Mailman FAQ

Contents

Default configurations
I am the owner of the list, but I can't post to the list?
How do I add in new member to the list?
How do I make my list an open list?
How can I allow some non-member to post to the list?
How can I allow postings from any ANU addresses?
How can I allow anyone to subscribe to my list without my approval?
I can't post to my umbrella (aka nested) list, why?
How do I stop spam being posted to my mailing list?
My list is unmoderated, but I keep getting approval request for postings that  "has implicit destination address", why?
How do I set up a distribution list?
How do I get a listing of all members in one page?

• only list members (aka subscribers)  can post to the list.
• postings by members  are not moderated.
• new subscription requires confirmation and approval.
• no archives.
• no monthly password reminder
• your list admin page is

http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/admin/listname
where listname is the name of your mailing list

• your list info page is

http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/listname
where listname is the name of your mailing list.

Only list members can post to a Mailman list if it is not an open list.  You will have to make yourself  a member of the list. See the section "How do I add in new member to the list?" .

If you don't want to be a member, see the section on "How can I allow some non-member to post to the list?".

Click on the Membership Management menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Mass Subscription, enter the email address of the new member, one per line and click on the Submit Your Changes button to affect your changes.

An open list means non-members can post to the list without approval.

Click on the Privacy options menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Sender filters, select the Accept radio button to the question "Action to take for postings from non-members for which no explicit action is defined" in the "Non-member filters" section and click on the Submit Your Change button to affect your changes.

Click on the Privacy options menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Sender filters, add the non-member email address, one per line,  to the box next to the description "List of non-member addresses whose postings should be automatically accepted" in the "Non-member filters" section.

Click on the Privacy options menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Sender filters, add

^.+@anu.edu.au

to the box next to the description "List of non-member addresses whose postings should be automatically accepted" in the "Non-member filters" section.

An "umbrella_list" is a list that has other mailing lists as members. You need the following configurations on your member lists and your umbrella list for posting to the umrella list to work.

For  the members of the umbrella list:

• Your member lists must be open lists. See the section on "How do I make my list an open list?".

• On the member list's admin page, click on the Privacy options menu and follow the link to Recipient filters,  select the Yes radio button to the question "Must posts have list named in destination (to, cc) field (or be among the acceptable alias names, specified below)?". 

listname@anu.edu.au
listname@mailman.anu.edu.au

where listname is the name of the your umbrella list.

• Click on the General Options on the umbrella list's admin page and in the Umbrella list settings section,  select the Yes radio button to the question "Send password reminders to, eg, "-owner" address instead of directly to user".

• If you don't want your umbrella list to be prefixed to your member list's prefix, you will have to NOT use the prefix for your umbrella list. Click on the General Options on the umbrella list's admin page and in the Umbrella list settings section, blank out the box next to the question "Suffix for use when this list is an umbrella for other lists, according to setting of previous "umbrella_list" setting".
  

Click on the Privacy options menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Spam filters. Add the following value to the description "Hold posts with header value matching a specified regexp"

X-Spam-Score: \*.*

This will only work provided the messages are sent to listname@anu.edu.au. These messages will be scanned for spam and any suspected spam will be given a spam score of one star (*) or more. The above regular expression will hold any messages with one star or more for list moderator approval.

This means the To: field in the email header does not have your list address in it. This usually means the posting has been BCC to your list or that your list is a member of an umbrella list or the sender has specified too many recipients.

When posting to a mailman list, you cannot use BCC even if the BCC is to some other addresses and not the mailman list itself.

A distribution list means you want to restrict postings to a few people only. These few people can be members or non-members of the list.

Click on the Privacy options menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Sender filters, select Yes to the box "By default, should new list member postings be moderated?"

Click on the Membership Management menu on the list admin page and follow the link to Membership List. Select On to the description "Set everyone's moderation bit, including those members not currently visible".
Uncheck the mod checkbox for members who are allowed to post to the list.

Add non-members who can post to the lists. See the section on "How can I allow some non-member to post to the list?".

Email the command (in plain text and in the message body) who password to listname-request@anu.edu.au where password is the list password and listname is the name of the mailing list. The return email will give you the listing of all members.