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Mailing List - quick reference

Creating a mailing list

To create a mailing list, simply visit your Account Control Panel, choose "Manage eMail Accounts", then add a mailing list. You will need to select a name for the mailing list, an administrative password, and several other options. After you create the mailing list, you will need to wait up to 30 minutes for the list to be created.

Several mailing list options are configured by default, but may be changed at any time through your account control panel. Always allow 30 minutes for changes to take effect.

Garbage message detection - (default: on) - When enabled, Majordomo screens messages which are being posted to the list. If the message looks like spam, or appears to be someone sending a subscribe/unsubscribe to the list (instead of to yourlist-request, as they should), the message is bounced to the moderator for manual processing.

Maximum message length - (default: 20000 bytes) - When enabled, this option prevents users from sending large attachments through the mailing list. Messages which include large attachments are automatically bounced to the moderator for manual processing.

Notify me when someone subscribes to the list - (default: yes) - When enabled, Majordomo eMails the list owner each time a user subscribes to or unsubscribes from the list.

Posting to the list is restricted to list members - (default: no) - When enabled, Majordomo checks to make sure that the person posting a message to the list is on the list. If this is not the case, the message is bounced to the moderator for manual processing.

Prefix message subjects with - (default: none) - If specified, this string is added to all message subjects as the messages are sent to the list.

Moderated list - (default: no) - When enabled, Majordomo automatically bounces ALL mail to a moderator before it is sent to the list. This is typically used for announcement, or one-way lists in which you prefer to screen all messages before they are sent to the list.

Message header/footer - (default: none) - Optional text which is placed at the beginning and/or end of each message. This is typically used to remind everyone what the list is, and how to unsubscribe.

Welcome message - (default: none) - Optional message to send to new list members when the subscribe. Majordomo automatically sends a brief welcome message, but you may wish to provide custom information.

Overview

Xenoplanet uses the Majordomo mailing list system, which responds to commands sent in eMail message bodies. For a complete list of supported commands, along with some helpful hints, send an eMail to yourlist-request@yourdomain.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourdomain" with the appropriate information). The eMail should contain a single word in the body of the message: help

Keep in mind that this will not function properly until you have created the mailing list, and waited the 30 minutes.

Having users subscribe/unsubscribe themselves to/from the mailing list

Instruct your users to send an eMail to yourlist-request@yourdomain.com (replacing yourlist and yourdomain as appropriate). The eMail should contain a single word in the body of the message: subscribe or unsubscribe.

Subscriptions and unsubscriptions are subject to your subscribe/unsubscribe policy. If you have a "closed" subscribe policy, then subscription requests will be bounced to the list owner, who will need to approve the subscription. If you have an "open" subscribe policy, then subscription requests are automatically processed. The "auto" subscribe policy should be avoided, as this allows users to subscribe any 3rd-party to your mailing list.

Manually subscribing users to a mailing list

As an administrator, you can manually subscribe people to the mailing list. Send an eMail to yourlist-request@yourdomain.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourdomain" as appropriate) with a message body as follows:

approve [admin password] subscribe [user eMail address]
approve [admin password] subscribe [user eMail address]
approve [admin password] subscribe [user eMail address]
...

To unsubscribe:

approve [admin password] unsubscribe [user eMail address]

Getting a list of users

To find out who is currently subscribed to your mailing list, send the following command:

approve [admin password] who

Approving mail (moderated lists)

When managing a moderated list, all mail is "bounced" to the moderator before it is sent to the list. The moderator must then approve the mail by sending it back to the list with an "approval code." Bounced mail always contains the word "BOUNCE" in the subject.

To approve a message, simply forward the message to the list, first adding this line to the top of the message:

Approved: [moderator password]

Don't forget to include the original message (including headers) after the Approved line, for example:

Approved: [moderator password]
Date: Tue, 01 Mar 1980 23:13:46 -0800 (PST)
From: John Q. Public <john@qpublic.com>
Subject: Original subject here

[original message]

Depending on your eMail client, you may need to strip out unnecessary ">" characters from your forwarded message, although this is usually unnecessary.

Pre-approving mail (moderated lists)

You can send a "pre-approved" message to the mailing list (rather than sending the message, waiting for it to bounce back, and then approving it). Simply send a message to the list which includes the Approved line as line 1. You will need to specify the subject and from eMail address AFTER the Approved line, i.e.:

Approved: [moderator password]
From: Your Name Here <you@yourdomain.com>
Subject: Your subject here

[message goes here]

Miscellaneous

Multiple Majordomo commands can be placed in a single eMail (one on each line). If you are migrating a mailing list to Xenoplanet from an existing service, simply follow the instructions (above) on how to manually subscribe users to your mailing list. If this is not convenient, you may upload a text file to your account, and eMail support@xenoplanet.com with as request to incorporate these users into your mailing list.

Billing

Mailing lists are billed in blocks of 50,000 messages. Each block (or fraction thereof) is $6.00. Counters are reset monthly. The 50,000 messages can be distributed over multiple mailing lists. For example, you could run 12 low volume mailing lists for a total monthly fee of $6.00 (as long as, in total, the 12 mailing lists did not exceed 50,000 messages). You will be billed monthly for mailing list usage, regardless of your payment period.

Detailed documentation is available

The official Majordomo FAQ is available here. You are encouraged to read this document if you plan to use advanced features such as moderated lists.