GNU Mailman: User FAQ

The following official Mailman user FAQ page is quite a complete reference for all the options available to you via either the web interface or via email:

http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html

The document below simply offers instructions on the most critical how-to-issues users generally face – getting help, passwords, and instructions on how to defer mail delivery, and leave the list. The instructions below are just how to do this via email – all of these functions are also available via web page – please see the FAQ above for those details.

Accessing the web interface

The management of your list can also be done via the web interface, which is accessible at the url http://ListServerDomain/mailman/listinfo/Listname (for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org then the url would be http://lists.bloggs.org/mailman/listinfo/news )

Note – the web archives for the list can also be accessed from a link on the listinfo page described above.

If you don’t have your listserv password handy, use the dialog box at the bottom of that page to have your password emailed to you.

How do I get my password?

If you've forgotten your password and haven't saved the welcome message or any reminder messages, you can get a reminder by accessing the web interface page for your list as described above and entering your email address into the last dialog box at the bottom of that page and then hitting the Reminder button on the next page. You can also retrieve it via email as follows:

Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command password in the subject of the message. (Where listname is the name of the list and domain is the email domain of the list, for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org, then send your request to news-request@lists.bloggs.org.)

How do I leave the list? (unsubscribe)

Don't want to be on a list any more? If you're just going on vacation or are too busy to read mails and want to temporarily turn them off, you may want to stop mail delivery rather than unsubscribing. If this is what you'd prefer, see next section on disabling mail delivery temporarily.

If you actually want to leave the list

Send a mail to the list unsubscribe address, which will be of the form LISTNAME-leave@DOMAIN. (Where listname is the name of the list and domain is the email domain of the list, for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org, then send your request to news-leave@lists.bloggs.org.) The subject and body of this message will be ignored, so it doesn't matter what you put there.

After doing this you will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the instructions given in that mail to complete the unsubscription. This is to stop people from unsubscribing you without your permission.

How do I turn mail delivery on or off? (delivery option)

You may wish to temporarily stop getting messages from the list without having to unsubscribe. If you disable mail delivery, you will no longer receive messages, but will still be a subscriber and will retain your password and other settings.

This can be handy in a many different cases. For example, you could be going on vacation or need a break from the list because you're too busy to read any extra mail. Many mailing lists also allow only subscribers to post to the list, so if you commonly send mail from more than one address (eg, one address for at home and another for when you're traveling), you may want to have more than one subscribed account, but have only one of them actually receive mail. You can also use this as a way to read private archives even on a list which may be too busy for you to have sent directly to your mailbox. All you need to do is subscribe, disable mail delivery, and use your password and email to log in to the archives.

To disable/enable mail delivery using the email interface:

Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN (Where listname is the name of the list and domain is the email domain of the list, for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org, then send your request to news-request@lists.bloggs.org.) with the command set delivery off or set delivery on in the subject of your message.
Set it to "off" to stop receiving posts, and "on" to start receiving them again.

And finally to get a

List of all email commands available

Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN (Where listname is the name of the list and domain is the email domain of the list, for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org, then send your request to news-request@lists.bloggs.org.) with the command help in the subject of your message.

I need to talk to a human!

If you have any trouble with any of these commands, you can always reach the person or people in charge of a list by using the list administrator email address. The list administrators can help you figure out how to do something, subscribe/unsubscribe you, or change your settings if you are unable to change them yourself for some reason.

This list administrator email address is in the form LISTNAME-owner@DOMAIN (Where listname is the name of the list and domain is the email domain of the list, for example if your mailing list address is news@lists.bloggs.org, then send your request to news-owner@lists.bloggs.org.)

1. Peace of Mind

What you don’t want, and what your management definitely doesn’t want, are unpleasant surprises. The email shouldn’t go down. You should be able to recover smoothly from disaster. Everything should be backed up. CGNET understands that. We take responsibility for keeping your systems flourishing. You can relax.

2. Good Company

The best proof that nonprofits and foundations have found peace of mind outsourcing to CGNET is who and how many of them there are. The answer is “lots.” Here’s a partial list (link). A significant number of these have been with us for more than 10 years. And we’ve been in business for 27 years. During that time , almost all of our customers have been nonprofits, intergovernmental organizations and foundations (The others arepeople you used to work for one of our customers). When you work with us, you’re in good company.

3. We’re Here for You

Not only do we care for your systems and data 24/7/365, we have live telephone, email or IM support available all the time. If the technician on duty can’t resolve your issues, we have fast escalation, as far up the command chain as necessary to get the job done fast. We’re a smaller, nimble company. You don’t get lost in bureaucracy.

6. Understanding

In those 27 years we’ve been serving nonprofits, we’ve learned a lot about how you operate, from the time it takes to reach a consensus, all the way to the specific technologies you use (GIFTS, FoundationPower, FIMS, Dotche, Blackbaud, SharePoint, Exchange…whatever). We’ve found that we fit easily into the organizational rhythms and concerns of organizations like yours, wherever in the world you’re located.

8. Reliability

This is our watchword. While Service Level Agreements are good, and ours are among the best, they don’t help a lot while a service is down. The key is to keep things running and not to lose data. Making this happen requires a commitment to quality. We believe our commitment to reliability sets us apart and that our list of long-time references proves it.

Cloud Plus: Microsoft Exchange

CGNET provides cloud-based Microsoft Exchange which means:

· Freeing up IT staff for mission-critical assignments.

· Lower cost

· Higher reliability

· An embedded Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Solution.

Clients have hosted mailboxes for all staff, eliminating the need to run and maintain Exchange servers. Cost avoidance is obtained by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain physical servers, by eliminating staff time for patches, hot fixes and crisis management of servers, and by lower costs for air conditioning, electricity and floor space.

Our service is provided via multiple Microsoft Exchange 2010 servers in geographically separate locations with replication of roles (CAS, hub transport, mailbox, etc.). This assures near-zero downtime, and provides full disaster recovery capability.

Our design includes sets of servers in two locations. Primary and secondary sites are Tier 3 co-location facilities with UPS and generator backup, 24/7 security on site, multiple Internet connections, etc. At any given time, mail databases are replicated on multiple servers, and a daily backup is made and retained for four weeks. It is unlikely that backup/restore would be needed, but it is added as an extra protection.

Cloud Plus: Email Archiving

CGNET provides best-in-class cloud-based archiving, with service for individual users to access their archived messages as well as a console where authorized staff can search for and access email across the organization. Notably, our service provides replication of each user’s set of private folders in the archive. The Outlook-like browser-based client shows a directory structure identical to what the user sees in Outlook. Meanwhile, the service is entirely managed in the cloud, and your designated CGNET team is available 24/7/365 to provide support.

Cloud Plus: Online Backup for Laptops, Servers, and Desktops

CGNET provides disk-to-disk backup of servers, workstations and laptops over the Internet. The service provides de-duplication and compression to reduce what is stored by 50 percent. Individual files are instantly retrievable through a friendly Windows-like directory interface. We also offer service at client offices, which is then backed up to the Internet, to provide the fastest recovery time combined with off-site storage. The service is easy to set up and use, secure and reliable, and surprisingly inexpensive. Like all of our services, your designated account team is always available to assist you.

Here is a list of links to descriptions of all our other services:

GNU Mailman: User FAQ

Index

RSS

Feed by Email

CGNET on Facebook

Recent Blog Posts

Time to Consider Outsourcing?

1. Peace of Mind

2. Good Company

3. We’re Here for You

4. Your Budget

5. Personal Attention

6. Understanding

7. Selection

8. Reliability

9. You're the Boss

10. And did we mention Peace of Mind?

CGNET Cloud Plus Services

Cloud Plus: Microsoft Exchange

Cloud Plus: Email Archiving

Cloud Plus: Online Backup for Laptops, Servers, and Desktops