New School Mailing List Owner's Guide

Mailing Lists, Listservs, and Majordomo

A mailing list is a collection of a group's email addresses. A Listserv is a software application for managing mailing lists. It allows all list members (subscribers) to communicate through a single email address. Majordomo is the Listserv software used at The New School.

Each list has a list owner who is responsible for maintaining the list. This involves seeing that the list of subscribers is current and accurate. Other responsibilities -- depending on the list configuration -- can include: approving messages before they are mailed to subscribers, restricting who can join the list, correcting errors in submissions, and guiding the tone or direction of the discussion.

Using Majordomo

List owners send commands to majordomo by sending mail to majordomo@listserv.newschool.edu. Each command to Majordomo must be on a line by itself in the Message area, not the Subject area. Administrative commands require a list password.

Below are the basic administrative commands with examples. Substitute listname (do not include @listserv.newschool.edu) with the name of your list, password with your list password and e-mail-address with the e-mail address of the subscriber. The items in bold should be typed exactly as they are.

Important:

1. All commands must be on one line. Press enter after each line. Don’t use word wrap.

2. Do not include @listserv.newschool.edu when you name the list.

Subscribe/unsubscribe others to the list:
To: majordomo@listserv.newschool.edu
Subject:
Message: approve password subscribe listname e-mail-address

Note: in the above, substitute unsubscribe for subscribe to remove someone from the list.

Change the list password:
To: majordomo@listserv.newschool.edu
Subject:
Message: passwd listname old-password new-password

Post to a moderated list:
All messages posted to a moderated list are "bounced" to the list owner for approval. The list owner can post the message by re-sending it to the list from his/her account.