Foreward

The List Management system in CommuniGate Pro is well developed, and hence, very complex. The number of features and options is dizzying, and trying to run a mailing list for the first time can be rather intimidating with such a complex piece of software. Not to worry, most of the options don't need to be changed immediately. You can change settings as you learn the software, and become more comfortable with it. This document will cover most of the List Settings and features. Users need to request that a list be created for them, although Domain Administrators can create lists for their local domains without the intervention of the California.com Staff.

Topics

• Basic Settings
• Subscription Policy
• Confirmation Request Message
• Posting Policy
• Bounce Processor
• Feed Mode Format
• Welcome/Policy Message

Basic Settings

Description

If you have enabled browsing of the list archive in the Archiving settings, this description is used within webmail to provide a short description of your mailing list. The public access to list archives is provided via http://mail.california.com/Lists/, or at http://mail.<yourdomain>/Lists/ for hosted domains with mailing lists.

Preferred Character Set

If you're running a foreign language mailling list, this setting is very critical. In general, all emails are sent with a character set defined, but they may not always be the same. This specifies a preferred character set to choose from when displaying multiple messages at once.

Digesting and Archiving

Enables the features discussed on the Digesting and Archiving page.

Verify Owner Using

In general, IP Address is the easiest answer, since it will try to figure out the last IP it saw you authenticate using, and ensure that's where the email came from. Strictly speaking, the safest answer is "Authentication," although you'll need to enable this in your email program if you use anything other than Webmail.

Subscription Policy

The Subscribe pulldown is relatively self explanatory. Locals only means only california.com and hosted domain users, moderated means that subscriptions are not automatic, the list owner must approve subscription requests.

Default Mode specifies the way emails are sent. A discussion of Feed vs Digest mode is on the Archiving and Digesting page.

You SHOULD NOT change the next two settings, or you risk loosing your list, account, and any hosted domains. You should always save AT LEAST accepted requests, and the "Request Confirmation" checkbox should NEVER be unchecked. Let me say that again, DO NOT UNCHECK "Request Confirmation." This sends an email to each user that subscribes, requesting that they verify the address they entered as valid by replying to the email. The subject line has a sequence of numbers that prevents the reply from being forged.

Confirmation Request Message

In general, you should not change this until you become more familiar with how the mailing lists in CommuniGate Pro work. This is the confirmation message, and a quick look at the default message shows you that a lot of things are really "tokens" that get replaced when the message is sent. The confirmation ID number is ^I for example. Be careful when modifying this message not to include any commercial content. This is a request to confirm that someone REALLY wants to be on your mailing list, so you should only be instructing them on what they need to do to confirm that.

Posting Policy

This depends on what you're using the list for. Support mailing lists may allow customers to help each other, so you want to accept postings from subscribers, whereas an announcement type mailing list should only accept postings from the owner.

If you develop a significant spam problem with new users, you may choose to moderate their first few postings using the "New Subscriber" setting. Further, since many spams use HTML, leaving the "Allowed Format" at "text only" for an unmoderated list is probably a good idea, whereas for an announcement or new products list, you'll probably want to allow "anything"

The Hide From Addresses checkbox is primarily useful to protect the identities of list members. A spammer may join your list and process all the messages for from addresses, so in order to prevent this sort of list harvesting, you may choose to hide the from addresses. This means ALL responses are sent to the list as well.

Bounce Processor

In general, you should leave these settings as they are. As you develop a greater understanding of list management, you may wish to change some of the settings in time, but initially, these settings are better off left alone than misconfigured. Complete documentation is availible from Stalker Software when you're ready.

Feed Mode Format

Feed mode is where all emails sent to the list are sent immediately to the subscribers to the list. Most mailing lists have a subject prefix so users can easily identify which emails were sent through the list, and which were sent to them personally. This prefix should be short, and is usually enclosed in brackets, for example "[XYZ Co. Announce]" or "[Birdwatchers]." Whatever the name, keep it short.

In general, it's best to direct replies to the list for discussion lists, and to the sender for announcement lists. The default is to direct replies to the list.

All emails sent is feed mode SHOULD have some sort of footer indicating why the message is being sent, and how to unsubscribe from the list if a user no longer wishes to receive such messages. Be aware that changing the default message can invite trouble, as even confirmed subscribers to mailing lists occasionally report such messages as spam. (especially for announcement type lists) Educate yourself about the current spam problem before modifying this message.

Welcome/Policy Message

As the name indicates, the welcome message is a good place to put a policy statement about your mailing list. Indicate who is allowed to send messages to the list, and what the criteria are. For example, if you are establishing a list for children, you may wish to remind people that foul language is prohibited on this list. Establish what topics are appropriate for discussion, or for an announcement list, indicate what sorts of announcements you send out and how often.

The Good-Bye message, in general, should not be changed. If you wish to change it, you should only remind people how to subscribe again if they change their minds. Remember that someone has essentially said "I quit, goodbye!" So placing commercial ads or other simmilar content in this message is considered extremely poor taste.

List Settings * Digesting and Archiving * Subscription (List Maintinence)