PMDF Mailserv Mailing Lists : Usage Guide

Manipulating Mailing Lists

The contents of Mailserv mailing lists may be manipulated :

• by subscribing addresses to lists,
• unsubscribing addresses from lists,
• obtaining lists of addresses subscribed to lists

These tasks are achieved by sending an email message (no subject is necessary) to :

The email message contains commands in plain text (no html, special fonts, colours etc.) to carry out the desired manipulations. Messages containing enriched text can be silently ignored by mailserv.

Commands may be "stacked up" one per line so that multiple operations can be achieved in a single message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au. The last command is usually and "end" command which instructs mailserv that there are no more commands for it in the message. This avoids any automatically added email signature being interpreted as mailserv commands.

Subscribing Addresses To A List

Where lists are set up such that self-subscription is permitted, you may subscribe the email address you are sending from by sending a message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au containing (in the body of the message - no subject line is necessary) commands of the form :

For example :

For those addresses which have been given permission to subscribe other addresses to a mailserv mailing list (usually the administrator) this may be achieved by sending a message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au containing commands of the form :

For example :

Normally, when subscriptions are carried out, an email confirmation is sent to both the address subscribed and to the address used to carry out the subscription confirming that the subscription has occurred.

It is possible to set up lists where the person carrying out the subscriptions can elect whether to send a notification to the address subscribed or not. (The address carrying out the subscription is always notified). Such lists require an extra "tag" in their configuration not normally included in list configurations on smtp.unimelb.edu.au. For such lists the choice is made by use of commands such as :

Unsubscribing Addresses From A List

Some lists are set up such that certain people can unsubscribe only their own address whilst other people can unsubscribe addresses other than their own.

For those who may only unsubscribe their own address the message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au should contain only commands of the form :

For example :

For those addresses which have been given permission to unsubscribe other addresses from a mailserv mailing list this may be achieved in the message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au by inclusion of commands of the form :

For example :

In the same way that notifications about subscriptions can be turned on or off (if the list set-up provides for it) the same can be done for unsubscriptions. For such lists the choice is made by use of commands such as :

Obtaining a list of who is subscribed to a list

Administrators can generally obtain a list of addresses which are subscribed to their list by sending a message to mailserv@unimelb.edu.au containing commands of the form :

For example :

Posting Messages To A List

To post a message to a list simply send the email to :

For example :

Welcome Messages

It is possible to set up files containing a welcome message which is automatically sent to new addresses subscribed to the list. Such messages need to be put in place by Systems Programming staff in Information Infrastructure. Such messages would normally contain information about the purpose of the list, who the administrators are, how to unsubscribe from the list and list etiquette.