're having any trouble with your subscription, please check there first before asking for help (the less time I spend fixing subscription problems, the more time I have to write articles for you to read).

I mentioned the new interface a few months back (see "Behind the TidBITS Curtain," 2006-09-11), but since then, Michael Landis of Web Crossing and I have improved it further, adding AJAX smarts and turning it into a tool that handles not only existing subscriptions, but also helps anyone who wants to change their address or subscribe for the first time.

The Manage Mailing List Subscriptions page walks you through a branching process, depending on whether or not you already have an account. First, you enter your email address. If it doesn't match one in our database, you have the option of trying another address or creating a new account. If your address does match one in our database, you're asked for your password, and of course, if you don't know your password, you can request a new one via email and pick up again once you have it. (The one problem the Manage Mailing List Subscriptions page can't help with is if you need a new password but can't receive mail at the subscribed address. In that case, send us email and we'll help.)

After you're logged in, the Manage Mailing List Subscriptions page shows you all the public mailing lists we run - whether or not you're subscribed - and all the private lists (such as update notification lists for various Take Control ebooks) to which you're currently subscribed. To subscribe to a list, you merely select the appropriate checkbox; to unsubscribe, deselect a checkbox. Click the Submit link when you've made your choices. You can make multiple changes if you like; the color of the confirmation message changes to acknowledge each separate change.

Note that if you unsubscribe from a private list, the only way to resubscribe is via the approach you initially used - likely the Check for Updates page for a particular ebook.