Mailman Mailing Lists

How Can I Join A Mailman Mailing List?

via the web:

1. Visit the subscribe page for the list at http://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ listname
2. Click on the URL or reply to the confirmation message you receive

via email:

1. Send a message to listname -subscribe@cs.wisc.edu
2. Click on the URL or reply to the confirmation message you receive

For example, if Katerina Witt wants to subscribe to the list olympians, she would send this mail message:

    To: olympians-subscribe@cs.wisc.edu
    Subject: blank

or she could just go to http://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/olympians and fill in the subscription web form to subscribe.

How Do I Communicate With Mailman

Interactions with Mailman occur either via mail or via a web form.

via the web:

The following URL's are valid for mailman lists on our server:

• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/admin/<listname>: List administration interface
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/admindb/<listname>: Bounce message administration (accept/reject filtered messages and subscribe/unsubscribe attempts)
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/confirm/<listname>: Used for confirming subscribe/unsubscribe requests
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/<listname>: General list information and subscription info
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/options/<listname>: Subscription options (digest modes, etc.)
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/roster/<listname>: List of total subscribers (administrator password required)

NOTE: replace <listname> with your list name in the above URLs. Above URLs will not work as printed.

Users will mainly use the listinfo and options URL's.

via email:

There are multiple e-mail aliases for each mailman list that can be used for different purposes:

• listname @cs.wisc.edu: posts to the list
• listname -admin@cs.wisc.edu: same as listname -bounces@cs.wisc.edu
• listname -confirm@cs.wisc.edu: Address for processing subscribe/unsubscribe confirmations
• listname -join@cs.wisc.edu: same as -subscribe@cs.wisc.edu
• listname -leave@cs.wisc.edu: same as -unsubscribe@cs.wisc.edu
• listname -owner@cs.wisc.edu: redirects to the list owner
• listname -request@cs.wisc.edu: address to handle various list subscription requests
• listname -subscribe@cs.wisc.edu: subscribe address
• listname -unsubscribe@cs.wisc.edu: unsubscribe address

The following commands can be sent to listname -request@cs.wisc.edu

• confirm: Confirm an action. The confirmation-string is required and should be supplied by a mailback confirmation notice.
• end: Stop processing commands. Use this if your mail program automatically adds a signature file.
• help: Print this help message.
• info: Get information about this mailing list.
• lists: See a list of the public mailing lists on this GNU Mailman server.

• password [ ] [address=]

  : Retrieve or change your password. With no arguments, this returns your current password. With arguments and you can change your password. If you're posting from an address other than your membership address, specify your membership address with

  address=

  . Note that in this case the response is always sent to the subscribed address.
• set ... Set or view your membership options. Use set help to get a more detailed list of the options you can change. Use set show to view your current option settings.

• subscribe [password] [digest|nodigest] [address=]

  : Subscribe to this mailing list. Your password must be given to unsubscribe or change your options, but if you omit the password, one will be generated for you. You may be periodically reminded of your password. The next argument may be either: nodigest or digest. If you wish to subscribe an address other than the address you sent this request from, you may specify

  address=

• unsubscribe [password] [address=]

  : Unsubscribe from the mailing list. If given, your password must match your current password. If omitted, a confirmation email will be sent to the unsubscribing address. If you wish to unsubscribe an address other than the address you sent this request from, you may specify

  address=

• who password: See everyone who is on this mailing list. The roster is limited to list administrators and moderators only; you must supply the list admin or moderator password to retrieve the roster.

What If I Have Problems With A Mailing List?

If you have problems with a mailing list, contact the list owner by sending mail to listname -owner@cs.wisc.edu. If you are a list owner, and are having problems with a list, send mail to lab@cs.wisc.edu.

How Can I Create A Mailing List?

If you wish to request creation of a mailing list, please review the mailing list polices, and complete the online List Request Form at https://www-auth.cs.wisc.edu and follow the Forms button.

Where Are The List Archives?

If you want list archives, you need to configure your list to be archived through the list administration web page for your list. You also need to decide whether these archives should be public or not.

If you do opt to use public archives, we strongly suggest you enable the address obscuring function (on by default for CS lists).

URL's of importance:

• https://www-auth.cs.wisc.edu/lists/ listname: Authenticated access (requires CS login/password to use)
• https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/archive/ listname: Public URL, for lists configured with public WWW access

Public vs. Private List Archives

The mailman list server will allow you to configure list archives as public or private. Public list archives are available via both web servers listed above; private list archives are only accessible via the first web server.

By default, all list archives will have a .htaccess file installed restricting access to be only available with a CS login name and password. This .htaccess file can be removed or modified upon request (send mail to lab@cs.wisc.edu to request this).

Where Are Class List Archives?

Class list archives can be found at the following URL:

• https://www-auth.cs.wisc.edu/lists/classes/ listname: Authenticated access (requires CS login/password to use)

List Administration

List usage and administration information can be found on the Mailman Documentation web site.

Since these commands can change between different releases of Mailman, we leave this as a link for you to follow to get the most up-to-date documentation available.

Is spam filtering available?

Yes. New lists will be created with spam filtering enabled; owners of existing lists have the option of enabling SpamAssassin filtering for their lists.

Enabling and disabling spam filter and spam score threshold adjustments can be done from the list administration page for each list. Look for Privacy options → Spam filtering.

You are given the option to whitelist or blacklist specific addresses; this is handled through the Mailing List Spam Filtering Preferences webform available from our authenticated services webserver. A link is also provided from the list administration web page near the spam filtering controls.