Email List Owner Responsibilities
Overview
Below are list owner commands that you may find useful. Remember that
all commands are sent to the Majordomo2 software - mj2@lists.ncsu.edu
- not to the people subscribing to the list itself. For this section,
please note that all commands, including line breaks, should be entered
exactly as they appear. Information that is italicized (and sometimes
in all caps) needs to be replaced with information specific to your list.
All of the commands below start with the syntax
approve password
where password is the master password for your list. This must
followed by the specific commands you are executing.
Adding or removing owners
An email list can have more than one owner. Below are several situations
where multiple owners would be helpful:
- The primary owner is faculty advisor for a student or professional
organization; secondary owners actually manage the list.
- The list is a high volume one, and mulitple owners could help with
management.
- The list is high volume and moderated.
General information
You cannot add or delete individual owners; you must assign
to the owners variable the entire list of owners, current ones as well
as those to be added. Before doing so, you may wish to see who the current
owners are.
approve PASSWORD configshow LISTNAME owners
approve lalala configshow testlist owners
Majordomo2 will send you mail informing you of the current owners:
configset testlist owners << ENDAAC
rob_gierka@ncsu.edu
sarah@ncsu.edu
ENDAAC
>>>> --- Stopping at signature separator.
1 valid command processed; it was successful.
To add an owner
Send the configset owners command to Majordomo2. Be sure to
include in this message all the current owners and then the owner(s)
you are adding. If you send only the new owners to be added, Majordomo2
will replace the current owners with the newly submitted ones.
Note: if you accidentally send only the new owners, as long as
you have the password for the list, you can add yourself back in as
an owner!
Using the example above, we will now add "newowner1" and
"newowner2" to our "testlist" list.
approve lalala configset testlist owners << EOF
rob_gierka@ncsu.edu
sarah@ncsu.edu
newowner1@ncsu.edu
newowner2@ncsu.edu
EOF
If the command is processed successfully, you will receive the following
message from Majordomo2:
>>>> approve lalala configset testlist owners <>
>> Found tag EOF.
owners set to "rob_gierka@ncsu.edu...".
To remove an owner
Simply submit the configset owners command and list in the message
only those persons who will remain as the owners.
Passwords
Passwords are the key to security for your list. When you first applied
for your list, you were sent email providing list information and the
master password. There are several classifications of passwords, but we
will focus on the master password. For information on other types of passwords
and their uses, refer to the Majordomo2 documentation section on Admin
passwords.
Changing the master password
To change your master password enter the following command:
approve PASSWORD configset listname master_password
= new_password
approve lalala configset testlist master_password = ncsuisgreat
If the command is successfully processed, you will receive the following
message:
>>>> approve lalala configset testlist master_password = sarahisgreat
master_password set to "ncsuisgreat".
>>>> --
Stopping at signature separator.
1 valid command processed; it was successful.
If you forget your master password, send email to listman@ncsu.edu
(mailto:listman@ncsu.edu) for
it be reset. Be sure to include the name of the list that you own.
Changing your list
configuration
When you first fill out the request form for an email list, you select
certain settings for your list. As you become more savvy with your list
and how it works, you may decide to change some of these initial settings.
The majority of your list settings can be configured and changed by sending
the appropriate command to mj2@lists.ncsu.edu.
When you first set up your list, you are sent your list configuration
in the confirmation message that you receive automatically. You should
keep this file for future reference. However, if you misplace the configuration
or don't have it handy, you can request it again.
Reviewing your current configuration
To see your current configuration, send the following command:
approve PASSWORD configshow LISTNAME
approve ncsuisgreat configshow testlist
You will receive a very long configuration file. For novice users,
this may be intimidating, but you should be able to scroll through this
file and see your list settings. While you have the option of editing
this entire configuration file at once, we do not recommend this.
Instead, we recommend that you send individual commands via email to
the Majordomo2 program, changing only the desired settings one at a
time. You do not want to risk an accidental configuration change
that could cause your whole list to stop working.
Two items to consider changing in your defaults:
- Moderating the list or not.
- Hiding the list or not.
We discuss both of these below, beginning with changing a list from
unmoderated (a subscriber's posting goes directly to the list subscribers)
to moderated (a subscriber's posting goes first to the list moderators
for approval prior to posting).
Changing a list from unmoderated to moderated (or vice versa)
To change your list from being umoderated to moderated, enter the following
command. With the Majordomo2 software, the number "0" always
represents "off" and the number "1" always represents
"on". In this instance, because we are changing our list to
be moderated, we must also specify the moderator. You may include more
than one moderator, but be sure to list their email addresses on separate
lines.
approve PASSWORD configset LISTNAME moderate=1
approve PASSWORD configset LISTNAME moderators<<EOF
email_address@domain.xxx
EOF
approve ncsuisgreat configset testlist moderate=1
approve ncsuisgreat configset testlist moderators<<EOF
someone@ncsu.edu
EOF
If done correctly, you will receive a message similar to the following:
>>>> approve sarahisgreat configset testlist moderate=1 moderate
set to "1".
>>>>approve sarahisgreat configset testlist moderators
<< EOF
>>>> Found tag EOF.
moderators set to " someone@ncsu.edu...".
To change your list from moderated to unmoderated, you would use the
"configset moderate=0" command.
Note: If you choose to have a moderated list, the owner of the
list is automatically the moderator unless you specify otherwise.
Hiding your list
Some list owners prefer that their list be omitted from a listing of
all lists. With the Majordomo2 software, this is called "no advertise".
When you filled out the form requesting a list, you had to specify whether
the list was to be hidden or not. The default answer was "no,"
meaning not to be hidden. Should you decide that you do want to hide your
list, send the following command:
approve PASSWORD configset testlist noadvertise <<EOF
%*%
EOF
The %*% is the command that hides your list.
To "un-hide" your list, you would send the above command
without the "%*%" on the 2nd line:
approve PASSWORD configset testlist noadvertise <<EOF
EOF
Subscribing users
to your list
Sometimes you will subscribe users to your list instead of having them
do it themselves. You can subscribe one or more users at once.
To subscribe a user to your list and include the welcome / info message:
The command below will automatically subscribe the user and send them
the standard Welcome message (and customized Info file, if one exists):
approve PASSWORD subscribe LISTNAME email_address
approve ncsuisgreat subscribe testlist someone@ncsu.edu
approve ncsuisgreat subscribe testlist person2@ncsu.edu
>>>> approve sarahisgreat subscribe testlist someone@ncsu.edu
The following address was added to testlist:
someone@ncsu.edu
>>>> approve sarahisgreat subscribe-nowelcome testlist person2@ncsu.edu
**** The following was not successfully added to testlist:
person2@ncsu.edu
Already subscribed as person2@ncsu.edu.
In the above example, we tried to subscribe two people; however, when
we received confirmation, the list software told us that one person
was already subscribed and therefore was not subscribed again.
To subscribe a user and not include the welcome / info message:
To subscribe a user but not include the welcome / info message (in
other words, the user will not receive notification that they
have been subscribed), enter the following command. Note that there
are no spaces between the "subscribe" and "-nowelcome"
commands:
approve PASSWORD subscribe-nowelcome LISTNAME email_address
approve ncsuisgreat subscribe-nowelcome testlist someone@ncsu.edu
To unsubscribe someone from your list
approve PASSWORD unsubscribe LISTNAME email_address
approve ncsuisgreat unsubscribe testlist person2@ncsu.edu
Customized Information File (Info
file)
As users subscribe to your list, they automatically get a general welcome
message that is generated by the email software. This message includes
a user password (unique for each user) as well as information such as
list name and getting help. As a list owner, you also have the option
of creating a short, customized Info file that will automatically be appended
to the welcome message.
Typically such a customized file allows you to provide additional list-specific
information to your subscribers; for example, a URL for more information
on your organization or class. Most owners keep the length of this file
to five sentences or less. If you did not create this file when you requested
the list and would like to do so later, use the newinfo command.
Creating an Info file
Send the following command:
approve PASSWORD newinfo LISTNAME <<EOF
Place your information here. You can include information on how
to get help, urls of interest, email addresses, location of archives
and other information.
EOF
You should receive the following message from the Majordomo2 software:
>>>> approve sarahisgreat newinfo testlist << EOF
>>>> Found tag EOF.
Newinfo succeeded. >>>> --
Stopping at signature separator.
1 valid command processed; it was successful.
How do moderated lists work?
You know how to add one or more moderators to your list, but how do multiple
moderators all work together? Majordomo2 makes it easy to moderate lists
and even provides two ways to approve and post the replies to the entire
list.
On a moderated list, as on an umoderated list, mail for posting is sent
to the list itself (e.g., "testlist@lists.ncsu.edu"). However,
instead of going to the entire list, the posting gets sent to the moderators.
The moderators are given two pieces of information:
Email acceptance of a posting
To post the message via a standard email posting, the moderator needs
only to reply to the message. Majordomo2 automatically fills
in the unique token id in the subject line.
- Reply to the mail message.
- Notice that the Majordomo2 software automatically inserts the token
id on the subject line.
- The first word on the first line should be either accept
or deny (case does not matter).
- Send your mail message. Majordomo2 will strip out all the unnecessary
information and post only the original message.
Regardless of which method you choose to post the message, the original
sender of the message and the other moderators will get a note informing
them of the posting status (accepted or denied).
Archives
Majordomo2 has the ability to archive your list postings and make them
available via the Web. When you fill out the form requesting a list, if
you say "yes" to archiving, then you have to decide where you
would like your archive to reside. Information Technology will provide
storage space (free of charge) for your list, or you can provide OIT with
an AFS path and we will place your archive in your designated Web space.
For most people it will be easier to let OIT store the archive in its
space.
Once your archive is set up, you will receive an email containing the
URL for your them. Typically, it takes slightly longer to set up your
archive, and you will receive a message about it separate from your list
setup notification message.
Once the archive is set up, you can post its URL on your Web page and/or
in your customized Info file.
Why choose OIT space?
One advantage of having OIT store your archive is that if you accidentally
forget to renew your locker space then your archive and digests, if
your posts are digested, will be deleted. In addition, delivery time
may be alittle slower in your designated AFS space.
If you archive your list, you also have the option of having your list
available in digest form. See xx documentation for more information.
Protecting your list
We live in a mercantile world. Anywhere a potential market place exists,
someone will be trying to sell in it. The Internet is a big new marketplace,
and the rules about conducting business in it are still in their formative
stages. Perhaps one of the most annoying things that we encounter in our
new virtual world is junk mail. When someone sends unrequested email advertising
goods and services, it is referred to as spamming and the resulting email
is called spam.
Lists that are maintained in OIT may be susceptible to spam. To make
it harder for a spammer to spam a list, here are a few actions a list
owner may consider taking:
- Make the list hidden (no-advertise command).
- Control who can post to the list (only members are allowed to post
to list).
- Moderate the list (moderate command).
Of course, ultimately these may not work since you may not want your
list hidden or may want open postings. However, these are things to think
about.
Answering subscribers' questions
concerning your list
Your subscribers will need to know how to get help. Using a customized
Info file, you can give them an email address for the owners of the list:
listname-owner@lists.ncsu.edu. Just replace "listname" with
your list's name; e.g., testlist-owner@lists.ncsu.edu. You can also direct
them to the subscriber responsibilites Web page.
Annual renewal of lists
All lists must be renewed on an annual basis. Primary list owners
will be sent a renewal notice in August.
- Each list owner will have 60 days to renew the list.
- If the list is active but the owner is unresponsive to the renewal
requests, OIT will try to personally contact one of the owners.
- If the list is inactive and the owner is unresponsive, the list will
be deactivated and deleted at the end of 60 days.
Last modified
February 28, 2008
by dlschmid
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