Mailing
Lists
Mailing list allows you to send mail to multiple users. The Mailing
Lists feature is implemented through EZMLM/IDX MAILING LIST MANAGER
(www.ezmlm.org).
A comprehensive FAQ for ezmlm can be found at http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/infosys/mail/qmail/ezfaq/.
Here you will learn how to:
Adding and Creating Mailing
Lists
To create a mailing list, do the following:
- On your control panel home page, click E-Mail.
- Click Add New Mail Resource at the bottom of the page.
A new form appears:
- Choose Mailing List from the drop-down box above.
- Agree to additional charges if any.
- Create the mailing list using the form that appears:
- Enter E-mail address: This is the e-mail address from
which mail will be forwarded to subscribers.
Important: you can only enter a new e-mail address. If
you need to use an existing address, first delete the resource
that uses it.
- Comment: add a comment that will help you identify
this address among other mail resources, if needed.
Note: to remove a mailing list, click the Delete
icon in the Mailing List Properties section .
See below how to configure the mailing
list according to your needs.
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Configuring
a Mailing List
To configure a mailing list, do the following:
- Click the name of the mailing list. Its properties will show
on the right.
- Click the Edit icon next to the Mailing List name.
- On the page that appears, choose the preferred settings. See
below for details.
- Click the Submit button to save changes.
For profound information on how to configure your mail list please
read documentation at www.ezmlm.org)
Now let's take a closer look at some of the options.
Enter the e-mail address that enables mail list subscribers to
report their problems or error messages sending requests to your_mailinglist-owner@domain.com.
Since EZMLM can take care of virtually all requests without
human intervention, the list owner may read mail only infrequently.
By default, all messages sent to a list are kept archived. This
way, subscribers can later retrieve messages from the archive. For
instance, subscribers haven't been following the list for a while,
or they just want to see the discussion of a specific question.
E.g.: retrieve one message at a time with the -get command:
your_mailinglist-get.123@domain.com (get message 123)
Read more on commands to access
the ezmlm message archive.
* The archive is also used to create digests.
Check Not Archived to disable archiving the messages sent
to the list.
You can prohibit the overall access to the archive and authorize
only moderators to get at it.
Here you can restrict the access to the mailing list archive by
allowing only subscribers retrieve the archive. Non-subscribers'
requests will be rejected.
Check the Digest box to set up the mailing
list with a digest function. The digest is a special kind of mailing
list extension. Instead of sending separate messages, it sends out
a collection of messages ordered by digest subscribers collections
of messages. Digest is sent out when a predetermined time or traffic
limit has been reached. Receiving digest is very convenient for
users who want to follow a list, but not to participate in the discussion.
Digests contain each message as it was sent out by the list. No
editorials, no missing messages. If the list owner has chosen to
restrict posts and archive access to subscribers, digest subscribers
are automatically given the same privilege.
From the subscriber point of view, the digest list for the mailing
list your_mailinglist@domain.com is called your_mailinglist-digest@domain.com.
You use the same commands to work with digest as you do when you
work with the main list. The only difference is that you use your
commands with 'digest' indication.
Check "No prefix" to prohibit adding prefix to
the subject line of each message that does not already contain it.
If you want the subject line of each message that does not contain
it, to include the prefix, place the text in the file DIR/prefix
Usually an applicant for subscription (your_mailinglist-subscribe@domain.com)
is sent a confirmation request. To confirm it, one should just reply
to the message. When it is done, recipient's address is added to
the database and he becomes a subscriber.
This verification mechanism tests if the person at the subscription
address really wants to be a subscriber. You can always include
or exclude confirmation from the subscription procedure.
Mailing lists may use subscription moderation. Subscription to these
lists is identical to the process described above,
except that after confirmation the request is passed on to the list
moderator(s). One becomes a subscriber only after his request has
been approved by a moderator, i.e. he replies to the ``Reply-To:''
address.
In special cases, the list owner may set up the list to be message
moderated. On a message moderated list, messages, instead of going
directly to the list (to send messages to the list, one must know
its name. If the list is called mailinglist@domain.com, just
send a message to mailinglist@domain.com), are sent to one
or more moderators. They can accept or reject, but not modify the
message. If the message is accepted, it is sent to the list unmodified.
If it is rejected, it is e-mailed back to the sender, optionally
with an explanation from the moderator. On moderated lists it may
take a little longer for the message to reach all the subscribers,
since it has to be read and approved by at least one moderator before
being sent out to the subscribers.
Here, you can allow remote administrators to edit the text files
that make up most of the ezmlm responses. Replies are sent only
if the target address is a remote administrator. With this switch,
ezmlm replies to the -edit command with a list of the files in dir/text/.
Only files where editing seems reasonable are included in the list.
The remote administrator can edit any file in dir/text/ by
sending e-mail containing the new text to -edit.file where ``file''
is the name of the file replaced (edited).
In reply to this command, ezmlm sends a message with the file and
editing instructions. A ``cookie'' based on the date, file name,
and contents of the file is added to the ``Reply-To:'' address.
The cookie becomes invalid as soon as the file has been changed,
or after 27 hours, whichever is shorter. Also, the cookie cannot
be used to edit any other file, even if the other file has exactly
the same contents.
Here you can disable posting by subscribers to the mailing list,
so they will only receive messages posted by moderators. This is
usually chosen to send announcement or notifications where the interaction
between recipients is not intended.
A remote administrator is an address with the rights to do certain
administrative tasks remotely by E-mail. Depending on how the list
is configured, remote administrators may have the right/ability
to list subscribers, search for subscriber addresses by name, add
and remove subscriber addresses and/or edit the texts that are sent
in reply to list commands.
Mailing list users are not allowed to list the addresses of all
subscribers. Still, you can allow remote administrator to get it.
The subscription log stores entries for each modification made to
the subscriber database. Remote administrators can list this log
or search it for specific entries. For example, listing this file
allows the remote administrator to see recent additions and removals.
You can set up your mailing list to allow posts from subscribers
only. In this case posts received from non-subscribers will be rejected
and sent back.
If you enable this function, users will be required to request to
the remote administrator in order to retrieve mail list archives.
Otherwise, archive will be accessible only to the remote administrator.
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Adding Subscribers to
your Mail List
Subscribers are the recipients of your newsletters. The total number
of subscribers is displayed in the brackets.
To add subscribers to your mail list, do the following:
- Click the name of the mailing list. Its properties will show
on the right.
- Click the Add icon next to the Subscribers name.
- Enter subscriber's email in the Add subscriber field.
To add several subscribers at once, enter their e-mail addresses
separated with line break in the Batch subscribers creation
field:
Removing subscribers:
- To delete subscribers one by one, click the Delete icon
next to the subscriber.
- To mass delete all subscribers, click the Delete icon
in the Remove all subscribers field.
To send a message to a mailing list, send the newsletter to the
mail list e-mail address using WebMail or any mail client such as
Outlook Express.
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Adding
Moderators to your Mail List
Moderators approve of message posts and requests for subscription.
Individual moderator's addresses are kept secret, even from other
moderators.
To add moderators to your mail list, do the following:
- Click the name of the mailing list.
- Click the Add icon next to the Moderator name.
- Add a new subscriber by submitting your entry.
- To add several subscribers at once, enter them in a Batch
Subscribers Creation field.
There can be several moderators, both for messages and subscription:
Message moderators allow messages to be
sent to the mail list. The message will be passed on to the mailing
list subscribers only if a moderator approves it.
Subscription moderators allow people to
subscribe to the list. If at least one subscription moderator approves
the request, the user address becomes a subscriber.
Important: As a rule of thumb, most lists use the same
addresses for both functions. The total number of moderators is
displayed in the brackets.
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Adding
Message Trailer To Mailing Lists
(available in version 2.3 and higher)
Message trailer is an additional text you can add to each
message. It usually contains information on how to unsubscribe from
the list or some important information for subscribers. There is
one trailer for all messages within one mailing list. To add a message
trailer:
- Click the name of the mailing list. Its properties will show
on the right.
- Click the Add icon next to Message Trailer. The following
page will show:
- Enter the text that will be added to each of your subscribe
messages.
- Click Submit.
To edit a message trailer, click the Edit icon next to the
Message Trailer, edit the text and click Submit.
To remove a message trailer, click the Delete icon against
the Message Trailer field.
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