It looks like you can unsubscribe to all the email posts. Just look below
on the email
@scavengerqr and @Emma_Tallack You can unsubscribe, but be careful with the settings, as you may inadvertently unsubscribe from stuff you want to see 
Thank you, Seth, for your commitment and dedication to Orchid. I like your modern ideas for the site and I look forward to more.
Is there a way for you to format the Subject on emails where we see the topic first, so we can click on subjects weâre interested in and skip others?
Thank you,
Reba
I think this format just needs a bit of getting used to.
Also, the $4/month is not bad if you wanting to learn the jewellery trade.
Plenty information that saves you a ton of money.
Also, what really got to me for many years was that the old Orchid had this convoluted manner of posting pictures, and jewellery is all about pictures and what you are making.
I had hoped that the format would be like Gemology online or Home Machinist but hey, it is a vast improvement on the old.
Also this site is responsive, which is vital to survival.
I think that in the long run it will work.
Depends on the moderators really.
Hi @hans870 - thanks! it is absolutely responsive, and in fact works better on mobile than desktop I think! It is built on a far more modern framework than Gemology Online (no offense at all to gemology online). The forum framework is called âDiscourseâ Feel free to check out the features and functionality - it does a LOT of cool stuff.
Over time we will be moving away from âemailâ as a means to communicate with orchid. The problem is that email has all these formatting issues that force someone to edit every thing prior to posting. Now that it is responsive you can just use Orchid on your phone, and you get way more of the rich features (image handling, etc) than if you click respond to an email. But we shall walk before we run 
@Rebecca_Engel1 yes, absolutely. @leah-ganoksin-admin is already planning to adjust that, as soon as she chases down these sign up issues some folks are having!
Me, too. My email puts the specific threads in a group, which isnât happening now, so each comment stands alone. I often have no idea who is answering to what! Lol, it makes more sense when they are grouped. Thanks so much for listening to us as we get used to all of this!
@beadbryant Howdy Carla, the ideal way to use this is not to reply from your email (like the old Orchid) but rather to open the forum on your computer or on your mobile phone. We enabled the âmailing listâ mode, because we wanted to ease folks into the new Orchid 
But using Orchid exclusively via email wonât be nearly as enjoyable an experience as using the app itself.
I bet there are whole bunch of people who are not going to use phones, not
going to go to the forum directly, and not going to use anything but
email. I guess they will just fade away. Many old-timers and some of us
not so old-timers will be missed. Cost of progress.
@Vera_Meyer1 I am sure you are right. Change is tough, and some folks will simply not adjust to any new format, no matter how well conceived. Regretfully, we canât allow the future of the community to be dictated by that minority. Orchid needs to be available for this generation and the next generation of jewelers, and that requires some adjustments. I remain optimistic, as I donât believe âold-timersâ are unwilling to change or set in their ways. Some are, but many are not, and many feel strongly about contributing their knowledge and expertise and will âsufferâ through change in the name of progress. Some will not, and I am also realistic, and recognize a great omelet canât be made without a few broken eggs.
The problem is that email has all these formatting issues that force
someone to edit every thing prior to posting.
? I donât know what you mean, unless you had some really terrible
facilities.
With standard software, email consists of writing and clicking a âSendâ
button. Even monitoring a mail group should be no more trouble than
monitoring a web forum.
Email has many advantages, including easy local storage of selected
items, local editing and consolidation of information, and automatic
sorting into categories of interest.
Al Balmer
Hi @Al_Balmer3 Unfortunately, modern mail clients are not so simple. Most if not all interpret HTML and other markup and/or add it in to what is sent. This means someone needs to scrub all of that extraneous information out prior to it going live for a community to consume. This is why many times you will notice systems donât allow you to reply directly to a notification email, but rather, ask you to click a link and reply there. Itâs because writing scripts that catch all of the errant stuff embedded in an email gets nearly impossible. A forum allows the content to remain organized, and also recognizes a reality of todayâs internet⌠that people donât just want to share text, but also want to share pictures, videos, links, and other dynamic content.
@Hanuman used to scrub every email by hand, and then âpost itâ to Orchid - that made it possible to administer Orchid as an email list. It did not work for the majority of people, and it certainly did Hanuman no favors. Had the mailing list grown, he would have been unable to keep up. The reason I know it did not work for the majority of people? Orchid participation was in meaningful and steady decline for several years.
Orchid wonât be returning to the mailing list days, Iâm afraid.
Iâm with you on the phone issue. I canât imagine doing routine work on a phone rather than a computer screen. Of course, I canât take my 20 inch monitor and walk down the street chasing imaginary monsters, but Iâll manage without that feature. I appreciate some features of cellular phones, such as messaging (note the similarity to email) and portability, but I wonât be tied to a tiny screen and pretend keyboard for routine work, or even reading this forum.
Good feedback from all! I am going to close up this thread on the old orchid mailing list format, as I think weâve covered the reasons why weâve switched to a new platform in the replies above. Letâs move any further discussion into suggestions for improvements to this new platform.
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