Lists make it easy for a group of people to have discussions via e-mail. Instead of each of you having to send the mail message to each of the people who want to have the discussion, you send the message to an e-mail address that identifies the list. The message is then redistributed (called "exploded") to everyone who subscribes to the list. Reading a list, then, is a matter of reading your e-mail.

Once set up, the listserv can distribute e-mail with very little human intervention. The only tasks for the list owner are handling basic list maintenance (such as answering questions from new users) and acting on error messages generated by the list's users/subscribers. Having a listserv list might at first sound confusing and perhaps daunting, but it's quite simple once you sit down and actually send e-mail to one to get a feel for how it works.

There are several different kinds of mailing list server programs, including Listserv (which runs on IBM mainframes), Mailbase, and Majordomo. UW-Extension uses a Unix listserver program officially called Listproc, but for the purposes of this document we will refer to it simply as "listserv" or the "listserver."

Each list has an associated owner(s). The owner " manages" his/her list via e-mail. Owners can add/remove subscribers, edit the information and welcome files associated with the list, etc. In addition, owners can moderate lists and receive various error messages related to them. If a list is owner-moderated, all mail posted to the list will be sent to the owner for approval. If a list is closed-subscription, all subscription requests must be approved by the owner.

Listserv Terms

listserv -- software that controls a list. To subscribe to a list, people send e-mail to the listserv program, not the list. The person who maintains a list also sends maintenance commands to listserv. All commands and requests for UW-Extension lists are sent to listproc@uwex.edu.  UW-Extension is using the Listproc brand software.

listserver -- the generic name for various types of software that operate lists

list owner -- person who maintains a list (a list can have more than one owner, but one person must be designated as the primary owner)

subscriber -- a person who receives a list's messages

moderator -- a person to whom a list's messages are sent for clearance before being sent to the list's subscribers. All lists must have a list owner, but moderators are optional.

post -- another name for sending e-mail messages to a list.

archive -- electronic storage of posts. Subscribers can get former postings for some lists (see listserv commands).

digest -- a file compilation of messages sent to a list. For some lists (those that are "digestible"), subscribers can get periodic digests instead of individual messages.

Kinds of Lists

closed lists / public lists

On closed lists, requests to subscribe must be approved by the owner. On a public list, anyone who sends a subscribe message for the list is added to the list automatically.

open lists

If a list is open, anyone can post messages to it, not just subscribers. However, only subscribers receive the list's messages.

moderated lists / unmoderated lists

On a moderated list, all messages sent to the list first go to the primary list owner, who in turn accepts them (and forwards them to the list) or rejects them (and deletes them). Moderating a list keeps the discussion on track (irrelevant postings can be rejected and the poster notified), might reduce the amount of traffic on a list, and it can also eliminate flame wars (when two or more subscribers' postings become pointlessly argumentative). On an unmoderated list, all messages sent to the list are automatically sent to all list subscribers. The noise level (discussions considered irrelevant to most of the list's subscribers) can be high on unmoderated lists.

archived lists

The listserv software can keep old postings in an archive. If a list is archived, subscribers can send a command to listserv to get former postings.

Essentials: Joining or leaving a list

People usually join a list by sending a message to the listserv software (never to the list itself). For example, if Jane Doe wants to join a public list called Forum, she would send subscribe forum jane doe as the body of her mail message to listproc@uwex.edu (the e-mail address for the listserv software controlling the Forum list). If she wants to unsubscribe from the Forum list, she would send unsubscribe forum to the same listserv address. If the list is closed or private, the request will be forwarded to list owner for approval. Not all listserv programs use the same commands, but the general method of subscribing is similar for most, if not all of them.

To use these commands, enter the command as the only text of a mail message to listproc@uwex.edu.

The "Subject:" line should be blank. Everything appearing in square brackets [ ] is optional. Substitute the italicized text with information relevant to the list. The listserv will respond to the command via an e-mail message sent back to you.

help [topic]

If you don't supply a topic, you'll receive a list of commands (essentially the list that appears here). Supply a topic to get specific information (for example, help statistics).

subscribe list your name

Use to subscribe to lists. Substitute the list's name for "list" and enter your first and last name for "your name." Why enter your name? It is possible to get a list of people subscribed to a particular list (see review below) and that list uses your name. It can also be helpful to the list owner. If you don't provide this information your subscription request will be rejected.

unsubscribe list
(or: signoff list)

Use this command when you no longer want to belong to the list.

review list

Get a list of all people and their e-mail addresses subscribed to the specified list.

statistics list [subscriber e-mail address]

Get a list of subscribers along with the number of messages each one of them has sent to the specified list. If you want statistics on specific subscribers, list their e-mail addresses after the list name. You should get back a list that looks something like the following listing:

jdoe@unity.wisc.edu           7
jhdoe@uwex.edu           19
jadoe@library.lib.wisc.edu    5

According to the above listing, jdoe has posted seven message, jhdoe has posted nineteen, and jadoe has posted five.

lists

Get a list of unconcealed mailing lists that are served by the listserver to which you send the command. Please note that some lists are defined as "concealed," which means that their names will not appear in this listing. The list of lists that you get in response to this command will include the number of total lists (concealed and unconcealed) and the names of those that are unconcealed.

which

Get a list of the mailing lists to which you are subscribed that are on the listserver. Note that this command applies only to the specific server to which you send the command. For example, if you send the commaned to listproc@uwex.edu, you will get a list of lists served by the UW-Extension server.

index listname

Get a list of files in the archive of the list you specified, or the master archive - if you specify no list

get listname documentname

Get the requested file from the specified archive.

release

Get information about the current release of the listserv program being used.

For more information...

help

General information

help set

Help on how to use the set command which is used to set various subscriber preferences

help subscribe

For help on how to subscribe

help recipients

For a list of subscribers

help get

For help obtaining archives

Information on setting up and managing a list has been published separately.