Mailing Lists
Summary: We offer mailing lists to share ideas and information with others via e-mail. If you would like to join a mailing list or start your own, read the information below.
Introduction
What is a Mailing List?
A mailing list distributes electronic mail (e-mail ) to all users appearing on a mailing list. This service provides a convenient means to exchange ideas and information between members.Lists can be configured as:
- Announce Only
- Moderated
- Open discussion lists.
Mailing lists can also store all the messages associated with their lists in archives, and allow users to search these archives.
Mailman
We use the mailing list software called MAILMAN
http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman.html
Mailman gives each mailing list a unique Web page and allows users to subscribe, unsubscribe, and change their account options over the web. The list manager administers his or her list entirely via the Web. Mailman has most of the features that people want in a mailing list management system, including built-in archiving, mail-to-news gateways, spam filters, bounce detection, digest delivery, and so on.
Why Should I Join?
You should join a mailing list to communicate with others on campus or receive announcements about services that interest you. For example OIT-Seminars is a list for announcing "Faculty and Staff Computer Training Workshops and Seminars" presented or coordinated by the Office of Information Technology.Subscribe to a Mailing List
Most mailing lists are open to the entire campus community. Unless a list is "private", individuals can add ("subscribe") or remove ("unsubscribe") themselves to lists simply by going to: http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo for a list of publicly viewable lists on the server and clicking on the list name.
Request a Mailing List
- Who is eligible for a list?
- Mailing lists at UCI are meant for Education, Research, and Administration and must be sponsored by a Faculty or Staff member.
- How do I create a list?
- You may request a list by filling out a request form.
Once the list has been created you will be sent e-mail with the management
URL and password to manage and further customize your list.
Request a Mailing List Form (Login Required)
What is the default configuration?
- Public Lists
- Anyone subscribed to the list can send to it with replies going to the sender. Lists are publicly advertised and appear on the UCI list of mailing lists.
- Archives
- Mailing Lists are not archived by default.
- Replies to Mailing List
- By default, replies are sent to the Sender.
- Password Reminders
- Password reminders are sent to members each month.
- General Description:
- A short phrase identifying the list. This description is used when the mailing list is listed with other mailing lists, or in headers, and so forth. It should be as succinct as you can get it, while still identifying the purpose of the list.
- General Information
- An introductory description - a few paragraphs - about the list. It will be included, as html, at the top of the listinfo page. Carriage returns will end a paragraph - see the details for more info. The text will be treated as html except that new lines will be translated to <br> - so you can use links, preformatted text, etc, but don't put in carriage returns except where you mean to separate paragraphs.
- Make sure to review your changes - bad html (like some unterminated HTML constructs) can prevent display of the entire listinfo page.
List Administration
I am a Mailman list administrator. Where can I go to administer my list?
- Go to http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/admin/ for a list of publicly advertised lists.
- Click on the link to your list and login with the password you chose when setting up the list.
- If you have forgotten this password, go to http://maillists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/ and
click on the list you manage.
At the bottom of the your list page will be a place to enter your e-mail address to get a reminder of your list password.
How can I change the name of my existing list?
- Requests for changes should be sent to postmaster at uci.edu
- NOTE: Mailman does not provide a simple mechanism to rename a list.
- Our procedure to change a mailing list name is as follows:
- A new list is created with the same settings
- Subscribers from the old list are copied over to the new list.
- Email sent to the old list name is forwarded to the new list for six months.
- The list owner is responsible for communicating the name change to the list members.
- The previous mailing list is de-activated.
- Archives from the previous list will remain for as long as necessary based on the list owners requirements.
Mailman Administrator Handout
A detailed handout for mailing list administrators is available for download in PDF format.
Email Commands
Mailman also has a list of e-mail commands you can send to the list.
