(EN) UV DISTRIBUTION LISTS. Guide for owners and administrators

Who is in charge of managing mailing lists?

Remember: a mailing list service involves four types of roles:

listmaster
owner
moderator
subscriber

Check the description of each role to know more about this.

Request the creation of a mailing list

The request to create a list may be subject to conditions . Even if you meet these conditions, the creation of the list will be subject to approval by the listmasters

To request the creation of a mailing list, do the following:

Go to the home page of the list web environment and sign in .
In the top menu, click on the link 'Create list' .
If the link is not displayed, it means that you do not have sufficient privileges to create a list.
Give the list a name (just enter the name, without '@' or the domain, eg: languages_spanish and no languages_spanish @ ).
Do not use any space, acnetos or special characters for the names of lists: those characters can cause problems. Choose a short and explicit name: think about the subscribers who have to write that name every time they want to send a message to the list !. If you manage a set of lists, you can put a prefix common to the names of the lists; this way they will be together when they are ordered and will be easily recognizable (example: xx-users @, xx-hotline @ , etc.).
Choose a type of list within the predefined types (the predefined types are only examples of typical configurations that can be changed by the list owners after creation, it is even possible to configure the list under the options offered in the administration module of the list, asking the listmasters).
Choose an issue for your list. The subject will be shown as the header of all the pages in the list, and it will also be visible in the list index pages (list of lists, list of your subscriptions, etc.) and in the browser's title bar.
Choose a theme in the 'Themes' drop-down.
If no topic fits your needs, you can request the creation of a new topic by requesting it from the listmasters.
Enter a description for your list. The description will be displayed on the information page of the list and on the 'Welcome Letter for Subscribers' sent by mail to each new subscriber, under the heading 'Subject of the list'. This description may contain information on the following aspects:
- reason for the list and objectives;
- topics discussed;
- operation of the list (responsibilities, status of the list, etc.);
- applicable rules;
- description of the typical subscribers (their occupations, the projects they manage, their nationalities, etc.).
You can format the description of the list with HTML tags. Be careful: if your description is long, use manual line ends (ENTER key on your keyboard); if you do not, it may not be seen completely in the browser window.
Click on the button ' Send the list creation request '.

A message is displayed to inform you that the request to create the list has been sent to the listmasters and from that moment, you can modify the list by pressing the 'Admin' button. However, the message warns that the list will be installed and will be visible on the server only after approval by the listmaster.

After this, you must wait for the parobation of the list by one of the listmasters . Then you will receive a notification message entitled ' Creation of list listname', inform yourself that your list has been created.

Finally, subscribe to your list : create a list or be its owner or moderator does not mean you are automatically subscribed to it.

Manage a list

To manage a list that you own, do the following:

Go to the home page of the list and sign in .
If you are subscribed to the list with different addresses, use the address with which you requested the creation of the list.
Go to the information page of the list you want to manage.
In the left side menu, click on the 'Admin' link .

To navigate through the sections of the administration module, click on the links under the 'Admin' link in the left-hand menu.

The different sections allow you:

The options available in the 'Moderate' submenu will allow you to:

moderate messages sent to the list;
moderate available documents in the shared web space of documents;
moderate pending subscriptions

Configure the list

To learn how to configure the list, please review the documentation on the list configuration .

Customize the list

From this page, you can edit a series of files related to the list , including:

Typical messages sent to subscribers on particular occasions:
- welcome message : this message corresponds to the notification sent to people who have just subscribed. You should write a welcome letter to your list and add it to this welcome message. You can create a MIME structured message (reserved for experts in MIME formatting);
- unsubscription message : this message is sent to people who unsubscribe from the list;
- deleted message : this message is sent to people who are unsubscribed from the list (DEL command), especially because their address causes rebounds;
- reminder message : this message is sent to subscribers as a personalized reminder when the REMING command is used. This command is essential for the proper functioning of your list since many bounces are caused by people whose current email address is no longer the subscribed address, or even who has forgotten that they are subscribed to the list;
- Subscription invitation messages : This message is sent to people to invite them to subscribe to the list using the INVITE command;
- message notification rejected by the moderator : this message is sent to the sender of a message rejected by the moderator;
- message notification rejected by a virus : this message is sent to the sender of a message in which viruses have been found.
various files:
- description of the list : the description of the list is sent by mail as a result of the INFO command. By default, it is also included in the welcome message (subscription notification). This description is not the same as the one shown on the presetting page of the web interface of the list.
- Main page of the list : this description is available on the information page of the list. It can be in HTML format. Even if you do not use this format, use the <br /> tag to enter line breaks.
- message header : when available, it is added as a MIME attachment at the beginning of each message distributed to the list;
- Footer of the message : when available, it is added as a MIME attachment at the end of each message distributed to the list;

By default, Sympa uses predefined files; in this case, the specific files corresponding to your list are empty. To edit a file, choose it from the drop-down list and click on the 'Edit' button . You will have the possibility to change the field 'From' (sender), the field 'Subject' (subject) and the body of the message .

Be careful: the values in brackets are variable. Do not change them, unless you know what you're really doing ...

Manage the shared web space for documents

By default, the lists do not have a shared web space for documents. So you have to create it. To do so, go to the administration module and click on the ' Create shared ' link.

To allow subscribers to publish documents in the shared web space, you need to change the default permissions : in the administration module of the list, click on ' Edit list configuration ' and then on '<privileges <strong = ""> ' At the top of the page, there is a drop-down titled ' Who can edit '; choose the option ' Restricted to subscribers '

Be careful: if you created directories before changing these permissions, the directories will still not be able to be written to them. If you want them to have write permissions, you will have to change the access permissions for each directory.

You may also want to set quotas for the docuemtnso shared web space on the 'Privileges' page of the 'Edit List Settings' section.

To know everything necessary to manage the shared web space of documents (how to organize it, change access permissions, document names, etc.), check the section ' Use the shared web space of documents ' in the User Guide.

To prohibit access to the shared web space of documents , click on ' Remove shared ' in the 'Admin' submenu. You can reopen it by clicking on ' Restore shared .Deleting or reopening the shared web space of documents has no impact on the documents it contains .

Manage subscribers

This section allows you to browse the list of subscribers in the list . Each subscriber has the following information:

mail address ;
domain of the mail address ( @ cru.fr , @ sympa.org , @ fai.com , etc.);
photo (in case this functionality has been activated for the list);
name (depending on whether the subscription was made, this information may not be available);
mode of sending messages ;
source of data indicating the origin in case the subscriber is included or subscribed directly;
date of subscription to the list;
last update of the subscriber's options.

By default, each page shows 25 subscribers. You can navigate through the pages using the navigation arrows or by showing more subscribers on each page. You can also reorder the list of subscribers according to different criteria by clicking on the corresponding header of each column.

To search for a subscriber , enter all or part of your email address or your name in the box and click on the ' Search ' button.

You can subscribe other people to the list from this page:

Parsa add a single person , enter your email address in the box and click on the ' Add ' button.
To add several people , click on the ' Add several ' button. In the box that is displayed, enter a postal address and the name of each person you want to subscribe to in the list and click ' Add subscribers '.

If you want to subscribe to people without being notified of it, activate the 'Silent' box. However, it is better to tell people that you are subscribing to the list!

Although you have the possibility of people subscribing to your mailing list, it is always much better for people to take the necessary steps to subscribe themselvesto the list. You can also invite people to subscribe to the list through the INVITE command: send an email to listserv@llistes.uv.es and type the following command in the body of the message: invite name of the mail- address list (example: invite list_example john.doe (@) fai.com ).

To accept or reject a subscription request to the list , click on ' pending subscriptions '. A list will be displayed with all the people who have requested the subscription to the list. To accept or reject an application, activate the box next to the name of the person and click on the button of your choice.

To send a subscription reminder to all subscribers , click on the ' Remember all ' button. The subscription reminder message contains:

the name of the list to which the subscriber belongs;
the email address with which the subscriber has subscribed.
the subscriber's list password ;
a link to the information page of the list;
a clickable address that allows the subscriber to unsubscribe from the list.

You can also set up an automatic subscription reminder through the ' Miscellaneous ' page of the 'Edit list settings' section.

To unsubscribe subscribers from the page, select them by activating the box next to their name and click on the ' Delete selected emails ' button.

If you do not want to notify subscribers, activate the 'Silent' box. However, this is not recommended except for the case of subscribers with bounced messages.

Tip: to select all the subscribers at the same time, first make sure they are all displayed on the page, and then click on the 'Reverse selection' button: all subscribers will be selected in a single click!

To change the subscriber's options , click on their email address.

From this page, you can change the subscriber's name, email address and message delivery mode . You can also unsubscribe it .

if the subscriber is bouncing messages , another form is displayed under the form 'Subscriber Information':

The information shown includes:

the type of error (in English);
the number of errors;
the period in which the errors occurred.

You can check the last error or restart the errors . If you restart the errors, the subscriber's counter will be set to zero.

To more easily manage bouncing addresses, go to the ' Bounces ' page of the list management module.

Manage rebounds

When there is a problem with the email address of one of the subscribers (obsolete email addresses, temporarily unavailable addresses when a message was sent, inbox quota exceeded, etc.), the portentace of addresses with bounces is shown in the menu left side under the name of ' Ratio of errors '. To check the addresses with bounces, go to the page ' Bounces of the management module of the list.

Sympa automatically manages subscribers with rebounds: depending on the number of errors and traffic on the list, subscribers with rebounds are notified, unsubscribed, or their counter is reset to zero when their addresses stop bouncing messages.

To make mail addresses stop bouncing messages , select them by activating their boxes and clicking on the button ' Restart errors for selected users '. If the errors persist, the addresses will re-inform themselves as bounced addresses as soon as a message is sent to the list.

You can also unsubscribe those subscribers whose mail addresses continue to bounce messages : too many addresses with rebounds cause a considerable load on the mailing list servers. To unsubscribe subscribers, select them by checking the boxes in front of their names and click on the ' Delete selected email addresses ' button.

Tip: to select all the subscribers at the same time, first make sure they are all displayed on the page, and then click on the 'Reverse selection' button: all subscribers will be selected in a single click!

Moderate messages sent to the list

When a list is moderate, all messages must be approved by one of the moderators before being distributed to the list. · After sending a message to the list, subscribers are automatically notified by mail indicating that their message will be moderated. For the moderators, they also receive a notification from Sympa, which includes the message to moderate.

You can perform moderation operations either by email , by replying to the message received from sympa, or through the web interface of the list server . To do so, click on the ' Message ' link in the 'Moderate' submenu: you will be directed to a page that shows all the messages that need moderation (the most recent messages are at the top of the page). To read a message, click on the subject .

You have two options :

authorize the distribution of the message to the list;
reject the message and notify the sender : when you reject a message, it is better to notify the sender ...

All moderators can decide whether to distribute a message or not. However, the first moderator who processes the message will be the one who makes the decision . Sympa will warn you if you try to process a message that has already been moderated. When there are several moderators, it is better to modify the messages from the web interface of the mail list server : this way, you will be able to see the messages that are really to be moderated.

Regardless of the date and time of moderation, the date and time of sending the message does not vary . Thus, if the distribution of the message is approved with much delay, it is possible to receive a message dated January 1 on December 31!

In case the message is rejected with a notification, the subscriber who sent it is notified by email. You can customize the message it receives .

Activating the ' Reject without notification ' checkbox will allow you to prevent the message's author being notified.

Activating the ' Add to black list ' box adds the message's author to the blacklist of that distribution list, in addition to omitting the notification. You can manage the blacklist through the ' Edit blacklist ' button at the bottom of the page.

If you want to personalize the rejection message that is sent to the author of the message to moderate, you can do it through the button ' Manage rejection messages .The message management page allows defining a set of rejection messages as well as defining one by default.

Remember : you can add or remove moderators through the administration module of the list. To do that, from the information page of the list, click on ' Admin ', on ' Edit configuration of the list ', and then on ' Definition of the list '.

It is also possible to process messages after distribution to the list ; This can be useful when a list is not moderated. If you want to delete a message , look it up in the online message file and click on the ' Mark this mail to delete ' button in the upper right corner of the message. A confirmation message will be displayed; click on 'OK'. The message will be deleted after a few seconds. Be careful: this operation is irreversible !!! If you delete a message, you will not be able to recover it.

Manage the message file

The Sympa mailing list manager can generate downloadable compressed files (.ZIP format) of the messages sent to the list . To download those files, select the month that interests you in the list and click on the ' Download ZIP file ' button.

Note: in the 'File selection' list, to select all the months during which messages have been sent, click on the first month, hold the SHIFT key and click on the last month of the list.

You will receive a file of the type ' nameoflist_archive.zip ' that contains a directory named name of the month- monthlist (example: list_example_2009-06 for each month.) Within each directory, the name of the files are numbers corresponding to the position of the message according to chronological position of send date (example: the file named '1' contains the first message sent of the month.) The message files have no extension , use a text editor of your choice (Notepad, WordPad, Vim, etc.) open it, each file represents a complete message (with all the headers) .

From the "Manage file" page, you can also delete messages (deleted from month to month and not message to message). To do this, select the months that interest you in the list and click on the ' Delete selected months ' button.

Be careful: this operation is irreversible !!! When you click on 'Delete selected months', keep in mind that you are not only deleting a file, but also the message file of the selected month !!!

Rename the list

In the administration module of the list , click on ' Rename list '. Enter the name you choose and click on the 'Rename this list' button. A confirmation message will be displayed; click on 'OK'.

If you change your mind, you will only have to perform the reverse operation to return to the previous name.

Be careful: when you rename a list, you have to notify the listmasters; otherwise, the change will not be effective .

Some tips for naming your lists:

Do not use any space, accents or special characters in the list names: these characters can cause problems.
Choose an explicit and short name : think about the subscribers who will have to write the name every time they want to send a message to the list.
If you manage a set of lists, you can use a common prefix for all your lists ; in this way they will be shown together in the lists and will be easily recognizable (example: xx-usuarios@llistes.uv.es , xx-soporte@llistes.uv.es.fr , etc.).

Delete the list

In the administration module of the list , click on ' Delete list '. A confirmation message will be displayed; click on 'OK'.

Be careful: if you delete the list, you can not open it yourself! If you want to reopen the list, you will have to consult with the listmasters.

In real terms, what are the consequences of deleting a list?

All subscribers are automatically unsubscribed (including owners and moderators).
The message file is maintained but no one can access it.
The documents published in the shared web space of documents are maintained but no one can access them.
Only listmsters have the power to reopen the list ; if they do, subscribers who were previously subscribed to the list will be automatically subscribed again.

Be careful: due to a small latency, list pages can remain accessible for a while if you know their addresses. Afterwards, they will be completely inaccessible.

If you want all associated files to be permanently deleted, you should ask the listmasters.

Good practices

With the intention of making dynamic lists, you must actively engage in their exchanges: if a list is not controlled or encouraged by its owners, it can cause a loss of quality in the messages and even its subscribers end up leaking ...

The use of electronic mail in general and the use of mailing lists implies a set of precise and necessary rules for sharing pleasant communications: the "Netiquette" . As a moderator or owner of a list, your role is that subscribers respect them. You will find the general principles of the Netiquette, as well as many links on the Wikipedia page dedicated to the Netiquette .

You must write some conditions of use of your list to define all the rules that will be applied in their use:

allowed, tolerated and prohibited topics;
write rules (for example to specify the language in which subscribers must publish, to ban "SMS language", etc.);
rules applicable when sending messages (frequency, attachments, etc.);
responsibilities of subscribers with respect to the netiquette;
rights and obligations of the subscribers;
information about the retention of messages sent to the list;
legal information and privacy policy;
sanctions applicable to those who do not respect the rules of the list;
etc.

With the intention that everyone read the conditions of use of the list, you must include it in the welcome message that is sent to them after subscribing. To do that, you need to customize that message through the 'Customize' page of the list management module.

_Rev:	_{2019 / 04}
_Lang.	Página: (EN) UV DISTRIBUTION LISTS. Guide for owners and administrators
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