Sub sections:
Guide for New Mailman List Owners
Establish Your List
Do you even have a list to manage yet? If not, you can request one by submitting a request to servicedesk@une.edu.au (All we need is a name for the mailing list and the name of the list owner).
Review List Configuration
Once you have your list set up, you may want to see exactly how it is configured and what options are set. To review your list's configuration settings, go to
https://mail.une.edu.au/lists/cgi-bin/admin/listname
where listname is replaced with the actual name of your list. For example, if the name of your list is unesports, you would go to
https://mail.une.edu.au/lists/cgi-bin/admin/unesports
and log in with your list-adminstrator password (which we will send to you once the list is set up). Once you are logged on to the administration site for your list, you should see the following configuration categories, including:
- General Options
- Membership Management
- Privacy Options
There are also some sub-categories for Membership Management and Privacy Options that can be accessed when you enter each of those categories. Browse through each of the available configuration screens to become familiar with the configuration options. Click on each option for more information. Feel free to email servicedesk@une.edu.au or call us on x5000 if you have any questions.
Get the List Ready for Use
Once you have familiarized yourself with your list's configuration and options, you will want to set up an introductory message and a welcome message. All of these options can be found in the General Options section of the administration pages.
Introductory Message:
The introductory message (which can be set in the “An introductory description” section of the General Options screen) should be a brief introductory description about the list. It will be included at the top of your list's listinfo page at
https://mail.une.edu.au/lists/cgi-bin/admin/listname
where listname is replaced with the actual name of your list.
Welcome Message:
The welcome message will be added to the generic welcome message from Mailman and will be sent to all new subscribers if you choose that option. It can be set on the “List-specific text prepended to new-subscriber welcome message” section of the General Options screen.
Moderation Settings
Before you subscribe email addresses to the list, consider how you want to manage your list.
"Out of the box" mailman lists are set up to ALLOW post to the list by list-members and MODERATE posts to the list by non-members. So if somebody who is subscribed to the list sends and email to listname@une.edu.au, it will be emailed to all other list members without having to be approved by you. If somebody who is not subscribed to the list (eg a spammer) emails listname@une.edu.au it will be held up by the list and you, as the administrator, will have to approve the post.
If you want to change the settings to make it more (or less) moderated, have a look at the Privacy Options -> Sender Filters section of the list.
Setting "Should new list member postings be moderated?" to YES, means that all new subscribers are automatically set up "moderated" and can't post without your approval. (This will lock down your list - and give you full control of what gets posted to the list).
Setting "Action to take for postings from non-members for which no explicit action is defined" to Approve means that everybody, subscriber or not, can post to the list without approval by the moderator. (Change this setting with care, it will potentially allow spam to be posted to the list)
You can also set each members right to post individually in the Membership Management section. If there is a tick in the MOD column of next to the username, the user's posts will be moderated, if there is no tick box in that column, the user can post to the list without moderation/approval from the moderator.
Adding Members:
Subscribe Yourself
When you establish a Mailman list, you are not automatically added as a subscriber. This means that you must subscribe yourself if you want to receive messages that are posted to the list. To add yourself to your list, go to the Membership Management section of your list's administration pages and choose the Mass Subscription category. Put your address in the box. Click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
Of course, you do not need to subscribe yourself to your list if you do not want to. Keep in mind, however, that some lists are configured to only allow subscribers to post messages. If you are an owner of such a list and do not subscribe yourself, your posts will not be accepted by the list.
Get Subscribers
Mailing lists need subscribers to be worthwile. How you get them will depend on what your list is for. If it is for a class or small group of people, then you can probably tell people about the list in class, or email them, or even add them yourself. If your list is intended for a larger body of subscribers, you might want to post information about your list to other newsgroups, or mention it on a Web page.
Subscribers will generally want to know the following information:
- Name of the list
- Purpose of the list
- Restrictions on the use of the list
- How to subscribe
- How to unsubscribe
Subscribers can go to the listinfo page of your list https://mail.une.edu.au/lists/cgi-bin/listinfo/listname, fill in their email address in the “Your Email Address” field of the “Subscribing to <listname>”section, pick and click SUBMIT to subscribe.
You can also subscribe a list of email addresses yourself from the Membership Management -> Mass Subscription settin of the list.
You're Set!
Once you've done the above, that's pretty much it. The only times you'll really need to be active as a list owner are:
- If your list is a private or moderated list
- If and when you receive error messages
- If you have a problem subscriber or spammer
Don't forget that you can always contact the Servicedesk (x5000, servicedesk@une.edu.au) if you have any questions.