Changes to subscription mailing lists (i.e. MajorCool) - February 11, 2007

Information Services is pleased to introduce a new electronic mailing list management system.  The new system, called Mailman, replaced Majordomo, our current listserv manager.  This change was made as a part of a major email system upgrade and, along with the other changes, will make for a much better and more efficient experience.

When it was installed several years ago, Majordomo’s web-based tool, MajorCool, was an industry standard.  However, it can still be somewhat unwieldy at times and the creators of Majordomo have not released a major update in some time.  Therefore, after listening to the opinions of list owners and reviewing all available options, it became clear that the Mailman system better addresses the needs of the community and will make listserv management much more intuitive and user-friendly.

Jump to information: for subscribers, for owners, owners vs moderators

What makes Mailman better?

• Mailman will allow all list configuration changes to be made immediately on the Web interface, rather than generating an email to verify the changes to be made. 
  
• All configuration changes to Mailman lists can be made via the Web interface by the list owners themselves, i.e. there will be no need to request a password or owner change.
  
• Mailman offers a much improved look and feel.
  
• You will now have more kinds of control over your own lists.
  
• People requesting a list or wishing to subscribe to or unsubscribe from a list can do so directly from the Mailman Web page.

Common Functionality for List Subscribers

Subscribing to a List

• Go to mailman.brynmawr.edu and choose “Subscription Page”.
• Click on the list you want to subscribe to.
• Fill out the subscription form.

Note: If the list is a closed list, you will have to wait for owner or moderator approval before you are subscribed to the list.

Retrieving a Password

All list members have been provided with a password.  If you have never received a password or unsure of what your password is, follow the instructions listed below:

• Go to mailman.brynmawr.edu and choose "Subscription Page".
• Click on the list you are subscribed to .
• Go to section for Subscribers and enter your subscription email address and click on "Unsubscribe or Edit Options".
• Under Password reminder, click on the "Remind" butto to have your password emailed to you.

See a List of Other Subscribers

• Go to mailman.brynmawr.edu and choose “Subscription Page”.
• Click on the list you want to query.
• Enter your address and a password if you set one and click “Visit Subscriber List.  Note:  By default, these lists allow only members to view the memberlist.  This option can be changed by listowners on a per-list basis.

Common Functionality for List Owners

Logging In

Go to http://mailman.brynmawr.edu and choose “Administration Page”

For each list you manage, you will be able to choose that list from those displayed and will still be able to log in with the password that you used previously.

After you log in, you will be able to click on a number of links that will allow you modify your list in a variety of different ways.  Some of the more common list management changes are listed below.  For further reference, please feel free to visit http://staff.imsa.edu/~ckolar/mailman/mailman-admin-quickref-0.2.html. 

General Options

In this section, you can see who is a list owner or list moderator and where the list moderator can view and modify the basic characteristics of the list. 

Passwords

From here you will be able to change passwords for list administrators and list moderators.

Membership Management

Under the Membership List, you can view the people who are subscribed to a particular list.  You can then make changes to a particular member’s subscription, e.g. to can use the “mod” box to determine whether or not a person’s posts are moderated.  Also, you can add or remove one or more address subscriptions by going to either the Mass Subscription or Mass Removal screen.

Privacy Options

The privacy settings – whether or not a list was public or private – should have been transferred from Majordomo, along with whether the list is moderated (whether it requires moderator approval for posting).  However, this section will allow you to change them again if you choose.

List Owners and List Moderators

Mailman draws a distinction between list owners (also called list administrators) and list moderators.  A list owner has ultimate control over all settings of the mailing list (e.g. adding other owners or moderators).  A list moderator can approve subscribtion or unsubscription requests, and approve message postings for moderated lists.

To split the duties between list owners and moderators, you must set a separate moderator password.  This can be done via the Passwords section on the list administrator panel.   From here, you can also change the administrator password.         

For more information about the variety of feature offered by Mailman, please visit http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/features.html.  If you have any questions about using Mailman, please don’t hesitate to call the Help Desk at 610-526-7440.