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Help For New Mailing List Maintainers

This Document is intended to give you the basic information and commands you will need to maintain your new email list.

Email lists on FLORA are served by an automated manager called Majordomo. Commands used for maintaining your list are emailed to Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca. Basic list management involves modifying the welcome message (newinfo file) that new subscribers receive, subscribing and unsubscribing from the list, approving subscriptions and unsubscriptions, changing the password, and retrieving the list of valid subscribers to the list.

Experimenting with your list before it becomes public is encouraged. Majordomo will return reasonably understandable messages describing any errors you may have made in commands you send to it. If you are more comfortable using a test group for experimenting with the majordomo software, ask Russ for a password for the test group.

Addresses and Passwords

Several addresses and the password for your list are vital to your being able to maintain the list effectively.

Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca is the address you use to send commands to majordomo.
Flora-help@flora.ottawa.on.ca is an email list where discussions of general list maintenance problems and issues take place. Flora-help is accessible from the FLORA Help Desk http:// www.flora.org/flora/help/. and is a place where list managers can help each other out with problems. Russ monitors this list and is available there to answer questions.
Majordomo-Owner@flora.ottawa.on.ca is the address of last resort for difficult problems, or if privacy is required.

To use the material covered in this document you will also need the name, address, and password for your list.

Maintaining Your List Effectively

Some General Points to Keep in Mind

Majordomo requires that each command uses only one line. If you use Eudora you will need to turn off wordwrap. If you use Pine you will need to force the command onto one line.

Majordomo expects the command to be in the body, not subject, of the message. It will ignore commands in the subject of the message.

More than one command can be sent in each message to majordomo. Each command must be on its own line. While learning, it is better to send only one command per message, but as you become more comfortable with using email to commuicate with the majordomo software you will sometimes find it more convenient to send several commands at a time.

Modifying The Welcome Message (Newinfo File)

The newinfo file is the file that contains the message that is sent to each new subscriber. This message should contain basic information about the purpose of the list and how to subscribe and unsubscribe to the list. You need to create and submit a newinfo file before opening your list to public use.

To modify the newinfo file use your email software to start a new message addresed to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

At the start of the new message type the command
newinfo list password
Where list is the name of your email list, and password is the password for your email list.
Copy your welcome message into the email message starting on the line following the newinfo command.
At the end of the welcome message type EOF on a line by itself.
Send the email message.

Retrieving The Welcome Message (Newinfo File)

To check the newinfo file, start a new message addressed to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
info list

Where list is the name of your email list.

The info list command is a publicly available command and so does not require the use of a password.

You will receive an email back from majordomo containing the Welcome Message as it appears to subscribers.

Finding Out Who is Subscribed to Your List

Next you may want to find out who is subscribed to your list.

Start a new message addressed to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
who list

Where list is the name of your email list.

The who command is a publicly available command and so does not require the use of a password.

You will receive a message back from majordomo containing a list of the email addresses of the subscribers to your list.

The address you get for the subscriber may appear in a few different forms, for example,

Sandra P Hoffman <sandrap@flora.ottawa.on.ca>
user name          email address

sandrap@flora.ottawa.on.ca "Sandra P Hoffman"
email address                 user name

Only the email address portion is required for commands. The subscriber's name need not be included. Any brackets should be removed or left off the email address when submitting commands to majordomo.

Subscribing To Your List

If you are not subscribed to your own list and want to subscribe, start a new message addressed to
majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
subscribe list

Where list is the name of your list.

The subscribe command is the one used by anyone wishing to subscribe to your list. If your list is an open one, majordomo will send you an email notifying you of the new subscription.

If your list is closed majordomo will send you a message asking you to approve the subscription. Instructions for approving the subscription will be contained in the message from majordomo.

Subscribing Others to the List With The Approve Subscription Command

You may wish to subscribe someone without them having to send in the subscription command themselves. To do this start a new message to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
approve passwd subscribe list email address

Where passwd is the password for your list, list is the name of your list, and address is the email address of the subscriber.

Majordomo will send you two messages. One will tell you the command has succeeded, the other will notify you of the new subscription.

Unsubscribing From Your List

At times you, or anyone else subscribed to the list, may wish to stop receiving messages from the list. If you wish to unsubscribe from your list send a message to
majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
unsubscribe list

Where list is the name of your list.

The unsubscribe command is used by anyone wishing to unsubscribe from your list. Majordomo will send you an email notifying you of the unsubscription.

Unsubscribing Others From Your List Using The Approve Unsubscription Command

In some circumstances you may be required to unsubscribe someone from your email list. One common reason for this is that a subscriber's email is undeliverable and is bouncing (This will eventually link to a file describing the most common types of bounce s). Another common reason is that a subscriber's email address has changed. They may not be aware of the change, or their mail may be being forwarded from another address and they may have become confused about which address their subscription is listed u nder.

To approve unsubscriptions start a new message to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
approve passwd unsubscribe list address

Where passwd is the password for your list, list is the name of your list, and address is the email address of the subscriber.

Majordomo will send you two messages. One will tell you the command has succeeded, the other will notify you the subscriber has unsubscribed.

Changing The List Password

To improve the security of your list you may periodically wish to change the list password.

To change the password start a new message to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
passwd list oldpassword newpassword

Where list is the name of your email list, oldpassword is the password you currently use, and newpassword is the password you wish to start using.

Majordomo will send you a message telling you that the passwd command has succeeded.

A Brief Explanation Of Other Commands That Majordomo Accepts

These commands do not require a password to use and are available to all subscribers to your list. They are all sent to
Majordomo@flora.ottawa.on.ca

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
which email address

Majordomo sends back a message containing a listing of all the mail lists that the email address specified is subscribed to.

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
index list

Majordomo sends back a message containing a listing of all the files, pertaining to the mailing list specified, available for retrieval by email. This allows subscribers with email access only to get a listing of all the archives of old messages for your list.

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
get list filename

Majordomo sends back the specific file requested. This allows subscribers with email access only to retrieve archives of old messages to the list.

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
lists

Majordomo sends back a listing of all the email lists on flora.

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
help

Majordomo sends back a list and brief explanation of the commands not requiring a pasword that majordomo understands.

In the body, not subject, of your message type the command
end

This signals majordomo that it should ignore any text following the end command. This can be used to prevent majordomo from trying to read the lines of your signature file as commands.

Last updated July 28, 1996 by sph

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