Mailman

Introduction

This web page is primarily aimed at members of Goldsmiths who may wish to set up an internal College mailing list or those who already administer such a list. It provides:

• A general overview of what a mailing list is and the various types of list that are in common use;
• Instructions on how to use the Mailman administrator interface to add or remove subscribers on an internal Goldsmiths mailing list;
• A request form enabling you to submit a request to IT Services for the setup of a new internal Goldsmiths mailing list.

What is a Mailing List?

A mailing list is simply a list of addresses to which the same information is being sent. If you were a magazine publisher, you would have a list of the mailing addresses of all the subscribers to the magazine. In the case of an electronic mailing list, we use a list of email addresses from people interested in hearing about or discussing a given topic.

Taken from: Oda, Terri. September 12, 2007 GNU Mail Man Documentation Project http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/node5.html (Accessed 11/11/2008)

Why Use a Mailing List?

Two common types of email mailing lists are announcement lists and discussion lists.

• Announcement lists are used so that one person or group can send announcements to a group of people, much like a magazine publisher's mailing list is used to send out magazines. For example, a band may use a mailing list to let their fan base know about their upcoming concerts.


• A discussion list is used to allow a group of people to discuss topics amongst themselves, with everyone able to send mail to the list and have it distributed to everyone in the group. This discussion may also be moderated, so that only selected posts are sent on to the group as a whole, or only certain people are allowed to send to the group. For example, a group of model aeroplane enthusiasts might use a mailing list to share tips about model construction and flying.

Taken from: Oda, Terri. September 12, 2007 GNU Mail Man Documentation Project http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/node5.html (Accessed 11/11/2008)

Mailman Mailing List Administrator Interface

At Goldsmiths there are various internal College mailing lists to which College members can subscribe.

Names can be added to, or removed from, one of these mailing lists by a designated list administrator, using the Mailman Mailing List Administrator Interface.

This interface can be accessed from a web browser (i.e. Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer) by entering the URL http://www3.gold.ac.uk/mailman/admin/, followed by the list name: you will then be prompted to enter the list password (note: this is not the same as your college password).

Adding Members to a List

Follow the instructions below on how to add members to your list:

1. Click on Membership Management in the top left hand corner.
2. Click on Mass Subscriptions.
3. Select the options as shown below:
   
   
4. Enter the email addresses (one per line) in the box provided or upload a plain text file which contains the addresses. Both the email alias and username @gold.ac.uk addresses must be added.
   
   For example, Joe Bloggs would have the following two entries: j.bloggs@gold.ac.uk and exs01jb@gold.ac.uk.
5. If you want a welcome message to be sent to new subscribers, enter the message in the text box below (also change the option "Send welcome messages to new subscribers" to Yes - see point 3 above).
6. When finished, click the 'Submit your Changes' button.

Deleting Members from a List

There are two methods for removing members from a mailing list. Both methods are outlined below:

Method 1

1. Click on Membership Management in the top left hand corner. Scroll down and you will see the Membership List, where members of the mailing list are grouped alphabetically, starting with those whose usernames begin with "A".
2. Identify the member(s) you wish to remove from the mailing list, and in each case click the box in the first column labelled unsub.
3. When finished, click the 'Submit your Changes' button. This will cause the selected members to be unsubscribed from the list.

Method 2

1. Click on Membership Management in the top left hand corner.
2. Click on Mass Removal.
3. Select the options as shown below:
   
   
4. Enter the email addresses (one per line) in the box provided or upload a plain text file which contains the addresses. Both the email alias and username @gold.ac.uk addresses must be added.
   
   For example, Joe Bloggs would have the following two entries: j.bloggs@gold.ac.uk and exs01jb@gold.ac.uk.
5. When finished, click the 'Submit your Changes' button.