Frequently
Asked Questions
What is a moderated list and how do I configure one?
How do I change the approve password?
How can I restrict posting to a list?
What do I do with Bounced mail and how can I stop the
bounces?
How do I setup the list so that the originator doesn't
receive his own messages?
I'm familiar with majordomo and noticed that some configuration
options aren't available in my Andrew Mailing List configuration file.
Why?
I am the List Maintainer and the who option is closed
for my mailing list. How can I get a list of subscribers?
What happens if there is no activity on my list and
the digest_maxdays value has passed? Is an 'empty' message sent from
the digested list?
Why would I receive a bounced administrative request
for a message that does not contain a valid command?
What is a moderated list and how do I configure
one?
A moderated list requires the list maintainer to approve or disapprove
every message before it is posted to the subscriber list. Moderated
lists are sometimes used when official statements that require review
are distributed to the list or when the list has experienced inappropriate
messages that must be screened. To configure a moderated mailing list,
you must set the moderate
and moderator options
in the configuration file.
- Set Moderate to Yes to have all list postings sent to the moderator
for approval.
- Use the Moderator option to specify the email address for directing
list postings to be approved. If a moderator is not defined, this
option defaults to the list owner address.
See Changing Mailing List
Options for instructions on changing these configuration options.
How do I change the approve password?
The approve password is stored in the configuration file for the mailing
list. The configuration option that controls this password is approve_passwd.
Follow the procedures in Changing
Mailing List Options to change this option within the file.
How can I restrict posting to a list?
The ability to post to a list can be restricted to a list of
addresses. You can allow only the members of the list to post, or restrict
posting to specific groups outside of the list members. Either way,
the addresses that are permitted to post must be contained within a
mailing list.
To restrict post to the members of the mailing list:
Enter the name of the mailing list for the value of the restrict
post configuration option.
Using silent mailing lists:
Silent mailing lists can be used to establish the group of addresses
that are permitted to post to the main list. Silent mailing lists are
named <list>-silent, where <list> is the main list name.
- If you did not request a silent list at the time your initial
mailing list was created, do so now by clicking Request
a Silent Mailing List from the Andrew Sponsors and List Owners
section of the main page.
- Once the silent list is created, enter the name of the silent
mailing list (<list>-silent) in the restrict
post option for the main mailing list. This will allow members
of the silent mailing list to post to the main mailing list.
- Verify that the following values are setup in the configuration
file for the silent list. This will provide increased privacy/security
for the list of addresses permitted to post.
subscribe_policy = closed
unsubscribe_policy = closed + confirm
which_access = closed
What do I do with Bounced mail and how can I stop
the bounces?
If the Andrew Mailing Lists server receives mail that it has a problem
with, it forwards it to the moderator for approval. There are a number
of reasons that a mail message might be bounced. Following is a list
of reasons for bounced messages that is organized by the subject line
of the bounce.
- Admin request
The mailing list server recognized this message as an administrative
command that was sent to the list address rather than the Andrew Mailing
List server address. For example, a subscribe or unsubscribe command
is sent to the mailing list address rather than the Andrew Mailing
List server. These bounces occur because 'administrivia=yes' in the
configuration file. Set this option to 'no' to eliminate these bounce
messages but be aware that misdirected commands will then post to
the mailing list.
- Approval required
These bounces occur on a moderated mailing list that requires approval
for all postings to the list. The 'moderate' option in the configuration
file controls this list characteristic. Set 'moderate=no' to remove
the approval requirement.
- Message too long
These bounces occur because the message length exceeds the number
of characters defined in the 'maxlength' option of the configuration
file. If you receive a lot of bounced messages for this reason, increase
the number of characters set for this value.
How do I setup the list so that the originator
doesn't receive his own messages?
There is no way to stop this. When messages are sent to the list they
are distributed to all subscribers including the one who originated
the message.
I'm familiar with majordomo and noticed that some
configuration options aren't available in my Andrew Mailing List configuration
file. Why?
Some of the standard Majordomo configuration options have been disabled
for Andrew Mailing Lists. This was done to deter possible abuse and
to provide a certain level of privacy for mailing list participants.
The following commands have been disabled.
who <list>
This command has been disabled on the Carnegie Mellon Mailing Lists
server to maintain subscriber privacy. The command normally returns
a list of the email addresses subscribed to a specified list.
index <list>
This command has been disabled on the Carnegie Mellon Mailing Lists
server. The index command normally returns a list of files that are
associated with the specified list. We are not currently supporting
storage of archive files or related forms/documents.
get <list>
The get command normally retrieves a file associated with
the specified list. We are not currently supporting storage of archive
files or related forms/documents.
I am the List Maintainer and the who option is
closed for my mailing list. How can I get a list of subscribers?
To obtain a list of subscribers when the who option is set to closed,
send the following command including the approve password to the Andrew
Mailing Lists server (majordomo@lists.andrew.cmu.edu).
approve <password>
who <list>
For the test-list mailing list with test.pass as the approve password,
you would send the command to the majordomo server as follows:
approve test.pass who test-list
What happens if there is no activity on my list
and the digest_maxdays value has passed? Is an 'empty' message sent
from the digested list?
No. If there is no activity on the mailing list, no digests are generated.
If the digest_maxdays is set to one and a message is posted to the mailing
list every other day, then a digest is created every other day.
Why would I receive a bounced administrative request
for a message that does not seem to contain a valid Majordomo command?
When the administrivia option is set to yes, admistrative requests sent
to the mailing list are bounced to the List Owner for approval. Majordomo
is designed to check the first 10 lines of the message body for common
commands that are sent to the wrong address.
In addition to valid commands, Majordomo will also bounce the message
when any of the following words are found in the first 10 lines of the
message. These words represent common errors in the use of Majordomo
commands.
cancel
add me
delete me
remove me
change address
sub
unsub
uns
Last
Updated 02/27/01
|
