INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
MAILMAN
A GUIDE FOR
MAILING LIST ADMINISTRATORS
Prepared By Edwin Hermann
Released: 6 July 2010
Version 1.0
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ........................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Audience ..................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Purpose ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Assumptions................................................................................................................................ 3
1.4 Structure...................................................................................................................................... 3
1.5 About the Step by Step Instructions ............................................................................................ 3
2 CONFIGURING THE LIST.......................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Administrator Control Panel ........................................................................................................ 4
2.2 General List Information .............................................................................................................. 5
2.3 List Administration....................................................................................................................... 6
2.4 Receiving Automatic Notifications ............................................................................................... 7
2.5 Sending Policies.......................................................................................................................... 8
2.6 Members and Subscription Policy ............................................................................................. 19
2.7 Appearance and Behaviour....................................................................................................... 22
2.8 Privacy ...................................................................................................................................... 28
2.9 Reducing Spam......................................................................................................................... 30
3 OPERATING THE LIST ............................................................................................................ 32
3.1 Adding and Removing Members ............................................................................................... 32
3.2 Sending to the list...................................................................................................................... 34
3.3 Tending to Pending Moderator Requests.................................................................................. 35
3.4 Emergency Measures ............................................................................................................... 39
4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ...................................................................................... 40
4.1 How do I stop Spam from being sent to my list? ....................................................................... 40
4.2 How do I set up my list so that only I can send to it? ................................................................ 40
4.3 Can I allow some members to freely send to the list and others only with approval? ............... 40
4.4 Why do I keep receiving bounce notifications? ......................................................................... 40
4.5 How can I ban someone completely from the list?.................................................................... 40
4.6 How do I add, remove or change list administrators? ............................................................... 40
4.7 Is there an "Emergency Stop" button? ...................................................................................... 40
4.8 How can people subscribe or unsubscribe themselves? .......................................................... 41
4.9 How do I control where replies are directed? ............................................................................ 41
4.10 Why can I see content of messages sent to the list on Google? .............................................. 41
4.11 How do I prevent people from sending large attachments to the list? ...................................... 41
4.12 Can people outside Victoria University use the list? ................................................................. 41
5 GLOSSARY .............................................................................................................................. 42
5.1 Terms Used in this Document ................................................................................................... 42
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1 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
1.1 Audience
This document is intended for people who manage mailing lists.
1.2 Purpose
The purpose of this document is to act as a reference for configuring and maintaining mailing
lists using Mailman.
1.3 Assumptions
This document makes the following assumption:
The reader has a Mailman list and knows the administrator password to it.
1.4 Structure
The topics covered have been grouped into logical sections based rather than by the way they
are organised in the Mailman software. The aim is to present the material in a way that is
meaningful to someone administering the list rather than from a feature-based perspective.
Towards the end of the document is a frequently asked questions section which provides
answers by referring to the appropriate section earlier in the document where that particular
topic is discussed.
1.5 About the Step by Step Instructions
The step by step instructions throughout this document often refer to certain settings within
the administrator control panel (the web pages that allow you to change configuration
settings for the list).
The settings are not clearly labelled, however the name of each setting does appear in bold in
the hyperlink underneath it.
For example, consider the following snapshot of the administrator control panel:
The third setting which reads "Prefix for subject line of list postings." has a hyperlink
underneath which reads "(Details for subject_prefix)". The bold term subject_prefix is the
name of that setting, and is referred in the instructions as "Subject Prefix".
Consider this example of an instruction that might appear in this document: "Next to
Anonymous List, click No." Using the snapshot above, the instruction is referring to the last
setting (the one at the bottom of the picture). We know this because the name "Anonymous
List" appears in bold in the hyperlink. This is the name of that setting.
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2 CONFIGURING THE LIST
2.1 Administrator Control Panel
2.1.1 Information
The administrator control panel for your Mailman list is located at
http://lists.vuw.ac.nz/mailman/admin/listname
where listname is the name of your list (e.g. fca-grads). In order to configure your list
you must be logged in to the administrator control panel.
2.1.2 Instructions
Step 1. In a web browser (such as Internet Explorer) enter the address for the
administrator control panel.
Step 2. Enter the password and click Let me in.
INFORMATION
If you have forgotten your password please contact the ITS Service Desk
(email its-service@vuw.ac.nz or phone extension 5050).
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2.2 General List Information
2.2.1 Changing the List Name
You cannot change the name of your list. However, you can change its capitalisation
if you wish.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Real Name type the name of your list using your preferred way of
capitalisation.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
INFORMATION
If you want to change the list name completely, please contact the ITS
Service Desk (email its-service@vuw.ac.nz or phone extension 5050).
2.2.2 Provide a Phrasal Description
A phrasal description helps to identify your Mailman list. If you do not already have
one set, follow these instructions.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Description type a phrase that identifies your list. For example,
"FCA Graduate Students".
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.2.3 Provide a Full Description
The description of your list helps people understand the purpose of your list and
what it is all about. If you do not already have one set, follow these instructions.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Info type a few sentences that explains the purpose of your list.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.3 List Administration
2.3.1 Specify the Administrators
A list administrator (also referred to as a list owner) is someone with access to the
administrator control panel.
Most lists have one list administrator but there is no limit to the number that any
given list can have.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Owner enter the email addresses of the list administrators.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.3.2 Delegating Approvals to Moderators
Your list can be configured so that approval is required to send messages to the list,
subscribe to the list or unsubscribe from it (this is discussed in sections 2.5.2 , 2.6.3
and 2.6.4). The task of approving such actions is normally done by a list
administrator, although it can be delegated to a list moderator.
A list moderator is someone who is not a list owner but has the ability to approve
such actions.
If you wish to take advantage of splitting the administration of the list between list
administrators and list moderators, follow the instructions below.
TIP
Administrators are, by default, also moderators. Therefore it is not necessary
to list the email addresses of the administrators here.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Moderator enter the email addresses of the list moderators.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 4. At the top of the page click Passwords.
Step 5. You must choose a different moderator password from the administrator
password. Enter both (twice each) in the appropriate spaces.
Step 6. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.4 Receiving Automatic Notifications
2.4.1 Pending Request Notifications
Mailman will notify list administrators of any pending requests on a daily basis.
Pending requests are:
Messages being held for approval by a list administrator (this depends on the
sending policy of your list - see section 2.5 Sending Policies)
Requests from people wanting to subscribe awaiting approval by a list
administrator (this depends on your subscription policy - see section 2.6
Members and Subscription Policy).
Requests from members wanting to unsubscribe awaiting approval by a list
administrator (this depends on your subscription policy - see section 2.6
Members and Subscription Policy).
As well as receiving these daily notifications you can also choose to be notified
immediately each time a new request arrives.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Admin Immed Notify click No (if you only wish to receive
notification of pending requests on a daily basis) or Yes (if you also wish to
receive notifications immediately).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.4.2 Bounce Notifications
Mailman will automatically disable and eventually cancel membership for people
whose email addresses are bouncing. You can choose whether to be notified when
someone's membership becomes disabled or cancelled.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Bounce Processing.
Step 2. Next to Bounce Notify Owner on Disable click either No (if you do not
wish to receive automatic notification of people whose membership has
been disabled) or Yes (if you wish to receive these notifications).
Step 3. Next to Bounce Notify Owner on Removal click either No (if you do not
wish to receive automatic notification of people who have been removed
from the list) or Yes (if you wish to receive these notifications).
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.5 Sending Policies
Sending policies define restrictions on the ability to send messages to the list, and the
behaviour when the restrictions apply.
2.5.1 Maximum Message Size
You can define a list-wide maximum message size. Messages that exceed the size will
be held for approval by a list administrator.
WHAT LIMIT SHOULD I CHOOSE?
If the messages being sent to your list are plain email messages (i.e. without
graphical or multimedia content and without attachments) then a suitable limit
is 100 kb. This allows for some lengthy messages but should prevent large
attachments from being sent without approval.
If you are intending to have messages with attachments, a suitable limit is
somewhere between 1000 kb (one small attachment) and 5000 kb (one large
attachment or several small ones).
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. next to Max Message Size type in the maximum limit (in kilobytes).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.5.2 Sending Policy for Members
Follow the flow chart below to determine the steps required to implement the sending policy
for members of your list. Detailed instructions for the blue action boxes are given below.
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The instructions that follow are for different parts of the flow chart above. They are not
meant to be followed sequentially; instead they should be followed in the order described by
the flow chart.
BOX A
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Default Member Moderation click No.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
BOX B
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. At the bottom of the page next to "Set everyone's moderation bit" click Off.
Step 3. Click Set.
BOX C
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Enter your email address next to Accept these nonmembers.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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BOX D
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Locate the first known member who should not be able to send freely to the
list.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
Step 3. Tick the mod box (in the third column).
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 5. Repeat this procedure for all other known members who should not be able
to send freely to the list.
BOX E
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Member moderation action click Hold or Reject.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Choosing "Hold" will cause messages from certain members (those identified
in BOX D) to be held until approved or rejected. Choosing "Reject" will
automatically reject the message and the member will be notified of this.
Step 4. If you chose Reject in Step 3 above, enter the rejection message (the
notification that is sent when a message is rejected) next to Member
Moderation Notice.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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BOX F
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Default Member Moderation click Yes.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
BOX G
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. At the bottom of the page next to "Set everyone's moderation bit" click On.
Step 3. Click Set.
BOX H
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Enter your email address next to Accept these nonmembers.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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BOX I
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Locate your email address in the list of members.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
Step 3. Remove the tick in the mod box (in the third column).
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
BOX J
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Member moderation action click Hold or Reject.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Choosing "Hold" will cause messages from most members to be held until
approved or rejected. Choosing "Reject" will automatically reject the
message and the member will be notified of this.
Step 4. If you chose Reject in Step 3 above , enter the rejection message (the
notification that is sent when a message is rejected) next to Member
Moderation Notice.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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BOX K
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Locate the first known member who should be able to send freely to the list.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
Step 3. Remove the tick in the mod box (in the third column).
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 5. Repeat this procedure for all other known members who should be able to
send freely to the list.
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2.5.3 Sending Policy for Non-members
Follow the flow chart below to determine the steps required to implement the sending policy
for people who are not members of your list. Detailed instructions for the blue action boxes
are given below.
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The instructions that follow are for different parts of the flow chart above. They are not
meant to be followed sequentially; instead they should be followed in the order described by
the flow chart.
BOX L
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Generic Nonmember Action click Hold or Discard.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Choosing "Hold" will cause messages from most outsiders to be held until
approved or rejected. Choosing "Discard" will automatically ignore the
message. The sender will not be notified (this is desirable behaviour in the
case of spam messages which typically have a fake sender address)..
Step 4. Next to Forward Auto Discards click No.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
BOX M
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Enter the email addresses of each known outsider next to Accept these
nonmembers.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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BOX N
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Next to Generic Nonmember Action click Accept.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
BOX O
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Enter the email addresses of each known outsider next to Dsicard these
nonmembers.
Step 4. Next to Forward Auto Discards click No.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.5.4 Automated Response for Held Messages
When a message is held for approval Mailman can send an automated response to the
sender advising them that their message is awaiting approval from a list
administrator.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Respond to Post Requests click either No (to turn this feature off)
or Yes (to have Mailman send an automated response to senders of
messages that are being held for approval).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.6 Members and Subscription Policy
2.6.1 Welcome Message
When a new member joins your list they will be sent an automated email message
with some information about the list. You can customise this message by creating a
short message which is then automatically inserted at the beginning of the automated
email.
The message can be anything you like, although we recommend including a short
description of the list and what members can expect. You may also wish to include
any relevant URLs or contact details or other references.
If you do not want a welcome message you can disable this feature.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Send welcome msg click either Yes (to enable this feature) or No
(to disable it).
Step 3. If you chose Yes in Step 2 above, type your message next to Welcome msg.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.6.2 Goodbye Message
The goodbye message works in a similar way to the welcome message, but applies
when a member unsubscribes from the list.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Send goodbye msg click either Yes (to enable this feature) or No (to
disable it).
Step 3. If you chose Yes in Step 2 above, type your message next to Goodbye msg.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.6.3 Subscription Policy
The subscription policy controls how people can become members of the list. There
are three ways that this can happen:
By reply confirmation
By approval from a list administrator
By reply confirmation and approval from a list administrator
When someone attempts to join the list, they are required to supply their email
address. A "reply confirmation" is an automated email sent to the supplied email
address asking the recipient to click on a link to confirm their intention of becoming a
member of the list. This is designed to reduce abuse by being able to subscribe email
addresses that do not belong to you.
Approval from a list administrator will send a request to the list administrator who
can then either approve or decline the request.
Once you have decided on the subscription policy for your list, follow the instructions
below.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Subscription Rules.
Step 3. Next to Subscribe Policy click your preferred policy.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.6.4 Unsubscription Policy
Like the subscription policy you can choose whether approval from a list
administrator is required when a member chooses to unsubscribe.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Subscription Rules.
Step 3. Next to Unsubscribe Policy click your preferred policy.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.6.5 Banning People
You can ban people from becoming members.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Click Subscription Rules.
Step 3. Next to Ban List add the person's email address to the white space.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
If your list allows outsiders to send messages to the list, you may want to consider
preventing the banned person from doing so.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Sender Filters.
Step 3. Remove the person's email address if it appears in either white box next to
Accept These Nonmembers or Hold These Nonmembers.
Step 4. Add the person's email address to the white box next to Reject These
Nonmembers.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.6.6 Receiving Notifications
You can choose whether to receive notifications when people subscribe and
unsubscribe from your list.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Admin notify mchanges click either No (if you do not wish to
receive notifications) or Yes (if you do wish to receive notifications).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.7 Appearance and Behaviour
2.7.1 Choose a Subject Prefix
You can configure your list so that the subject line of email messages are prefixed
with a word or phrase. This helps people to identify messages that have arrived via
the mailing list as opposed to being personally addressed.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Subject Prefix type the prefix that you want.
TIP
If you do not wish to have a subject prefix, leave the space blank.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
TIP
Consider putting the prefix in brackets or braces which helps to visually
separate the prefix from the rest of the subject.
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2.7.2 Reply Policy
You can choose one of three different ways of handling replies. These are:
Replies go back to the person who sent the message
Replies go to the entire list
Replies go to a nominated email address
TIP
If your list is intended to be a "discussion" list you should set the reply policy
such that replies go to the entire list. That way members can contribute to the
discussion by replying to a message.
If your list is intended as a one-way "mail shot" list, replies should go back to
the person who sent the message. That way it prevents people from pressing
reply and accidentally emailing everyone on the list.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Reply Goes to List choose either Poster (to have replies go to the
person who sent the message), This List (to have replies go to the list) or
Explicit Address (to have replies go to a specified address).
Step 3. If you chose Explicit Address in Step 2 above, specify the email address to
which replies should be directed next to Reply To Address.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.7.3 Monthly Password Reminders
A feature within Mailman sends out an email message to all members of a list to
remind them what their password is.
Because most members were added to the list by the list administrator, they are not
aware that they have a password. For this reason we recommend that you turn this
feature off.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Send Reminders click No.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.7.4 Members Receiving Copies of Messages They Send
You can configure, on a per-member basis, whether or not a member receives a copies
of messages that they send to the list (assuming your list is not configured to prevent
them from sending to the list).
TIP
This section is much simpler if you configure your list while it is empty (i.e.
before any members are subscribed to it).
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to New Member Options locate the box labelled "Do not send a copy
of a member's own post". Either tick this box (so that new members do not
receive copies of messages they send to the list) or remove the tick from this
box (so that new members receive copies of messages they send to the list).
(Leave the other tick boxes as they are.)
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 4. At the top of the page click Membership Management.
Step 5. For each member in the list, either tick or untick the not metoo box (in the
seventh column). Ticking the box will mean that members will not receive
copies of messages that they send to the list. Removing the tick will mean
that members will receive copies of messages that they send to the list.
Step 6. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 7. Repeat this procedure for all other members.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
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2.7.5 Preventing Members from Receiving Duplicate Messages
Members subscribed to multiple lists may receive duplicate messages if they are sent
to more than one list at the same time. You can prevent this from happening by
having Mailman attempt to detect and filter out duplicate messages.
TIP
This section is much simpler if you configure your list while it is empty (i.e.
before any members are subscribed to it).
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to New Member Options remove the tick from the box labelled "Filter
out duplicate messages to list members (if possible)". (Leave the other tick
boxes as they are.)
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 4. At the top of the page click Membership Management.
Step 5. For each member in the list, tick the nodupes box (in the eighth column).
Step 6. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 7. Repeat this procedure for all other members.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
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2.7.6 Confirmation of Message Delivery
You can configure, on a per-member basis, whether or not a member automatically
receives an email notification once they send a message to the list and it is accepted
for distribution to list members.
TIP
This section is much simpler if you configure your list while it is empty (i.e.
before any members are subscribed to it).
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to New Member Options locate the box labelled "Acknowledge the
member's posting". Either tick this box (so that new members receive
notification of messages they send to the list) or remove the tick from this
box (so that new members do not receive this notification). (Leave the other
tick boxes as they are.)
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 4. At the top of the page click Membership Management.
Step 5. For each member in the list, either tick or untick the ack box (in the sixth
column). Ticking the box will mean that members will receive notification
once of messages that they send to the list. Removing the tick will mean
that members will not receive this notification.
Step 6. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 7. Repeat this procedure for all other members.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
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2.7.7 Anonymous Senders
You can configure the list so that the sender's name and email address are hidden.
Messages appear to come from the mailing list system itself.
INFORMATION
This feature is normally used in one-way "mail shot" lists where replies are
not wanted. This makes the messages appear to come from the list itself as if
generated automatically by the system rather than by a person.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Anonymous List click Yes (to use this feature) or No (to turn off
this feature).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.8 Privacy
2.8.1 Member Privacy
Prevent people from obtaining email addresses of members subscribed to your list.
TIP
This section is much simpler if you configure your list while it is empty (i.e.
before any members are subscribed to it).
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Subscription Rules.
Step 3. Next to Private Roster click List Admin Only.
Step 4. Next to Obscure Addresses click Yes.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 6. At the top of the page click General Options.
Step 7. Next to New Member Options tick the box labelled "Conceal the member's
address". (Leave the other tick boxes as they are.)
Step 8. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 9. At the top of the page click Membership Management.
Step 10. For each member in the list, tick the hide box (in the fourth column).
Step 11. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 12. Repeat this procedure for all other members.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
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2.8.2 Content Privacy
Messages sent to your list are archived and can be accessed via the Internet. You can
control whether the archives should be public (anyone can access them via the
Internet), private (only current list members can access them) or turned off altogether.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Archiving Options.
Step 2. Next to Archive click either No (to turn off archiving altogether) or Yes (to
make the archives either publicly accessible or private).
Step 3. Next to Archive Private click either Public (to make the archives publicly
accessible) or Private (to make the archives accessible only by current
members).
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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2.9 Reducing Spam
2.9.1 Restrict the Subscription Policy
Set your sending policy so that outsiders (i.e. non-members) cannot freely send to the
list. Consider having the list automatically reject messages from outsiders. See
section 2.5.3 Sending Policy for Non-members.
2.9.2 Hide the List
A list of Mailman lists is available at http://lists.vuw.ac.nz/mailman. This page is not
restricted, so anyone on the Internet can see it, including spammers. You can hide
your list so that it does not appear on that page.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Subscription Rules.
Step 3. Next to Advertised click No.
Step 4. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
2.9.3 Hide the Member Roster
As well as targeting your Mailman list, spammers can also target members of your list
directly by harvesting their addresses. You can prevent this by preventing people
from obtaining a list of members subscribed to your list. See section 2.8.1 Member
Privacy.
2.9.4 Restrict Access to Archives
Another place from where spammers harvest addresses is the list archive. The
archive contains all messages sent to the list in their entirety (i.e. including
attachments, email addresses, names, etc). Consider restricting access to the archives.
See section 2.8.2 Content Privacy.
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2.9.5 Set a Spam Filter
At Victoria University, most Spam is automatically tagged with *****SPAM***** in
the subject line of the message. You can add a filter to your list so that any messages
tagged in this way are discarded.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Privacy Options.
Step 2. Click Spam Filters.
Step 3. Next to Header Filter Rules, in the white box beside Spam Filter Regexp
enter Subject: \*\*\*\*\*SPAM\*\*\*\*\**. (Note the colon and space
after "Subject", and the double asterisk at the end.)
Step 4. Beside Action click Discard.
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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3 OPERATING THE LIST
3.1 Adding and Removing Members
3.1.1 Adding Members
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Click Mass Subscription.
Step 3. Next to "Subscribe these users now or invite them" click Subscribe.
Step 4. You can choose whether to send an automated welcome message to each
new subscriber (see section 2.6.1 Welcome Message for more information).
Next to "Send welcome messages to new subscribees?" click either No (to
subscribe without sending out the welcome message) or Yes (to send the
welcome message).
Step 5. Next to "Send notifications of new subscriptions to the list owner?" click
No.
Step 6. In the white space beneath "Enter one address per line below" enter the
email addresses of the new members, each address on a new line.
Step 7. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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3.1.2 Removing Members
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Click Membership List.
Step 3. Locate the first member to be removed in the list.
TIP
The membership list is grouped and sorted alphabetically according to email
address.
Step 4. Tick the unsub box (in the first column).
Step 5. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
Step 6. Repeat this procedure for all other members to be removed from the list.
3.1.3 Viewing the List of Members
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click Membership Management.
Step 2. Click Membership List.
The membership list is grouped alphabetically according to the first letter of the email
address. Each time the list will present the first 30 members. If there are more than 30
members whose email addresses begin with the same letter the remainder will be
listed in groups underneath. You can click on one of these groups to view the
members.
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3.2 Sending to the list
To send a message to the list, use any email client (e.g. Microsoft Outlook) and
compose an email to:
listname@lists.vuw.ac.nz
For example, if your list is called "FCA-Grads" the email address of your list would be
FCA-Grads@lists.vuw.ac.nz.
NOTE
The message you send will be subject to the sending policy of your list (see
section 2.5 Sending Policies).
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3.3 Tending to Pending Moderator Requests
Pending moderator requests are items that fall into one of these three categories and await
action from a list administrator:
Requests from people wanting to subscribe awaiting approval by a list administrator
(this depends on your subscription policy - see section 2.6 Members and Subscription
Policy).
Requests from members wanting to unsubscribe awaiting approval by a list
administrator (this depends on your subscription policy - see section 2.6 Members
and Subscription Policy).
Messages being held for approval by a list administrator (this depends on the sending
policy of your list - see section 2.5 Sending Policies)
List administrators will receive notification when there are new pending requests (see section
2.4.1 Pending Request Notifications). Also, if you have moderators to help deal with pending
requests (see section 2.3.2 Delegating Approvals to Moderators) they too will receive
notification of messages being held for approval.
You can action these requests at
http://lists.vuw.ac.nz/mailman/admindb/listname
where listname is the name of your list (e.g. fca-grads). The requests are listed in the order as
shown above.
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3.3.1 Subscription Requests
A subscription request means that someone has asked to become a member of your
list, and your list is configured in such a way that approval from the list administrator
is required (see section 2.6.3 Subscription Policy).
An example of a subscription request is shown below.
List administrators can action subscription requests but moderators do not have
access.
Step 1. In the "Your Decision" column, click either Approve, Reject or Discard.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Approve means the person will be added as a member. Reject means the
person will not be added as a member, and a rejection notice will be sent to
them. Discard means the person will not be added as a member but no
rejection message will be sent. Defer (selected by default) will leave the
request in the list of pending requests for you (or another list administrator) to
revisit later.
Step 2. If you chose "Reject" in Step 1 above you can optionally type in a reason in
the space to the right. This reason will be included in the rejection message
that is automatically sent to the person.
TIP!
You can action other requests on the page before proceeding with Step 3
below.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit All Data.
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3.3.2 Unsubscription Requests
An unsubscription request means that a member has asked to be removed from the
list, and your list is configured in such a way that approval from the list administrator
is required (see section 2.6.4 Unsubscription Policy).
An example of an unsubscription request is shown below.
List administrators can action unsubscription requests but moderators do not have
access.
Step 1. In the "Your Decision" column, click either Approve, Reject or Discard.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Approve means the member will be removed from the list. Reject means the
person will not be removed, and a rejection notice will be sent to them.
Discard means the person will not be removed but no rejection message will
be sent. Defer (selected by default) will leave the request in the list of
pending requests for you (or another list administrator) to revisit later.
Step 2. If you chose "Reject" in 0 above you can optionally type in a reason in the
space to the right. This reason will be included in the rejection message
that is automatically sent to the person.
TIP!
You can action other requests on the page before proceeding with Step 3
below.
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit All Data.
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3.3.3 Messages Held for Approval
Depending on the configuration of your list, some messages may be held for approval
before they are distributed to members.
An example of such a message is shown below.
Both list administrators and moderators can action messages held for approval.
Step 1. In the column on the left click either Accept, Reject or Discard.
WHICH DO I CHOOSE?
Approve means the message will be distributed to members. Reject means
the message will not be distributed to members and a rejection notice will be
sent to sender. Discard means the message will not be distributed to
members but no rejection notice will be sent. Defer (selected by default) will
leave the request in the list of pending requests for you (or another list
administrator) to revisit later.
Step 2. At the bottom of the page click Submit All Data.
TIP!
You can action other requests on the page before proceeding with Step 2
above.
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3.4 Emergency Measures
3.4.1 Halting the List
You can halt the list by turning on emergency moderation. This feature overrides any
existing settings. Emergency moderation causes any messages sent to the list to be
held for approval by a list administrator.
This feature is designed to help you in situations where the list is out of control (such
as spam, or abusive messages, etc). Once the problem is sorted, make sure you turn
this feature off.
Step 1. In the administrator control panel click General Options.
Step 2. Next to Emergency click either Yes (to halt the list) or No (to turn this
feature off).
Step 3. At the bottom of the page click Submit Your Changes.
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4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
4.1 How do I stop Spam from being sent to my list?
You cannot prevent Spam, but you can reduce the likelihood of it reaching your list.
See section 2.9 Reducing Spam.
4.2 How do I set up my list so that only I can send to it?
Follow the procedure for configuring your sending policy in sections 2.5.2 Sending
Policy for Members and 2.5.3 Sending Policy for Non-members.
4.3 Can I allow some members to freely send to the list and others
only with approval?
Yes. Follow the procedure for configuring your sending policy in section 2.5.2
Sending Policy for Members.
4.4 Why do I keep receiving bounce notifications?
If a message (sent to the list) cannot be delivered to a member it will bounce. For any
given member a certain number of bounces will result in their membership being
disabled, and eventually cancelled. When someone's membership is disabled or
cancelled you may receive notification of this. To change this behaviour see section
2.4.2 Bounce Notifications.
NOTE
It is easy to confuse bounce notifications with other notifications because they
appear to come from listname-bounces@lists.vuw.ac.nz. Just because the
word "bounces" appears in the email address does not mean it is a bounce
notification!
4.5 How can I ban someone completely from the list?
Follow the instructions in section 2.6.5 Banning People.
4.6 How do I add, remove or change list administrators?
Specify the list administrators as explained in section 2.3.1 Specify the Administrators.
4.7 Is there an "Emergency Stop" button?
Yes. If things get out of control (e.g. a flood of spam) you can turn on emergency
moderation. This will cause all messages to be held for approval by a list
administrator. When things return to normal you should turn off this feature. For
instructions see section 3.4 Emergency Measures.
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4.8 How can people subscribe or unsubscribe themselves?
Provided your list configuration allows this (see section 2.6.3 Subscription Policy and
section 2.6.4 Unsubscription Policy) people can opt in or out of your list at this URL:
http://lists.vuw.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/listname
where listname is the name of your list (e.g. FCA-Grads).
4.9 How do I control where replies are directed?
Follow the instructions in section 2.7.2 Reply Policy.
4.10 Why can I see content of messages sent to the list on Google?
Google and other search engines can find archives of your list, which contain all the
messages sent to the list. You need to either turn off archiving or make the archive
private. See section 2.8.2 Content Privacy.
4.11 How do I prevent people from sending large attachments to the
list?
Restrict the maximum message size. See section 2.5.1 Maximum Message Size.
4.12 Can people outside Victoria University use the list?
Yes. There is no restriction on who can use the list.
However, whether or not someone is able to send to the list or become a member
depends on the sending policy (see section 2.5 Sending Policies), the subscription
policy (see section 2.6.3 Subscription Policy) and the unsubscription policy (see
section 2.6.4 Unsubscription Policy) of your list. This is the case regardless of the
location of the person in question.
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5 GLOSSARY
5.1 Terms Used in this Document
Term Explanation
Administrator Control Panel The configuration settings for the list.
List Administrator Someone who has access to the administrator control panel.
Member Someone who is subscribed to your Mailman list.
Moderator Someone who has the ability to approve or decline pending
requests (i.e. .messages being held for approval, requests to
subscribe or unsubscribe).
Non-Member Someone who is not subscribed to your Mailman list (also
"Outsider").
Outsider Someone who is not subscribed to your Mailman list (also "Non-
Member").
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