Basic Maintenance

 

How do I manage the mailing list online with the Mailing List Management Utility (web)?

The Mailing List Management utility gives you a number of Administrative options. The Mailing List Management feature will not be available if you haven't created a mailing list yet. Refer to the creating a mailing list section if you haven't created a mailing list yet.

  • Log in to the the Mailing List Management Utility
  • The main screen will present you with a pull down menu. This will contain a list of all of the Mailing Lists that belong to you. Select the list that you want to work on and click on the Edit button.
    • Note: Be careful of the Delete button. Do not click on it unless you no longer want the Mailing List.
  • You now have the power to subscribe and unsubscribe users without having to use Email to do so. You can change your list password, change your mailing list options, add info on what the list is all about and so on.

How do I use email (Majordomo commands) to manage my mailing list?

Majordomo requires that commands be sent to it via Email. Majordomo will accept messages to majordomo@interchange.ubc.ca and will interpret commands in the body of the message.

For a general overview of Majordomo commands, send a blank message to majordomo@interchange.ubc.ca. The common Majordomo commands will be sent to you in an Email message.

How do I change the mailing list password?

To change the mailing list's Admin password:

  • Log into the the Mailing List Management Utility
  • Choose the list from the drop-down selection, and click Edit.
  • Click on the Admin link and enter the new Admin password in the text prompts, corresponding to the "Admin Password" section, labelled "New Password" and "Confirm Password".
  • Confirm by clicking Update Passwords.

How do I add someone to a mailing list?

There are two ways to add an email address to a Mailing list - using the Web Interface (if you are the owner of the mailing list) or via Email.

Using the Web Interface:

  • Log into the Mailing List Management Utility
  • Select your mailing list that you want to edit and click 'Edit'.
  • Click on the 'Users' tab
  • Type the address in the 'Add Subscribers' box and click 'Add'.

Using Email (Majordomo Commands):

  1. If the mailing list is set to allow anyone to subscribe (Open Subscribe Policy Mailing List):
  2. If the mailing list is set to prevent people from subscribing (Closed Subscribe Policy Mailing List) then only the owner or an Administrator can subscribe users via the following method:
    • You have to approve the subscription if the subscribe policy is set to Closed.
    • This can be done by sending an Email to majordomo@interchange.ubc.ca and including the following text in the body of the message: approve password subscribe mailing-list address@domain.com
      • ...where 'password' is the mailing list's Approve password (this was sent to you in an Email upon creation of the mailing list), 'mailing-list' is the name of the mailing list and 'address@domain.com' is the email address that you want to add.

How do I remove someone from a mailing list?

There are two ways to remove an email address from a Mailing list - using the Web Interface (if you are the owner of the mailing list) or via Email.

Using the Web Interface:

  • Log into the Mailing List Management Utility
  • Select your mailing list that you want to edit and click 'Edit'.
  • Click on the 'Users' tab
  • Highlight the address that you want to remove in the List Subscribers section and click 'Remove'.

Using Email (Majordomo Commands):

All Interchange mailing lists are set to allow anyone to unsubscribe (Open Unsubscribe Policy Mailing List.) The only reasoning for preventing unsubscription would be to create a Spam list so we have removed this ability.

To unsubscribe from a mailing list using Email:

How do I transfer ownership of a mailing list to someone else?

Often people who manage mailing lists for organizations or clubs leave their positions and the task of administering the list falls to someone else. In these cases, they want to become owners of the list so that they can administer the list using the web utility as well as through Majordomo.

Transferring ownership requires the cooperation of both the old and new list owners. It also requires that the new owner be a Netinfo or Interchange account holder.

Follow these steps:

  • Get the owner of the Mailing List to log into the Mailing List Management Utility .
  • Have the owner select the list that needs to be transferred from the pull down menu and click on the Transfer button.
  • In the box entitled "Transfer To:", type the Interchange or Netinfo username of the account holder that wants to become the owner of the mailing list and click on Transfer.
  • Assuming that the account is active and the account holder is a valid Netinfo or Interchange customer, the mailing list will be transferred to the new account holder.
  • An Email will be sent to both the original owner and the new owner of the mailing list to confirm that everything was done correctly.
  • The new owner should be able to access the Mailing List using the Mailing List Administration Utility. The previous owner will no longer be able to administer the mailing list using the Mailing List Administration Utility on the web.

How do I restrict who can post, subscribe to and unsubscribe from the list?

These options are available in the Options section of the web-based Mailing List Management Utility . These are the following options available to you:

  • Subscribe Policy:
    • Open: Allows anyone to subscribe to the mailing list.
    • Closed: Only Administrators/Owners can subscribe users to the mailing list.
  • Unsubscribe Policy:
    • Open: Allows anyone to unsubscribe from the mailing list.
    • Closed: Only Administrators/Owners can unsubscribe users from the mailing list.
  • Posting Policy:
    • Open: Allows anyone to post to the mailing list.
    • List: Only members of the mailing list can post to the mailing list.
    • Admin: Only Administrators can post to the mailing list.
    • Closed: No one can post to the mailing list.
  • Moderated:
    • Yes: All messages sent to the mailing list have to be approved by the list administrator/owner.
    • No: All messages will be sent to the mailing list in accordance to the Posting Policy.

How can I see who is on a mailing list?

If you own the mailing list, you can simply:

  • Log into the Mailing List Management Utility on the Interchange website.
  • Select your mailing list that you want to perform the who command on and click Edit.
  • Click the Users tab.
  • This will display a list of Email addresses subscribed to your mailing list.

If you are the owner of the mailing list and you want to get an Email of all of the subscribers on your list and a total count of those on your list, you can do the following:

  • Log into the Mailing List Management Utility on the Interchange website.
  • Select your mailing list that you want to perform the who command on and click Edit.
  • Click Options.
  • Set the "Who Access" option to either Open or List.
    • Open means that anyone can see who is on your mailing list.
    • List means that only subscribers of your mailing list can see who is on your mailing list.
  • Click on Update List.

Requesting the list of email addresses:

  • You can now send a message to majordomo@interchange.ubc.ca with the following text in the body of the message:
    who mailing-list
    • ...where 'mailing-list' is the name of the mailing list that you want to look up.
  • This should return an email with all the email addresses that are subscribed to the list along with a total number of subscribers at the end.
  • Be sure to log in again and revert the "Who Access" setting to Closed or List so that no one else can find out who is on your mailing list.
  • If you do not own the mailing list that you are trying to query, you will probably have little success as mailing lists are initially set up with "who access" disabled for privacy reasons. This option is set by the Owner of the list in the Options section of the Mailing List Management Utility so if the list does not belong to you then you will have to get the owner's permission.