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Please read this document carefully before you use your new mailing list.
AAPT uses the Majordomo mailing list manager to provide a flexible mailing list service. Majordomo automates most of the time-consuming administrative processes, such as subscriptions and unsubscriptions, usually associated with running a mailing list.
Majordomo is a flexible mailing list management program that runs on AAPT's mail servers. To use and configure Majordomo, you send it commands via email. There are two categories of commands: user commands and administration commands. Your mailing list has its own configuration file that can also be updated via email. The configuration offers a wide range of list attributes and gives you control over who has access to which majordomo features.
When you order a mailing list from AAPT, you become the "list owner", or administrator, and can administer your list using the password we provide. To help us set up your new mailing list, you will need to provide some details with the order, including a name and description for the list, a welcome message to send to new list subcribers, and the email address of the list owner.
By modifying your config file, you can make choices as to who can subscribe, post and use certain commands. Here are some of the options available to you as the list owner; see the Admin Commands section and the Configuration Options section for information on how to set these options.
Your mailing list can be either "open" or "closed". An open subscription policy means that anyone can subscribe to the list. A closed subscription policy means that the list owner must approve any subscription requests, controlling who is on the list.
Moderated Lists
Your mailing list can be either moderated or unmoderated. The default is an unmoderated list, where subscribers can send a message to the list and it will automatically be resent to all subscribers.
With a moderated list, messages sent to the list are forwarded to the moderator for approval before posting. This allows you to minimise the number of messages sent out. A moderated list would also be used if you want a one way list, where you are the only one able to send out messages to subscribers.
Public or Private
In addition to choosing an open or closed subscription policy, you can choose who has access to other commands such as who (see who is on the list) and info (get information about the list). Options include:
Open: anyone can use the command
List: only subscribers can use the command
Closed: no-one can use the command (except the administrator, by
using the password)
Restricted Posting
If you have a small group of people who need to post to the list, but you don't want subscribers to post messages, you may want to use the "restrict post" option. This means that messages to the list can only be sent from a specific set of email addresses. This is an alternative to using a moderated list, where each message needs to be approved with a password. If you wish to enable Restricted Posting, please contact AAPT Support .
List Digests
When ordering a mailing list with AAPT, you have the option of having a list digest. With a digest, messages are sent to subscribers in periodic batches. Users have the choice of subscribing to the normal list (so they get each message as it comes through), or to the digest (so they only receive mail once a day, or at a time you specify). There are configuration options which allow you to configure how your list digest works.
To use Majordomo, you send commands to it in the body of an email message. Majordomo will ignore the Subject line of the message and it will treat every line in the message body as a command. For this reason, it is wise to turn of signatures if you use them, or to type the command end, so that Majordomo knows when you're finished. For this example, let's assume your list is called widgets. These are the steps used to subscribe to the list:
Majordomo will then send you a reply email telling you that the command was executed and what the result was.
Note: there are two ways to tell Majordomo which list is involved. In the above example, we used the listname within the command. There is also a special request address set up for your mailing list. In our example, this is widgets-request@lists.connect.com.au. This way, Fred could subscribe just by saying "subscribe fred@example.com".
Please see the list of User Commands for more information. List owners will also use the Administration Commands.
If you have a moderated mailing list, each message sent to the list needs to be approved by the moderator. By default, the moderator is the same as the list-onwer you specified when ordering the mailing list. You can specify a different moderator email address using the moderator option in the config file.
When an email needs approval, Majordomo will send you the complete message (both header and body) in the body of another message to you. To approve a message, you need to add a special header called Approve, then send the message back to your list ready for resending to subscribers. (Majordomo will remove the Approve header before resending, so subscribers won't see your password.)
To add the header, follow these steps:
You must ensure the Approve header is not separated from the other headers by a blank line. Here is an example message I could send to the widgets list:
To: widgets@lists.connect.com.au Subject: doesn't matter Approved: password Received: by some.site.org.... Received: by another.site.org.... From: Fred <fred@example.com> Subject: Looking for larger widgets To: widgets@lists.connect.com.au Does anyone on the list know somewhere I can find larger widgets?
The Majorodomo FAQ also has some information on approving messages (section 3.10).
Sometimes Majordomo will bounce a message to you instead of automatically forwarding it to subscribers. This could be because the message is too large, or because it contains commands like subscribe and was sent to the list address by mistake. If you decide the message should actually be sent to the list, you can approve is in the same way described above. See section 4.8 of the Majordomo FAQ for more information.
The Majordomo homepage has further information on this mailing list manager:
http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/
There is also a Frequently Asked Questions list at:
http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/majordomo-faq.html
Questions regarding your AAPT mailing list can be directed to Support:
Email: support@connect.com.au
Phone: 1300 731 111
Majordomo is licensed and provided by Great Circle Associates. They coordinate development of the software in conjunction with a number of volunteers. Part of this documentation is based on the documentation provided with the Majordomo software.
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