ListProc
List
Owner
FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Common ListProc List Owner Questions
How do I .... ? An Introduction
- This page is by no means comprehensive, but it does attempt to answer some
of the most commonly asked questions. The definitive guide to ListProc for a
listowner is the Listowner Reference Manual. Every listowner should have a copy of
this manual, which may be obtained in both RTF format (which can be read by all
word processors) and on-line in HTML format from http://shamash.org/help/
- How do I send mail to my list?
- How do I add or remove people from my list
- How can I look at all my list's configurations?
- How can my Shamash mailing list be listed on Shamash's list of Shamash lists?
- I am confused about ListProc archives. Can you explain the different options to me?
- I keep getting error messages from different people's e-mail addresses, but I'm not sure what the different error types mean. What should I do?
- What does it mean when I get a message that says a message has been rejected from my lists because of "suspicious subject" or "suspicious address" or because the "system sensed the following request which may have been inadvertently sent to list"?
- I have list members who cannot read mail that comes in digest mode. All they get is a blank message. What is wrong?
- I am getting spam and other unwanted mail on my list. What can I do?
- I would like to add an info file to my list. How do I?
- How can I understand all those error messages from ListProc?
- How can I add an "alias" to my list?
- How do I add or remove a moderator to my list?
- How to I add or remove an extra list owner? How do I change owners for my list?
- How can I use Eudora to moderate my moderated-edit list?
- I would like to shut down my list. Who do I ask?
- How do I send mail to my list?
If your list name is "torah", then you'd send email to torah@shamash.org
Every message sent to that address would go out to everyone on your mailing
list.
- How do I add or remove people from my list?
- Subscribers can add themselves to the list by emailing
listproc@shamash.org and having the message read:
subscribe LISTNAME FIRSTNAME LASTNAME
(they need to replace LISTNAME with the name of your list and
FIRSTNAME LASTNAME with their full names).
This is the *best* way to have people join your list, as they
subscribe themselves when they are interested. It is NOT permitted to
subscribe people to a list without their permission.
- Subscribers can also leave the list on their own by emailing
listproc@shamash.org and having the message read:
unsubscribe LISTNAME
(they need to replace LISTNAME with the name of your list)
- If someone emails you, the list owner, and wants you to add them for some
reason, you may so do by emailing listproc@shamash.org and having your
message read:
add LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD EMAIL@ADDRESS FIRSTNAME LASTNAME
(Replace LISTNAME with your list's name, replace LISTPASSWORD with the list
owner's password, replace EMAIL@ADDRESS with the email address of the
person you want to add to your list, and replace FIRSTNAME LASTNAME with
the subscriber's full name.)
- If someone emails you, the list owner, and wants you to delete them for
some reason, or if their mail is bouncing and you need to remove them
from the list, you may so do by emailing listproc@shamash.org and having
your message read:
delete LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD EMAIL@ADDRESS
(Replace LISTNAME with your list's name, replace LISTPASSWORD with the
list owner's password, replace EMAIL@ADDRESS with the email address
of the person whom you want to delete from your list.)
You may preceed the add and delete commands with the word
"quiet" (without the quotes) if you do not want the user to be notified.
You may put multiple add and delete commands in one message, just be
sure to hit the <return> or <enter> key at the end of a command line.
- How can I look at all my list's configurations?
- There are two ways to do this, although the information is more complete in the second option, but the explanations are better in the first option:
review LISTNAME short
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD
(Replace LISTNAME with the name of your list. Replace LISTPASSWORD with your listowners password.
- How can my Shamash mailing list be listed on Shamash's list of Shamash lists?
-
On a periodic basis we update the web pages:
http://shamash.org/help/listoflists.html
We will include your new list on those forms at the next update.
Your list is automatically listed by ListProc, when a user requests a list of our lists.
You may request a list of the lists at Shamash. by following the directions in the Shamash Listproc Users' FAQ on this topic.
- I am confused about ListProc archives. Can you explain the different options to me?
- ListProc MAILING-LIST archives
[Refer to Section VI of the ListProc Owners Manual]
This is the common type of ListProc archives used at Shamash. Messages are sent to a mailing list and are archived on the Shamash system. Archives may not be modified ; they are an accurate representation of what transpired on a mailing list and are very useful when looking up previous list discussions. Listowners have many choices about who can access their archives:
- World Wide Web Accessible Archives
List archives may be placed either on the world wide web or may be placed in another private location on Shamash which is not accessible by the web.
Web Accessible Archives are found at:
http://shamash.org/listarchives/LISTNAME (Replace LISTNAME with the name of your mailing list.)
- Gopher and Anonymous FTP Archives
Gopher archives are a remnant of the days when Gopher was popular, before the World Wide Web (WWW) became widely available (prior to 1994). Shamash offers minimal support for existing gopher archives and plans to phase these out in the near future, so please encourage your list members to use the WWW accessible archives. We have already phased out much of our Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (AFTP) archives.
- ListProc Retrievable Archives
List archives may be retrieved via e-mail using ListProc. As a list-owner you may determine who may retrieve your archives through e-mail via ListProc. To do this, send e-mail to listproc@shamash.org and have the message (not the subject) read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD archives-to-???
(Replace LISTNAME with the name of your list. Replace LISTPASSWORD with your listowners password. Replace ??? with one of the following: OWNERS, SUBSCRIBERS, or ALL. OWNERS lets just you as the owner request the archives, SUBSCRIBERS lets the owners and subscribers request the archives and ALL lets anyone in the world request the archives from ListProc.)
The commands for e-mail archive searching and archive requests are available on http://shamash.org/help/listuser-t.shtml
and also on the Listproc User FAQ, at
http://shamash.org/help/LPuser-faq.shtml#search
- ListProc ARCHIVE archives
[Refer to section VII of the ListProc Owners Manual]
At Shamash, this is an infrequently used option. The purpose here is to maintain text files for distribution. Usually, we find that making files accessable on the World Wide Web is a much better way to provide resources, although there certainly are several appropriate uses of ListProc ARCHIVE archives.
- These files may be archived at Shamash, and may be requested through e-mail via ListProc.
- Additionally, ListProc can employ Automatic File Distribution (afd) to send out the archive files, when they are updated, to the archive subscribers (which is a group of people, much like subscribers on a mailing list) .
- Alternately, ListProc can just e-mail the archive subscribers and let them know that the files have been updated, so they can request them if they would like.
- Lastly, at Shamash, all of the files in ListProc ARCHIVE archives may be accessible through the web, if an archive-owner chooses.
- I keep getting error messages from different people's e-mail addresses, but I'm not sure what the different error types mean. What should I do?
- This problem exists frequently, as many users change email addresses, but
continue to deliver or forward mail to the old address for a period of time. It also
occurs for a few other reasons. Please see the web page
regarding Bounce messages we have describing solutions to this question.
- What does it mean when I get a message that says a message has been rejected from my list because of "suspicious subject" or "suspicious address" or
because the "system sensed the following request which may have been inadvertently sent to list"?
- All three of these errors occur because ListProc has made the assumption that the original message was not intended to be distributed to every member of your list, so it routes the message only to you, the list owner. (or to the individual who receives the delivery-errors, if someone has been defined.)
- Listproc prevents messages from going to lists which contain certain keywords in the Subject: line. These include, but are not limited to: test, remove me, add me, confirmation, RCPT. By doing this, these types of messages are kept off your list, because they are "suspicious subjects".
- "Suspicious addresses" errors are generated when Listproc gets mail from an addressee which ListProc believes would not send mail to a mailing list, for example root, majordomo, admin, mailer_daemon and many others.
- A message like "system sensed the following request which may have been inadvertently sent to list" usually means that someone sent a message to your list, with the first word of the message being a ListProc command (like subscribe, join, delete or any of the others). This prevents your list from receiving these messages.
- Frequently these messages are generated when the message content is legitimate. Since listproc is not a person, it can only do so much to filter out messages like this; that is why ListProc sends the messages to you, the listowner, to make the final decision about these types of messages.
- I have list members who cannot read mail that comes in digest mode. All they get is a blank message. What is wrong?
-
There have been some problems with certain mail clients reading
digests mailed through ListProc. The digests themselves are actually
reaching you, but are not being processed by your mailer.
Tell the user to send a message to listproc@shamash.org and have the message (not the subject) read:
set LISTNAME mail DIGEST-NOMIME
- I am getting spam and other unwanted mail on my list. What can I do?
- Report all mailbombing, spamming and other breaches of Netquitte to abuse@shamash.org and our staff will look into the situation. Shamash has a zero tolerance policy against spamming and mailbombing.
- Check your list configurations; you may need to change some of your list's options to protect your list from unwanted mail:
(In all of these examples, replace LISTNAME with the name of your list. Replace LISTPASSWORD with your listowner's password. )
- Make sure only list subscribers can mail to your list by sending the following to listproc@shamash.org:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD send-by-subscribers
- Make sure a confirmation message goes out to your subscribers before they join. The subscriber will have to confirm that they want to join the list, before actually being subscribed to it. To set this option, send the following to listproc@shamash.org:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD confirm-all-subscriptions
- If you would like to take a more proactive stance, you may start manually approving all new subscribers to you list. To do this, send e-mail to
listproc@shamash.org and have the message read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD owner-subscriptions
You will then be notified when someone wants to join your list and you can then manually add them.
- If manually adding all new subscribers sounds like too much work to you, you can just be notified when every new subscriber joins your list, by sending the following message to listproc@shamash.org:
set LISTNAME preference ccsubscribe
- The final way to stop spam from entering a list it to make the list moderated, but that means you (or the moderator(s) you designate) will have to approve each message before it is sent to the list. To do this send the following message to
listproc@shamash.org:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD moderated-no-edit
To return the list to unmoderated mode send the following message to
listproc@shamash.org:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD unmoderated
- I would like to add an info file to my list. How do I?
Every list, including private ones, need to have an info file. This file may be short.
To add an info file (assuming your list does not have one), email listproc@shamash.org
and have your message read:
put LISTNAME info
The LISTNAME list is a private list for the
ABC organization.
This list is a part of Shamash: The Jewish Internet
Consortium. For more information about Shamash lists
send a message to listproc@shamash.org with one word
in it, LISTS. Shamash is also reachable via World Wide
Web at http://shamash.org
Replace LISTNAME with the name of your list, replace ABC with the name of your
organization. If the list is not private, just change the first sentance to
explain the list's purpose briefly. Your info file can say whatever you want it to, the
example above is a VERY simple example. More generally, have the first line read
put LISTNAME info, then the rest of the text can be whatever you would like it
to be. If
you include a signature in your message, that signature will become part of your info
file (this is not advised).
- How can I understand all those error messages from ListProc?
Please see the help file Understanding ListProc's Bounce Messages
which addresses this and related questions.
- How can I add an "alias" to my list?
The reference to this question is here in the manual
The manual states:
For a list named "mylist" whose owner password is "foo" the user
ht56@nebbuch.org has informed the list owner that occasionally she would
like to be able to send commands to ListProc from another machine but
doesn't want to have to subscribe from that machine also. The list
owner complied by setting up an alias for the second account.
alias mylist foo ret@kabb.net ht56@nebbuch.org
That means you email listproc@shamash.org and have your message read:
alias LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD EMAIL-ALIAS REAL-EMAIL
Replace the following:
- LISTNAME - your list's name
- LISTPASSWORD - your list's password
- EMAIL-ALIAS - when mail comes in with this address, listproc will pretend that it came from REAL-EMAIL
- REAL-EMAIL - the email address which the person is subscribed to your list. You'd like mail coming
from EMAIL-ALIAS to appear as though it came from REAL-EMAIL
You may use fancy regular expression matching patterns as discussed further in the manual.
I hope this helps.
- How do I add or remove a new moderator to my list?
To add a new moderator, email listproc@shamash.org and have your message
read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD moderated-edit EMAIL@ADDRESS
Replace LISTNAME with the name of the list, LISTPASSWORD with the list's
password, and EMAIL@ADDRESS with the address you want to add as a
moderator. If you choose moderated-no-edit, you can replace
"moderated-edit" with "moderated-no-edit" in the above command.
To remove a moderator, email listproc@shamash.org and have your message
read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD remove-moderator EMAIL@ADDRESS
Replace LISTNAME with the name fo the list, LISTPASSWORD with the list's
password, and EMAIL@ADDRESS with the address you want to remove as a
moderator.
- How to I add or remove an extra list owner? How do I change owners for my list?
To add a new owner email listproc@shamash.org and have your message read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD owners NEWEMAIL@ADDRESS.XXX
To remove an owner email listproc@shamash.org and have your message read:
config LISTNAME LISTPASSWORD remove-owners OLDEMAIL@ADDRESS.XXX
Replace LISTNAME with the name of the list
Replace LISTPASSWORD with the list owners password
Replace NEWEMAIL@ADDRESS.XXX or OLDEMAIL@ADDRESS.XXX with the
email address of the new owner and the owner you want to remove,
respectively.
Be sure to communicate with the new list owner and pass along the listproc
password. We can also send them some into instructions if you let us know
who the new owner will be by mailing his/her address to help@shamash.org
- How can I use Eudora to moderate my moderated-edit list?
In order to use Eudora for moderated-edit lists, you need to edit
the eudora.ini file to allow for forwarded messages to not
have the ">" prepended to each line. The eudora.ini file can be found in
the same directory as your Eudora application (both on macs and windows
operating systems). When editing the eudora.ini file, simply add the line
QuotePrefix=
in the [Settings] section. As a result, nothing will be then be inserted
by Eudora when you FORWARD a message.
If you want the same to be true when replying to messages, you can edit the
ReplyPrefix. If you don't change the variable ReplyPrefix, then REPLY will
continue to add the ">" character at the beginning of each line, which will
be fine for ListProc.
- I would like to shut down my list. Who do I ask?
e-mail to accounts@shamash.org and we'll take care of it for you.
If you have ideas for changes or improvements in this page please contact webmaster@shamash.org
For questions not answered here, send e-mail to
help@shamash.org
This page has been viewed
times since August 1, 1997.
Web Author: webmaster@shamash.org
Last modified: Thursday, 13-Nov-2003 09:23:56 EST
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