How does one unsubscribe from a list?
To unsubscribe from a mailinglist, simply send a message
with the word "unsubscribe" in the Subject: field to the -request address of
that list:
To: listname-request@domainname.com
Subject: unsubscribe
To unsubscribe from a Digest
To unsubscribe from a Digest, write an e-mail like this.
To: listname-d-request@domainname.com
Subject: unsubscribe
How do I administer the list?
The Mailing List Manager (Xcommand), available from the
Mail Manager (domainname.com/menu), allows the administrator of the list to:
- Show List of Subscribers
- Show List Log
- Wipe List Log
- Search list of subscribers for a near match
- Directly subscribe/unsubscribe a user
You can get to the Mailing List Manager by selecting the
list from under 'Edit List' in the Mail Manager, then selecting 'Mailing List Manager.'
You will need to know the Maintainer e-mail and password to administer the list. The
results of the commands will be sent to the list maintainer's e-mail address.
I would like to set up a newsletter. Can I
get SmartList to do this?
Sure. When you use SmartList to send out an electronic
newsletter, tell SmartList not to
accept "foreign" submissions. Anyone who signs up will still receive the list
but cannot send to it. If you want all your lists to be newsletters, you can skip the
delink step. If you're not sure, go ahead and delink it.
For the list "listname,"
[1] * Edit the rc.custom file and the rc.init file. When using telnet, you may use the editor called vi ("vee-eye,") which is installed on the server. However, you may wish to edit the files using ftp instead.
[2] vi /home/username/domainname-mail/listname/rc.custom
uncomment (delete the #s) foreign_submit
comment out (precede with a #) foreign_submit= yes
[3] vi /home/username/domainname-mail/listname/rc.init
uncomment (delete #s) foreign_submit
comment out (precede with #) foreign_submit= yes
[4] * Delink the accept file (Use telnet for this step):
cd /home/username/domainname-mail
type:
.bin/delink listname/accept
When these steps are completed, the owner may send to the list by emailing to
listname@domainname.com. If anyone else attempts to mail to the list, it will be sent to
the owner rather than the list. Since the owner is now the only address in the accept file
for the list, no other submissions will be accepted. (You may want to type vi accept to be
sure no one else snuck in there.)
N.B.: Editing the rc.init file means that all lists created thereafter will also function as
newsletters.
I already have a list of addresses for my
mailing list. How can I subscribe the entire list?
The 'dist' file is the distribution list -- the list of
recipients. To add a pre-existing list of recipients, copy it into the dist file:
/home/username/domainname-mail/listname/dist
You can add a short list by hand or by cut-and-paste. For a really long list, you may want
to download the dist file, edit it using a word processing program, save it as text or
ASCII, and then upload the edited file.
The following conditions apply:
- One subscriber per line.
- Empty lines are allowed.
- The mail address of the subscriber must be the first word on
the line.
- Comments may follow the address (but separated from the
address by at least one whitespace character).
- Everything preceding the line containing:
(Only addresses below this line can be automatically removed)
is write-protected from changes (i.e. these addresses can never be
automatically/accidentally unsubscribed).
- If the line:
(Only addresses below this line can be automatically removed)
is not present at all, automatic unsubscriptions to this list are impossible.
- New subscribers will always appear on the line immediately
following the last filled entry in the dist file.
Some sample entries (the preferred format):
joe@some.where
joe@some.where (some comment)
joe@some.where (some comment) (some more comments)
Depreciated, but allowed:
<joe@some.where>
<joe@some.where> some comment
<joe@some.where> (some comment)
Not allowed:
(some comment) joe@some.where
some comment <joe@some.where>
Note: adding to the dist file for a list automatically adds to the accept file as well,
unless you have turned off foreign submissions.
How do I create a moderated list?
A moderated list means that every submission to the list
goes through your list maintainer before it actually gets posted to the list.
(1) First create a file named "moderators."
It should contain the fully qualified mail addresses of all the moderators for this list
(i.e. just
local usernames are not sufficient, at least include an @host or host! ).
(2) Then uncomment the appropriate "moderated_flag" line in rc.custom.
From then on all mail that does not contain an "Approved:
the_address_of_one_of_the_moderators" field is forwarded to all the moderators.
One of the moderators should then resend the mail to the list after adding an
"Approved: his_own_address" field to the header (and possibly editing the
contents of the mail). It will be no problem if several moderators resubmit the same
submission concurrently, since the mailinglist will filter out duplicates anyway (i.e.
only the first one will go out and be archived).
Where can I get more information about
SmartList?
For more advanced uses, the author of SmartList has written
a manual. This used to be our FAQ. You can download it in three parts from
http://www.hartzler.net/smartlist/Manual.html
There is also a SmartList mailing list. Send in your subscription requests to :
SmartList-request@informatik.rwth-aachen.de
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