Mailman Administrator FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions for Mailman Listserv Administrators.

Overview

This article answers frequently asked questions regarding Mailman Administration.

This article is divided into the following sections:

How do I start a new list?

Why do I need a list administrator password?

What is the difference between a public and private mailing list?

How do I manage my list?

How do I change whether my list is public or private?

What type of subscription options are available in Mailman?

How do I change my list's subscription policy?

What type of unsubscription options are available in Mailman?

How do I change my list's unsubscription policy?

Can people subscribe and unsubscribe themselves to and from my list?

How do I approve a subscription or unsubscription request for my list?

As the list owner, how do I subscribe users to my list?

As the list owner, how do I unsubscribe users from my list?

Can Mailman use a file to subscribe or unsubscribe users?

Can anyone post an email message to my list?

How do people post an email message to my list?

What moderation options are available in Mailman?

How can I set the list up so that anyone can post to the list without needing list owner approval?

How can I set the list up so that just subscribers can post to the list without needing list owner approval?

How can I set the list up so that all postings to the list need list owner approval?

How do I approve a message sent to the list?

Some messages sent to the list are being held for approval. Why?

How do I see who is subscribed to my list? 

Can anyone see who is subscribed to my list? How can I restrict this? 

What is the difference between a list owner and a list moderator?

As a list owner, can I have someone else actually manage the list? 

How do I turn over list ownership to someone else? 

I've forgotten the list password. How do I find out what it is?

How do I change the list owner password for my list?

I no longer need to use my list. How can I delete it?

Troubleshooting

 

1. How do I start a new list?
You can request a new list by filling out the Mailman (listserv) Request Form in our self-service portal.

2. Why do I need a list administrator password?
Each mailing list requires a password in order to change the configuration settings of your list and perform certain administrative tasks like approving subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and email postings if necessary. The list owner sets this password and needs to be at least six characters long. Passwords can be as long as 16 characters and can include characters, numbers, dashes (-), and underscores (_). We highly recommend that the list owner choose a password different from any of their personal accounts as the password may be sent by email in cleartext.

3. What is the difference between a public and private mailing list?
A public mailing list is one that is advertised on the Mailman Lists web page at https://ls.oswego.edu. With a public mailing list, anyone in the world will be able to see your list on this web page and can opt to subscribe to it. Depending on the subscription policy of your list, they may need list owner approval before they are officially subscribed. If you see your list on this web page, then your list is public.

A private mailing list is one that is not displayed on the Mailman Lists web page at https://ls.oswego.edu/. Instead, subscribers will need the direct web address to the list in order to subscribe to it. If you have a mailing list and it is not displayed on this page, then your list is private.

4. How do I manage my list?
If your list is a public list, follow these steps:

1. Go to https://ls.oswego.edu/ and click on the "list admin overview page" in the second paragraph near the top of the page.
2. Click on the name of your list.
3. Enter the password for the list and click on the "Let me in" button. 

If your list is a private list, follow these steps:

1. Go to https://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/admin/listname replacing "listname" with the actual name of your list. For example, if your list was named bugsbunny-list, you would go to https://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/admin/bugsbunny-list.
2. Enter the password for the list and click on the "Let me in" button.

5. How do I change whether my list is public or private?
If you need to change your list to be public or private, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management web page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Subscription Rules."
3. For the "Advertise this list when people ask what lists are on this machine?" question, select "Yes" if you would like a public mailing list or select "No" if you would like a private mailing list.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.

6. What type of subscription options are available in Mailman?
Mailman offers the following subscription policies:

1. Confirm: A confirmation list means that anyone can subscribe to your list without approval from the list owner. It includes the confirmation feature, so as a user subscribes to the list, they will need to reply to an email confirmation. Once the subscriber confirms their request, they will be added to the list and will start receiving emails directed to the list. Confirmations are needed in order to address "spamming" security issues in which someone subscribes to another person to hundreds of mailing lists. Suddenly the person that has been subscribed starts receiving thousands of email messages a day.
2. Require Approval: This type of list means that no one can subscribe to your mailing list without the list owner's approval. As a user subscribes to the list, an email is sent to the list owner informing them of the person who wants to subscribe to the list and how to go about approving the request. The user will not be added to the list and will not start receiving an email sent to the list until the list owner approves the subscription request. 
3. Confirm and Approve: This option is a combination of the two above. Once a user subscribes to a list, they need to reply to an email confirmation. Once this is done, a message gets sent to the list owner to approve the subscription request. Once the list owner approves the request, the user will be added to the list and will start receiving an email directed to the list.

7. How do I change my list's subscription policy?
If you need to change the subscription policy associated with your list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Subscription Rules."
3. For the "What steps are required for subscription?" question, select the appropriate action.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.

8. What type of unsubscription options are available in Mailman?
Mailman offers the following unsubscription policies:

1. Open: With an open unsubscription, subscribers can unsubscribe from the list without needing list owner approval. They will be removed from the list and will not receive any more emails directed to the list.
2. Approve: This option means that subscribers can unsubscribe from the list, but they are not actually removed until the list owner approves their unsubscription request. Once the list owner approves the request, they will be removed from the list and will not receive any more emails directed to the list.

9. How do I change my list's unsubscription policy?
If you need to change the unsubscription policy associated with your list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Subscription Rules."
3. For the "Is the list moderator's approval required for unsubscription requests?" option, select the appropriate action. Simply answer no for an open unsubscription or yes for an approved unsubscription policy.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.

10. Can people subscribe and unsubscribe themselves to and from my list?
If your list is a public mailing list, people can opt to subscribe to and unsubscribe from your list by clicking your list name on the Mailman Lists web page at https://ls.oswego.edu. However, if you have set up your subscription and unsubscription policies so that list owner approval is required, they will not actually be subscribed to or unsubscribed from your list until you approve the request.

If your list is a private list, then you will need to direct people to the following web address in order for them to subscribe and unsubscribe: https://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/listname replacing "listname" with the name of your list. For example, if you had a list called bugsbunny-list, you would direct people to https://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/bugsbunny-list. If you have set up your subscription and unsubscription policies so that list owner approval is required, they will not actually be subscribed to or unsubscribed from your list until you approve the request.

11. How do I approve a subscription or unsubscription request for my list?
When you need to approve a subscription or unsubscription request, by default, an email will be sent to the list owner. Information on who is trying to subscribe or unsubscribe and a link to visit a web page where you can easily approve or deny requests are included in the email. To approve or deny this request, follow these steps:

1. Click on the web address included in the email sent to the list owner. Alternatively, you can go to the list management web page for your list and click on the "Tend to pending moderator requests" link in the upper right of the page.
2. Select the appropriate action you want to take for the request.
   1. You can choose from the following options for each individual subscriber waiting for approval:
      1. Defer: leave the request pending.
      2. Approve: approve the request.
      3. Reject: Deny the request and have a rejection message sent to the user explaining why their request was refused. You can specify the reason for the rejection in the "Reason for Refusal" field. This information will be included in the rejection notice. If you do not fill in the "Reason for Refusal" the reason is left blank to the user.
      4. Discard: Deny the request and do not have a rejection letter sent to the user. Take this action for any type of spam message.
3. Click on the "Submit All Data" button.

Please note that by default, any subscription or unsubscription requests not acted upon (i.e. marked as "Defer") within 30 days will be automatically removed from the system.

12. As the list owner, how do I subscribe users to my list?
The list owner can subscribe people to their list by following the steps below:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Subscriptions."
3. There will be a large text box to enter the email addresses of those people whom you want to subscribe to the list. After each email address, you enter, hit the return key to move to the next line, and put in another address.
4. When you have finished entering all the email addresses, click on the “Submit Your Changes” button.
5. After clicking that button, a message at the top of the page should appear confirming those addresses you have subscribed to the list.

13. As the list owner, how do I unsubscribe users from my list?
The list owner can unsubscribe people from their list by following these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Membership List."
3. Check the checkbox in the "unsub" (short for "unsubscribe") column next to each user that you want to unsubscribe.
4. Click on the “Submit Your Changes” button.
5. After clicking that button, a message at the top of the page should appear confirming those addresses you have unsubscribed to the list.

Alternatively, you may click on "Removals" under the "Membership Management" category and enter the email addresses of people you want to unsubscribe, one line at a time, in the large text box.

14. Can Mailman use a file to subscribe or unsubscribe users?
Yes. If you have a file of email addresses that you want to subscribe or unsubscribe from, you can tell Mailman to use it. Follow these steps:

1. Prepare your file of email addresses. The file needs to have email addresses listed one per line. If you would like to also include the person's name in the file, you will need to type the person's name and then put their email address in between angled brackets.
2. Next, the file needs to be saved in plain text format only. Mailman does not understand Microsoft Word or Excel file formats. If you have your file in Microsoft Word or Excel format, you can save the file under a different format by:
   1. Going to the File menu and choosing "Save As."
   2. In the window that opens up, select plain text from the pull-down menu under the "Save As Type:" field.
   3. Click "Save"
   4. Remember where you just saved the plain text file as you will need to point Mailman to it.
3. Go to the list management page for your list.
4. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" and then either "Subscriptions" to subscribe or "Removals" to unsubscribe users.
5. Click on the "Browse" button under the large text box.
6. Point Mailman to your file and click the "Open" button.
7. Click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
8. After clicking that button, a message at the top of the page should appear confirming the addresses you have subscribed to or unsubscribed from the list.

15. Can anyone post an email message to my list?
Yes, anyone that knows the email address of your list can send an email to it. However, based on the moderation policy of your list, the message may not automatically get sent out to subscribers. Messages sent to the list from people who are not subscribed to the list are, by default, held for list owner approval.

16. How do people post an email message to my list?
People can post to your list by using their mail reader of choice and directing the message to the following email address: listname@ls.oswego.edu where listname is the actual name of your list. For example, if the list was called bugsbunny-list, then people would post to the list by sending their message to bugsbunny-list@ls.oswego.edu.

17. What moderation options are available in Mailman?
If you would like to review email messages sent to the list before it is actually distributed to all of the subscribers, you need to configure a moderation policy. There are three general options to choose from:

• No moderation: This option means that anyone (subscribers and non-subscribers) can post to the list without list owner/moderator approval.
• Non-members: This is the default option with all new lists. This means that subscribers are allowed to post to the list without list owner/moderator approval. However, all messages sent to the list by non-subscribers are held for approval.
• Members and Non-members: This option means that messages sent to the list by members and non-members must be approved by the list owner/moderator before they are sent to subscribers.

In addition to the above general options, you can specify on a per-user basis who should be moderated. This can be done by clicking the "mod" checkbox next to each subscriber that you want to be moderated in the "Membership Management" section of your list.

18. How can I set the list up so that anyone can post to the list without needing list owner approval?
You will need to set this up for all of your current and future subscribers as well as non-subscribers.

To allow all of your existing subscribers to post to the list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Membership List."
3. You will need to make sure there are no checkboxes in the "mod" column for each subscriber. Uncheck any that are checked and then click the "Submit Your Changes" button. Alternatively, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose "Off" to the "Set everyone's moderation bit, including those members not currently visible" question and then click "Set."

To allow all of your future subscribers and non-subscribers to post to the list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Sender Filters."
3. Select "No" to the "By default, should new list member postings be moderated?" question. This allows all future subscribers to post to the list without the list owner's approval.
4. Scroll down and for the "Action to take for postings from non-members for which no explicit action is defined" option select "Accept." This allows non-member postings to automatically be distributed to the list without list owner approval.
5. Click the "Submit Your Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

19. How can I set the list up so that just subscribers can post to the list without needing list owner approval?
You will need to set this up for all of your current and future subscribers.

To allow all of your existing subscribers to post to the list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Membership List."
3. You will need to make sure there are no checkboxes in the "mod" column for each subscriber. Uncheck any that are checked and then click the "Submit Your Changes" button. Alternatively, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose "Off" to the "Set everyone's moderation bit, including those members not currently visible" question and then click "Set."

To allow all of your future subscribers to post to the list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Sender Filters."
3. Select "No" to the "By default, should new list member postings be moderated?" question.
4. Click the "Submit Your Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

20. How can I set the list up so that all postings to the list need list owner approval?
You will need to set moderation for all of your current and future subscribers.

To enable moderation for all your existing subscribers, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Membership List."
3. If you want to specify moderation for specific users:
   1. Click on the checkbox in the "mod" column for each user.
   2. Then click the "Submit Your Changes" button.
4. If you want to specify moderation for all users:
   1. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose "On" to the "Set everyone's moderation bit, including those members not currently visible" question.
   2. Then click "Set."

To enable moderation for future subscribers to the list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options" then "Sender Filters."
3. Select "Yes" to the "By default, should new list member postings be moderated?" question.
4. Click the "Submit Your Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

21. How do I approve a message sent to the list?
When a message is posted to the list and it needs list owner approval, by default, an email will get sent to the list owner. This email will provide information about who sent the message, and why it needs approval and will provide a link to go to a web page where you can decide what you would like to do with the message. To review and approve or deny the message from being posted to the list, follow these steps:

1. Click on the web link provided in the email that was sent to you. Alternatively, you can go to the list management page for your list and click "Tend to pending moderator requests" under "Other Administrative Activities."
2. Review the message and decide what action to take. Below is a summary of your options:
   1. Defer: leave the post pending.
   2. Approve: approve the posting.
   3. Reject: Deny the request and have a rejection letter sent to the user.
   4. Discard: Deny the request and do not have a rejection letter sent to the user. Take this action for any type of spam message.
   5. Preserve messages for the site administrator
   6. Forward messages (individually) to: this option means that you want to send this message to another person that is not subscribed to the list.
   7. Clear this member's moderate flag: this option means that you want all further messages posted to the list from the user to not require list owner approval. Moderation in Mailman allows you to select which subscribers you want postings from moderated. By checking this box, you are saying that you do not want moderation turned on for this particular user.
3. Specify your action and then click the "Submit All Data" button.

Please note that by default, messages marked as "Defer" will be automatically removed from the system after 30 days.

22. Some messages sent to the list are being held for approval. Why?
If you get a message from Mailman saying that a particular message needs approval, take a look at the "The reason it is being held:" section of the message. Below is a list of some of these reasons and what they mean.

Too many recipients to the message: If you or someone else allowed to post to your list sends a message and includes the mailing list in either the To: or Cc: mail fields with 14 other email addresses, you will get this message. Mailman has some built-in SPAM protection. SPAM messages often include lots of email addresses in either the To: or Cc: fields of the message. When Mailman sees that there are more than 15 email addresses in either of these fields, it flags it as a potential SPAM message to protect the members of the list from getting spammed. The list owner can then review it to determine if it actually is a valid message and approve it or discard it as necessary.

23. How do I see who is subscribed to my list? 
To see who is subscribed to your list, follow these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Membership Management" then "Membership List." A listing of subscribers will be displayed.

Note: If your list has more than 50 subscribers, it will be sorted out alphabetically by email address. You will not be able to see all of them at once. In this case, you will need to do the following to see all of the subscribers:

1. Go to https://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/listname replacing listname at the end of this address with the name of your list. For example, if the name of your list was bugsbunny-list, you would go to http://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/bugsbunny-list.
2. Near the bottom of the page, you will see something that says: "Enter your admin address and password to visit the subscriber list." Leave the "Admin address" blank and type in the list administrator password in the "Password:" field.
3. Click the "Visit Subscriber List" button and the list of subscribers will be displayed.

24. Can anyone see who is subscribed to my list? How can I restrict this? 
By default, only list owners can view who is on the list. You can check or change who has access to look at the subscriber's list by following these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Privacy Options."
3. For the question "Who can view the subscription list?" you will see three options to choose from:
   1. Anyone: Due to spammers collecting email addresses, we do not recommend this option. With this option, anyone in the world is able to see who is subscribed to the list. If your list is publicly advertised on the main Mailman web page at https://ls.oswego.edu/ then anyone can click on your list and click on the "View Subscriber list" button at the bottom of the page. If your list is private, users can still go to http://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/listname (replacing listname with the name of your list) and click on the "View Subscriber list" button at the bottom of the page to see who is subscribed.
   2. List Members: Only people subscribed to the list can see who else is subscribed to the list. If your list is publicly advertised on the main Mailman web page at https://ls.oswego.edu/ then anyone can click on your list, but then subscribers will need to put their email address and password in and click on the "Visit Subscriber List" button to see who is subscribed. If your list is private, users can still go to http://ls.oswego.edu/mailman/listinfo/listname (replacing listname with the name of your list), and then subscribers will need to put their email address and password in and click on the "Visit Subscriber List" button to see who is subscribed.
   3. List Admin: Only the list owner can see the list of subscribers.
4. Select the option you would like and then click on the "Submit Your Changes" button at the bottom of the page.

25. What is the difference between a list owner and a list moderator?
A list owner is someone that has ultimate authority over the list. They can change the list configuration options and manage administrative tasks like approving subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and email postings if necessary. List owners are also called list administrators within Mailman.

A moderator is someone that can do certain administrative tasks like approving subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and postings to the list. However, this person does not have the same authority as a list owner as they cannot make configuration changes to the list. There is a separate moderator password that allows the person to do the administrative tasks mentioned above. They are allowed access to the "Tend to pending moderator requests" section under the "Other Administrative Activities" area of your list.

26. As a list owner, can I have someone else actually manage the list? 
Yes. You can do this by configuring multiple list owners or configuring moderators.

Configuring multiple list administrators means that the people you specify have the same ultimate authority over the list that the list owner does. They can change the list configuration options and manage administrative tasks like approving subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and email postings if necessary. The list owner needs to share the password of the list with the additional people specified as list administrators. To configure this option do the following:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "General Options"
3. The text box next to the "The list administrator email addresses. Multiple administrator addresses, each on a separate line is okay" option specifies the email addresses of the other list administrators, one per line.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
5. Share your list administrator password with the people you specified in Step 3.
6. The additional list owners can now log into the list management web page of your list and will start receiving any administrative emails.

Configuring a moderator means that you can have someone else do administrative tasks like approving subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and postings to the list. However, this person doe not have the same authority as a list owner as they cannot make configuration changes to the list. There is a separate moderator password that allows the person to do the administrative tasks mentioned above. To configure this option, do the following:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "General Options."
3. In the text box next to the "The list moderator email addresses. Multiple moderator addresses, each on a separate line is okay" option, specify the email addresses of people you want to moderate the list. If you choose more than one, make sure to specify one email address per line.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
5. Next, set the moderator password by clicking on the "Passwords" category under "Configuration Categories."
6. On the bottom right part of this page, you will see a field to set and confirm a moderator password. The moderator password should be different than the list administrator password. Enter the moderator password into the "Enter new moderator password" and the "Confirm moderator password" fields. Unless you want to change the list administrator password for your own purposes, leave the "Enter new administrator password" and "Confirm administrator password" fields blank.
7. Click the "Submit Your Changes" button at the bottom of the page.
8. Share the moderator password with the moderators you specified in Step 3.
9. The additional moderators will now start receiving administrative emails and will be able to log into the "Tend to pending moderator requests" section of your list using the moderator password.

27. How do I turn over list ownership to someone else? 
You may turn over list ownership to someone else by following these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "General Options."
3. For the option listed as "The list administrator email addresses. Multiple administrator addresses, each on a separate line is okay." replace your email address with the email address of the person that you want to turn the list over to.
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
5. You will need to share the list password with the new list owner. Either give them the password that you currently use, or you may opt to change it to something else first. To change the list administrator password:
   1. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Passwords."
   2. Fill in the "Enter new administrator password" and "Confirm administrator password" fields near the bottom left of the page with the new password.
   3. Click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
6. Notify the new list owner of the list password and how to access the list management web page for the list.

28. I've forgotten the list password. How do I find out what it is?
With Mailman, CTS is unable to find out what your list password is. You will need to email the CTS Help Desk at help@oswego.edu to request a new list password. Please note that the passwords for Mailman are list-based. They are not your Laker NetID password (unless you have specifically given it your Laker NetID password).

29. How do I change the list owner password for my list?
You may change the administrative password associated with your list by following these steps:

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Configuration Categories" near the top of the page, click on "Passwords."
3. Fill in the "Enter new administrator password" and "Confirm administrator password" fields near the bottom left of the page with the new password.
4. Click on the "Submit Your Changes" button.
5. Once you log out of your list, you will need to start using this new password to manage your list.

30. I no longer need to use my list. How can I delete it?

1. Go to the list management page for your list.
2. Under "Other Administrative Activities" near the top of the page, click on "Delete this mailing list."
3. This will prompt you to enter your mailing list password as verification that you actually want to delete the list. Enter the password.
4. Click the "Delete this list" button.
5. Your list is now deleted.

Additional Information

Need additional information or assistance? Contact CTS.