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Mailing lists are a good way to send a message or series of messages to many people at once. Some people use mailing lists for newsletters, while others use them for product updates or discussion groups. A mailing list is similar to a user alias, but has much more functionality.

To manage the mailing lists for your domain, click on the Domain Settings menu and choose Mailing Lists. This will take you to a page that lists all of the mailing lists in the domain.

Adding a List - Click on the New List button to add a new mailing list. This will show the Mailing List Settings page. More information can be obtained in the help topic List Settings.

Editing a List - To edit the general settings of a mailing list, click on the name of the list.

List Name - The name of the mailing list.

Description - The description that was entered for the mailing list.

Moderator - The user responsible for the list.

Delete Link - Click on this link to delete the corresponding list. A confirmation page will appear. Note: Once a list is deleted, it is not recoverable.

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Digest Overview

Digest mode is another method of receiving posts to a mailing list that reduces the number of emails that get received. Subscribers to your list may choose digest mode rather than normal mode if they would prefer to get summary emails of the list conversations rather than an email for each post.

Note: Digest mode for a list must be enabled before it will function. It can be enabled in List Settings.

Digests can be configured in such a way that they send when a certain amount of time has passed, or when certain thresholds are met (number of posts or combined size of the posts, for example). For more information regarding digest settings, please see one of the topics below.

• Digest Settings
• Digest Subscribers

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Actions Menu

• List Settings - This item has the same effect as clicking on the list name. It will allow you to edit the settings of a list. For more information, see the help topic List Settings.
• List Subscribers - Subscribers are those email addresses that will receive copies of every email posted to the list. For more information, see the help topic List Subscribers.
• Digest Settings - Digest mode settings can be modified from here, including how frequently list digests are sent. For more information, see the help topic Digest Settings.
• Digest Subscribers - The digest equivalent of Subscribers. For more information, see the help topic more info.
• Poster Whitelist - Email addresses entered into the poster whitelist may post to the list in addition to those defined in General Settings. For more information, see the help topic Poster Whitelist and Blacklist.
• Poster Blacklist - Email addresses in the poster blacklist will not be permitted to post to the list. For more information, see the help topic Poster Whitelist and Blacklist.
• Subscription E-Mail - The contents of the subscription email are sent to new subscribers. For more information, see the help topic Subscription E-Mail.
• Help File - When a command is sent to the list serv command address, and it is formatted incorrectly, or when an email is sent to the list that is not permitted, the help email is sent to the user. For more information, see the help topic Help E-Mail.

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The list settings for a mailing list contain the information that establishes how the list functions. Information about the items on this page can be found below.

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List Settings

List name - This is the name of the list and the email address to which and from which emails will be sent.

Description - For ease in identification, you may add a description to the list.

List moderator - This is the "owner" of the list. The moderator must be a user in your domain.

List password - Posting on a list can also be restricted by requiring a password. To post to a list that is password protected you must send the password in the subject enclosed by brackets and colons (e.g. Subject: [:password:] Attention all subscribers).

Allowed Posters - An email that is sent to the list, and therefore re-sent to the list subscribers, is considered to be "posted". In this field you can determine who has access to post to the list. In addition to the selected post option, you can enable the posters list, which can further permit or deny users.

• Anyone - Setting the list to "anyone" means that when anyone, regardless of whether they are subscribed to the list or not, sends an email to the list, it will be sent out to all members. This setting can cause abuse if it is not closely monitored.
• Subscribers Only - Setting the list to "subscribers only" allows the list subscribers, and only the list subscribers, to send and receive posts. The moderator will still be permitted to post.
• Moderators Only - If the moderator is set as the post option, only the moderator will be able to post to the list. This means that no one else, not even list subscribers, will be able to post.

Subject prefix - All list posts will get this text put on the subject line before the actual subject. It is recommended most for discussion lists, so that people can filter posts more easily.

Max message size - The maximum permitted size of a message (in kilobytes). If the message exceeds this size, it will not be posted. If you do not wish to set a size limit, enter 0 (zero).

Max recipients / message - This setting is used to set the number of recipients per message that will be sent. For example, if there were 500 subscribers to a list, and the max recipients value was 100, 5 emails would be sent (each with 100 recipients). Changing this setting can affect the load on the server.

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List Options

Reply to list - When this option is checked, replies from a subscriber go to the list. If this option is off, the reply goes to the person who posted the original message on the list.

Enable digest mode - This enables digest mode. When using digest, the server stores all posts to the list in a set folder. When the 'trigger' is set off, all accumulated posts are sent out as a single message. For more information about digest mode, see the topic Digest Overview.

Enable poster whitelist - Anyone added to the Poster Whitelist will be able to post if this option is enabled. The Poster Blacklist is always enabled.

Send Subscribe Email - Check this option to send an email in response to new subscriptions performed through list serv commands.

Send Unsubscribe Email - Check this option to send an email in response to unsubscribe requests performed through list serv commands.

 

Enable header - When enabled, the header you define in Header will be placed at the top of each email.

Enable footer - When enabled, the footer you define in Footer will be placed at the bottom of each email.

Enable SUBSCRIBE command - This enables the subscribe command that allows people to subscribe to the list by sending the command to the list command address. Leave this box unchecked if you wish to have control over your list subscribers, and then only list administrators will be able to modify the subscribers. The use of this command is detailed in the topic List Serv Commands.

Enable LIST command - This option enables the ability for a user to send an email to the list command address and receive a reply of all list users. The use of this command is detailed in the topic List Serv Commands. Note: It is recommended that you leave this option disabled, as people or automated systems could use the user list for malicious purposes.

Allow unsubscribe from subject - Enabling this option will allow a subscriber to unsubscribe from your list by replying to the list with unsubscribe in the subject line. It is recommended that you usually keep this option enabled, as it will reduce complaints of abuse, as subscribers can quickly opt-out of the list.

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Headers and Footers

Headers and footers can be added to each post made to the list. This can be useful for introducing your mailing list, showing contact information, or providing removal instructions. Headers are placed at the top of posts, and footers are placed at the bottom of posts.

To edit a list's header or footer, choose the Header or Footer item from the actions pop-up menu on the Mailing Lists page. You will also need to enable the header or footer on the List Settings tab.

Note: The Header and Footer are not added for digest mode subscribers. To modify those, see the topic Digest Settings.

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List subscribers are those email addresses that will receive list posts. To modify the subscribers for a mailing list, choose List Subscribers from the Actions drop-down menu.

You will see a page that shows all of the email addresses of people who have subscribed to your list. Keep in mind that digest mode has a different subscriber list, so if people want to receive posts in digest format, you'll need to enter them in Digest Subscribers.

Add Addresses - Click on this button to add one or many email addresses to the list. Ensure that you enter one email address per line when adding them. Duplicates will not be added.

Actions menu - Use this menu to perform functions to upload and download the list.

• Download - Downloads the list as a text file, with one line per email address.
• Upload - Use this option to upload a list file to the server. This file must be in .txt format with one line per email address
• Delete All - Deletes all email addresses in the list. A confirmation dialog will appear. Once you have deleted the addresses, it is not possible to get them back, so it is recommended that you first download the list before deleting the users.

Delete Link - Click on the delete link next to an email to remove it from the list.

Search - Use the search button to find a specific email address in the list quickly.

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The Digest Settings page allows you to modify how digest mode works for your mailing list. Before digest mode will function, it must be enabled in the General Settings page.

List Name - For reference, shows the name of the mailing list.

Current Digest Size - The current size of the next email to be sent. This value will grow the more emails that get posted to the list. When a digest is sent, the number resets to 0 (zero) KB.

Last Sent - The date fo the last digest email sent.

Subject - Enter a subject for all digest emails. This subject should represent the context of the list.

Send Trigger Type - Choose what type of event triggers the digest to be sent. If more information is required, it will be asked below the trigger type.

Send Now - Click on this button to send out the current digest regardless of the trigger.

Send Digest As - Change this to determine what type of email will get sent with the digest. Digests can be sent as plain text to conserve space, or as HTML to preserve formatting of the posts.

Strip non-text attachments from digest - Digests can be much larger than standard lists, for this reason you may want to minimize the actual sending size of the digest by removing non-text attachments.

Enable header, separator, footer - These will not be shown in the digest unless the options are checked.

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Digest Headers and Footers

Mailing List emails to digest subscribers are grouped together so that multiple emails are combined into one digest email. In order for headers and such to function, they must be enabled in the Digest Settings tab. The digest email is formatted as shown below.

DIGEST HEADER
  Email 1
DIGEST SEPARATOR
  Email 2
DIGEST SEPARATOR
  . . .
DIGEST SEPARATOR
  Email n
DIGEST FOOTER

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Digest subscribers are those email addresses that will receive list posts in digest format, rather than receiving all emails as they get posted to the list. To modify the digest subscribers for a mailing list, choose Digest Subscribers from the actions drop-down menu in the Mailing Lists page.

You will see a page that shows all of the email addresses of people who have subscribed to your list in digest mode. Keep in mind that digest mode has a different subscriber list, so if people want to receive posts in the normal format, you'll need to enter them in Subscribers.

Add Addresses - Click on this button to add one or many email addresses to the list. Ensure that you enter one email address per line when adding them. Duplicates will not be added.

Actions menu - Use this menu to perform functions to upload and download the list.

• Download - Downloads the list as a text file, with one line per email address.
• Upload - Use this option to upload a list file to the server. This file must be in .txt format with one line per email address.
• Delete All - Deletes all email addresses in the list. A confirmation dialog will appear. Once you have deleted the addresses, it is not possible to get them back, so it is recommended that you first download the list before deleting the users.

Delete Link - Click on the delete link next to an email to remove it from the list.

Search - Use the search button to find a specific email address in the list quickly.

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The poster whitelist and blacklist allow you to have control over which subscribers are allowed to post messages to the list.

Use the whitelist to set the email accounts for people who are permitted to post to the list. This list is added to the email accounts that fall under the Allowed Posters option that is set in General Settings. In addition, this list will not be used unless you enable the "enable poster whitelist" option in General Settings.

Use the blacklist to block specific subscribers from posting to your list. This list is always active, and is a good way of preventing those that have sent questionable content from doing so again.

The poster whitelist and blacklist pages function the same as the subscriber list page.

Add Addresses - Click on this button to add one or many email addresses to the list. Ensure that you enter one email address per line when adding them. Duplicates will not be added.

Actions menu - Use this menu to perform functions to upload and download the list.

• Download - Downloads the list as a text file, with one line per email address.
• Upload - Use this option to upload a list file to the server. This file must be in .txt format with one line per email address
• Delete All - Deletes all email addresses in the list. A confirmation dialog will appear. Once you have deleted the addresses, it is not possible to get them back, so it is recommended that you first download the list before deleting the users.

Delete Link - Click on the delete link next to an email to remove it from the list.

Search - Use the search button to find a specific email address in the list quickly.

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The subscription e-mail is sent when a person subscribes themselves to your list. When the subscription is processed, the email is sent to their email account. Often this email is used to confirm to the person that their email was subscribed, welcome the person to the list, and summarize the rules for proper conduct when posting.

To edit the subscribe file, choose Subscription E-Mail from the actions pop-up menu on the Mailing Lists page.

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The help e-mail is sent to a person if they fail to subscribe properly or they do not post messages that conform to the policies of the list. By default, the help e-mail contains the list of appropriate commands that the person can use with the list.

To edit the help file, choose Help File from the Actions pop-up menu on the Mailing Lists page.

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List Serv Commands allow you to control the list through commands sent in email messages to the List Serv Command Address. By default, the command address for a domain is "STServ@example.com", where example is the name of your domain. Your server administrator may change this command address for you.

To send a command, compose an email to the command address with the command in the body of the message. The subject of the message is ignored.

Available Commands

Note: Any references to listname should be replaced with the list you are trying to use.

Help - Replies to the email with basic instructions on using List Serv Commands.

Help listname - Replies to the email with the contents of the Help E-Mail for that list.

List - Replies to the email with a list of all available lists.

List listname - Replies to the email with a list of all subscribers for a particular list. This command can be disabled by the moderator in List Settings.

Subscribe listname - Adds your email address to the subscribers list of the mailing list. This command may be disabled for private lists by the moderator in List Settings.

Unsubscribe listname - Removes your email address from the subscribers list for the mailing list referenced by listname.

Set mode digest listname - Sets your email address to receive emails in digest mode, which will send all messages for the list combined into one email at regular intervals.

Set mode standard listname - Sets your email address to receive emails in standard mode (the default), which will send messages one at a time to your email account.