Mailing List Configuration Options

Name

The name for this mailing list. This name is used as the first part of email addresses for this list. List names must be all lowercase, but may contain alphanumeric characters, underscores (_) and dashes (-). Spaces, periods and special characters are not allowed.

Important

The list name will not be available for editing through Edit a Mailing List or any other tool once it is saved.

Description

A concise description used to distinguish this list from others on the site and provide potential subscribers with information about the list topic before they sign up. A good list description makes the list easier to manage.

Type

Select the list type from the choices provided. This is an important decision, as the mailing list will inherit the configuration of the list type on which it is based and switching an existing list from one list type to another can be problematic. See Default List Types in the Appendix, unless this is a custom type. If this is a custom type or you need more information on list types in general, see List Types in the Concepts section.

List Availability

Set who will be able to add subscriptions to this mailing list via Web pages:

public

Select this setting if you want the mailing list to be displayed on Public pages. Everyone will be able to subscribe directly.

members only

Select this setting if you want the mailing list to be available on Members pages. Only authenticated users with the 'member' role will be able to subscribe directly.

Administrators only

Select this setting if you want to have a moderated subscription process for an invitation-only list. Subscriptions can only be added by administrators (as opposed to allowing people to subscribe directly).

Web Archive Visibility

Set this option to determine whether this list will have web archives, and if so, what level of users will be allowed to view and search the web archives. As the most privileged level of users, administrators always have access if web archives exist. The 'Administrators Only' setting can be used to hide the archives temporarily.

This setting presumes archiving is enabled in the underlying list type (i.e., the -a switch is set in the ezmlm-make argument string). If raw archives do not exist, this setting will be ignored.

NO web archives

Select this setting if the list won't have any web archives. If raw archiving is enabled in the underlying list type, web archives can be created at any time by selecting a different setting.

Public

Select this setting to make this list's web archives available to everyone. Public users are the least privileged level of list users, so unless this option is selected, the web archives will be closed to the public.

Members Only

Select this setting so that the web archives will only be available to logged-in members. This setting works well with lists that only allow members to subscribe. Depending on site and list type configuration, this may be a more inclusive or more restrictive setting than 'List Subscribers'.

• If subscribers are a subset of all members, this setting will allow logged-in members who are not subscribed to view the list's web archives.

• If the public is allowed to subscribe, public-level subscribers will not be able to view this list's web archives unless the organization's site is configured to track nonmembers and they are able to login. Logged-in, authenticated users are considered 'Members' in the member-level classification system used by the Kavi Mailing List Manager.

List Subscribers

Select this setting if the archives are to be available to logged-in list subscribers only. This setting works especially well with private, invitation-only lists, or conversely, with lists to which nonmembers are allowed to subscribe. Depending on site and list type configuration, this may be a more inclusive or more restrictive setting than 'Members Only'.

• If subscribers are a subset of all members, this setting will NOT allow logged-in members who are not subscribed to view the list's web archives. In this case, the web archives will be very private.

• If the public is allowed to subscribe, public-level subscribers will be able to view this list's web archives as long as they are logged in. However, nonsubscribing members will not.

Administrators Only

Select this setting to hide the web archives from everyone except administrators. This is a good way to temporarily hide the web archives when setting up a list, etc.

Protect Archives from Spam

Obscuring email domains in the web archives makes it impossible for spammers to glean email addresses from the web archives, however, it also makes it more difficult for list users to respond privately to messages in the archives, because the user will have to search roster and other sources for the address. To protect the privacy of list users' email addresses, most lists will opt to obscure email domains in the web archives, so this is the default setting.

Yes, obscure email domains to prevent address harvesting.

Select this setting to have the domains of email addresses obscured when the Web archives are displayed. This is recommended for most lists.

No, show full email addresses.

If you use this setting, complete email addresses will be displayed in the Web archives. This makes it easier for list users to contact other list users privately, but exposed addresses are open to address harvesting by spammers.

Add Moderators

If you have selected a list type with moderated subscription or moderated posting, there must be at least one moderator's email address in this field before messages can be sent to list subscribers. To add one or more moderators, simply enter each moderator's email address in the text box, using commas to separate additional email addresses. For example:

bill@example.com,fred@example.com.

Policy and Usage

A description of this list's intended usage and policy restrictions. For more information, see Writing Policy and Usage Statements.