This information is provided by the NC State University Computing Center .
Modified by the Lists Manager at UW-Extension.
Setting up a new list
Be sure you have first read the General Listserv Information.
To set up a list you must first meet two requirements:
- be faculty, or full-time staff, and
- plan to use the list for only University-related activities (such as teaching, research, administrative activities).
To create a list, go to the list request form.
If you have any questions please go to the help links on the form. You will need to fill in all the information on the form.
There are several types of lists to choose from(all options may not be available):
The listproc program is managed by the listproc manager(s) at UW-Extension, and some options and settings can be changed only by them. If you have questions about your list, or need to change some of its options, please send e-mail to the Lists Manager at listsmgr@uwex.edu and they can help you get these options changed.
Decisions to be made when starting a list
The list's name
The list's name both identifies the list to its subscribers and makes up part of its e-mail address.
As an identifier to the subscribers, the name should be as short as possible while still being descriptive. The only restriction on list names is that they may not contain a period (ideas-l is acceptable, but ideas.l is not). Many people use -l at the end of the name so it is easily identified as a list. However, the lower case 'L' looks like the numeral one (1) to some people, so there's always the possibility that it can cause confusion. If you want to be able to archive the list, the name may not contain an underscore (as in list_name). As a default, all lists created with the Listproc List Request Form will have '-list' appended at the end.
The e-mail address of a list set up by UW-Extension will be the list's name followed by @uwex.edu. For example, if your list's name were mylist, its e-mail address would be mylist@uwex.edu
Kind of list
You have several options for the kind of list you can set up. These options directly affect how much work you'll have to do to maintain the list and also the amount of traffic your list will have. You may combine most of the following options.
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On closed lists, the owner must approve all subscription requests. Closed lists are good if you want to keep the group small or to be sure that only people who are involved with the group's subject matter have access to the list (for example, if you're using a list to enlarge classroom discussion, you might want to use a closed list so only class participants may join). On a public list, anyone who sends a subscribe message for your list is added to the list automatically. An advantage to this method is that it doesn't require any time or energy from the list owner. The disadvantage is that the list owner loses control over who can join the list's discussions.
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If a list is open, anyone can send messages to it, not just subscribers. However, only subscribers receive the list's messages.
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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 can help keep the discussion on track (irrelevant postings can be rejected and the poster notified) and it can also eliminate flame wars (when two or more subscribers' postings become pointlessly argumentative). However, moderating a list can be time-consuming and can slow down discussion. Before you decide to moderate the list, consider how many participants will be in the discussion; the larger the list, the harder it is to moderate (but perhaps the more a moderator is needed). On an unmoderated list, all messages sent to the list are automatically sent to all list subscribers. The noise level (discussions irrelevant to most of the list's subscribers) can be high on unmoderated lists.
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The listserv software can keep old postings in an archive. Subscribers can send a command to listserv to get former postings. Archiving the list doesn't require effort from the list owner unless the list is moderated.
Options for replies to the list
Most electronic mail systems have some sort of reply command that automatically enters the sender's e-mail address when a response is made to a message. Most systems automatically send replies to the e-mail address that sent the original message. With lists, you have the option of having replies to the list's messages go to the list (every subscriber to the list gets the reply) or only to the individual sender who posted the original message. List created at UW-Extension by default sends replies to the list. As a list owner, however, you can decide how the list should handle replies. Keep in mind, however, that for moderated lists, all replies (in addition to original posts) go to the moderator before they can go to the list.
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Why send replies to individual posters?
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Subscribers often find it tedious and annoying to get replies that are in response to one person, especially when the reply is not one that furthers discussion or is in response to a very specific question (such as "Will someone please send me the URL for the admissions office?"). Because most people use the reply option of their mail program and won't think to change the automatically-supplied header information, if the reply-to is set to the list and not the sender, everyone gets the answer to the question. Unless everyone on the list is likely to have the same specific problem, the answer won't be of interest to everyone. If your list is primarily for sending information out to a group (and not for generating discussion), you might not want to have replies sent to the list.
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Why send replies to the list?
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Setting replies to go to the list will increase traffic on the list, which is good if your goal is to generate discussion. A disadvantage of having replies go to the sender instead of to the list is that sometimes the reply can be of benefit to everyone. (A work-around for this situation is to ask people to post a summary of the responses to the list, giving readers one message summarizing the correspondence.) If you have replies going to the list and find that there are too many private messages, or too many messages going to the list, then it might be time for you to post a reminder to people about when to post to the list and when to post to the individual.
Maintaining a list
Maintaining a list is a matter of sending commands via e-mail messages to listproc (the full address is listproc@uwex.edu). The listproc software identifies each list owner by their e-mail address and a password. Consequently, you must always correspond with the listserv software from the user id with which you were initially identified as the owner of the list. If your list is public and unmoderated, your duties as a list owner are minimal.
Password
To ensure that only the list owner can make changes to the list, every list has a password associated with it. Whenever you send commands that will affect the list, you will be required to include the password.
Messages list owners can receive
List owners have the option of receiving copies of all subscription and signoff (unsubscription) requests, information and statistics requests, copies of error messages sent to people using or trying to use the list, and several other requests. This information may be helpful to list owners who monitor the list closely or need to keep up with how many people are using the list. If you aren't interested in these messages, they can be an annoyance. When you set up the list you can indicate how much of the activity you want to oversee.
By default, lists created at UW-Extension are set for list owners to receive copies of all requests made by users. These notices include the following:
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set reports
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subscribe requests
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unsubscribe requests
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requests for listing of the list's subscribers
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statistics request
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run requests
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requests that are rejected because the sender is not a member of the list
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various errors messages generated by user requests
The list's files
Each list has several files associated with it, and as list owner you'll need to edit a few of them. When you first create the list, you'll want to edit the info and welcome files. The welcome file contains the text that is sent to new subscribers and gives general information about how to use the list and also how to unsubscribe from the list. This file can also state the list's purpose, the kind of discussion it welcomes, and identify the list owner. The info file is the text of the message that is sent in response to the information command. This file can give whatever information the list owner feels is pertinent to the list and helpful to potential subscribers. Consider including the list owner's name and e-mail address, along with information for subscribing and unsubscribing. There is also the subscribers file which lists the names and e-mail addresses of all the list's subscribers.
Changing the list's files
Every listserv-type list has a set of files associated with it that are used for administrative purposes. As a list owner, you will have access to these files. Some of the file you might want to edit are:
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aliases -- list of the file's aliases
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ignored -- the list's list of unwelcome addresses
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info -- a file in which you can describe the list, its purpose, and procedures. This file is sent in response to the info command
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subscribers -- a listing of the list's subscribers
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welcome -- the message that is sent to all new subscribers. This message usually contains information about the list's purpose and procedures and also information about how subscribers can unsubscribe from the list or suspend getting messages.
Making changes to the files associated with your list is a three-step process. You must first ask listserv to send you the file, then edit it, and finally return the file to listserv. Below are step-by-step instructions.
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Getting the file -- Send an e-mail message to lisproc@uwex.edu giving the following command on the first line of the mail message:
edit list password file
For example, to get the file of subscribers to the list named mylist that has the password mypswd, you would issue the command
edit mylist mypswd subscribers
- You will receive the file as a mail message from listserv and can edit the file in one of several ways. You can use your mail program's forward option and edit the file from within your mail program. If you use this option, be sure to edit out any "extras" your mailer inserts, such as characters at the beginning of lines (for example the greater-than sign: >) and statements that show that the message was forwarded. You can also save the message as a file and edit it with a text editor.
- Type the following command at the top of the file (it must be the first line), substituting information on your list for the italicized text:
put
list password file
For example, put mylist mypswd subscribers
- Mail the file back to listserv. Listserv replaces the old file with the one you just modified. The old file is destroyed (replaced with the one you just edited). The list owner receives a message once the put request is successfully processed. If there is a problem, listserv will send an error message.
Adding addresses to your list
The beauty of using listserv technology is that it allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe to the list. It is not necessary for the list owner to be involved. However, the list owner can be involved if he or she wants to be, and must be involved if the list is to be a private or closed list. Even if the list is not closed, people will sometimes ask the list owner to help them subscribe. We advise all list owners to strongly encourage people to subscribe and unsubscribe themselves so they will learn how to use the list.
When the list owner needs to intervene, the list owner can issue the subscribe command for the potential subscriber by sending the following command in a mail message to listproc@uwex.edu:
system list pswd mailid subscribe list subscriber_name Substitute your list and the subscriber's information for the italicized text. Substitute the subscriber's full e-mail address for mailid. Do not use a mail alias (such as jane_doe@uwex.edu). For example,
system mylist mypwd john.doe@uwex.edu subscribe mylist John Doe
This method of subscribing ensures that the subscriber gets the list's welcome
message.
Editing the subscribers file
Whenever practical, list owners should use the system
command described above to modify the subscribers list rather than manually editing
the file.
However, there may be times when you will need to edit the subscribers
file.
As with making changes to other files, you must first send a message
requesting
a copy of the subscriber file, make changes to the file, then return
the
file to listserv. Remember also that the file you return will replace
the old,
so be very careful when editing the subscriber's file.
Example: userid@uwex.edu ack nopass no Jane Doe
Each subscriber entry in the subscribers file consists of the following fields.
- Full e-mail address of the subscriber as it appears in the
'From '
line of their mail header. If the individual had edited that header
(inserting a mail alias instead of a full e-mail address), it is possible that
they later will not be recognized as a subscriber. If a subscriber has
trouble being recognized by the list, this is a good place to start
trouble-shooting.
- ACK or NOACK (default) for sending a copy of the post to the original sender.
Most people prefer to get a copy of their message so they can see that the message
was posted to the list.
- A password (anything will do; we do not use the password, but the
listserver software requires that something be there)
- NO (default) or YES for whether to conceal this subscriber on
requests
for the list of subscribers. NO means the subscriber's info will be on
the
list; YES means the info will not be listed.
- The subscriber's name.
- There are two more options available for the subscriber entry:
postpone and digest. To activate either of these options,
enter
it in the second field (the one reserved for ACK or NOACK). To remove
the
option, replace it with ACK or NOACK.
postpone suspends the list's mail to the subscriber until the option is
changed. This
option comes in handy if a mailid's messages consistently get "bounced
back" to
the list owner (this way you can gain some time to investigate the
problem), as
well as when a subscriber requests that mail be stopped temporarily.
digest sends periodic digests of the list to the subscriber in
lieu of
individual messages. This option works only for lists that are already
set up
for digests. Listserv stores the list's messages in a digest (file) and
sends
it when the digest exceeds a specified number of lines, or when a
specified
amount of time has passed since the last digest was sent. This option
works
only if the list owner has requested that the list include digests. If
the
digest option has been set, when it is removed all messages currently
stored
for the next digest will be sent to the subscriber at once and in digest
format.
Note: Remember that there must be something in each field and the
e-mail
address must be exactly as it was when they subscribed to the
list.
Removing mailids from the list
Subscribers can remove themselves from the list by sending the
unsubscribe command to listserv. When necessary, list owners can
remove
subscribers from lists either by entering the system command for the
subscriber
or by editing the subscribers file and deleting the record for that person.
To
issue the unsubscribe command for the subscriber, enter the following
command,
replacing the italicized text with information on the subscriber:
system list pswd mailid unsubscribe
list
Moderating a list
Moderating a list means that you must decide which messages
submitted to the list get posted to its members. Every message sent to a
moderated list is first
routed to the moderator's e-mail address for his or her approval. Moderated mailing
lists can
be set up in one of two ways, the forward system and the tag system.
Forward system
You can have the list set up so that when the messages are sent to
you for approval, you either forward the message to the list (using your
mail system's forward command) if you want the message distributed, or
you delete the message if you believe it doesn't warrant going to the list.
A drawback to this method is that all the messages going to the list will
appear to be originating from your mailid (which means people won't be able to
distinguish mail that really originates with you from mail that originates from
the list).
Tag system
An alternate method (which avoids the problems arising from
forwarded messages) associates a tag number with each message.
When a message is sent to the list, you receive a message from listserv giving
you the text of the message, an identification or tag number for it, and some
instructions for sending the message to the list or rejecting it. You
approve and reject postings by sending a mail message containing a command and
the message's tag number to listserv. To approve a posting and thereby send
it to the list, send the following command to listserv:
approve list password tag
Substitute the list's name for list, your password for
password,
and the tag number of the message for tag, as in
approve mylist mypswd 13
which tells listserv to distribute
message 13 to the list called mylist.
To discard a posting (delete it
and not
post it to the list), send the following command:
discard list password tag
Substitute the list's name for
list, your password for password, and the tag number of
the
message for tag. When you discard messages, they are deleted.
You go on vacation, but the list stays at work
If your list is moderated or closed, you should make plans for when
you're not around to maintain the list. One option is to send a message
to the
list announcing that it will "close up shop" until you return.
But if
you want the list to continue in your absence (and most people do), you
have a
few options:
- Let the mail "pile up"
- Change the list to unmoderated
- Find someone else to be the temporary moderator. To change the moderator or
the status of your list, contact listsmgr@uwex.edu.
Commands restricted to listowners
(The password is the list's password, not your login
password.)
reports list password
- Obtain all reports about the specified list.
edit list password file
- Obtain the specified file for editing. The files that you can request
are
info, welcome, news, and subscribers.
put list password file
- Return the edited file to listserv.
approve list password tag
- Approve the message identified by the tag number for posting to the
specified moderated list.
discard list password tag
- Discard the message identified by the tag number sent to the specified
moderated list.
system list password mailid command
- Allows the list owner to issue subscriber commands for a subscriber or
potential subscriber. 'Mailid' is the subscriber's e-mail address.
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