Managing Mailing Lists: Majordomo; Listserv; Listproc and Smartlist

Would you like to set up an electronic discussion forum for your customers? Or how about a mailing list to announce meetings of your local hobby group? Email is the universal Internet application, which makes mailing lists an ideal vehicle for creating electronic communities. All you need to run a mailing list is access to a system that is connected to the Internet, a mailing list management software package, and a bit of know-how, which is where this book comes in. Managing Mailing Lists is full of practical information for the list maintainer and system administrator alike. This book covers four mailing list packages: Majordomo, LISTSERV, Listproc, and SmartList. All of these packages run on UNIX systems; LISTSERV runs on a number of platforms, including Windows NT. If you are a system administrator, Managing Mailing Lists tells you what you need to know to pick a mailing list package and get it up and running on your system. It also offers advice on working with the people who are actually maintaining mailing lists on your system, so that you can give them the support they need to run effective, useful lists. If you are charged with establishing and running a mailing list, Managing Mailing Lists covers everything you need to know about setting up and maintaining the list, from writing the charter for the list to dealing with bounced messages. Depending on what mailing list software is running on your system, you'll need to work with your system administrator to set up various aspects of the list. This book lays out all the decisions you need to make and tells you what information you need to pass along to the administrator. Mailing lists offer a great deal of flexibility. For example, you can create a moderated mailing list, so that you can control the content on the list, or you can let anyone post whatever they want, for a more free-form discussion group. You can also exert control over who can subscribe to the list, if you want to limit membership based on certain criteria. You can give your subscribers the option to receive individual messages or message digests and you can archive list postings and make them available to your readership.

Table of Contents:
Preface. Chapter 1. Introduction Email Basics What Is a Mailing List? Using Mailing List Software. Chapter 2. Designing a Mailing List Dramatis Personae Mailing List Decisions Subscriptions Moderated Lists Digests Archives Exploders, Peer Lists, and Newsgroups Large Lists Choosing an MLM. Chapter 3. Maintaining Lists with Listproc Creating Your List Writing the Welcome Message Testing the List List Administration. Chapter 4. Maintaining Lists with Majordomo Creating Your List Configuring the List Writing the Welcome Message Testing the List List Administration. Chapter 5. Maintaining Lists with SmartList Creating Your List Writing the Welcome Message Testing the List List Administration. Chapter 6. Maintaining Lists with LISTSERV Lite Creating Your List Personal Passwords and Confirmation Configuring the List Writing the Welcome Message Testing the List List Administration. Chapter 7. Maintaining Lists with sendmail The sendmail Toolkit The aliases File Mailing Lists Email File Servers A setuid Wrapper. Chapter 8. Troubleshooting Your Lists User Errors Bounced Email Mail Loops List Abuse. Chapter 9. Administering Listproc Overview of Operations Preparing to Install Listproc Compiling and Installing Configuring the Server Starting and Stopping the Server The listproc Alias Adding Lists Archives Interactive ListProcessor Daily Maintenance and Troubleshooting Peer Lists and News Connections Local Modifications. Chapter 10. Administering Majordomo Overview of Operations Preparing to Install Majordomo Compiling and Installing Configuring the Server Adding Lists Digested Lists Archives Daily Maintenance and Troubleshooting. Chapter 11. Administering SmartList Overview of Operations Preparing to Install SmartList Compiling and Installing Adding Lists Moderated Lists Digested Lists List Administration Archives Peer Lists. Chapter 12. Administering LISTSERV Lite Overview of Operations Preparing to Install LISTSERV Lite Compiling and Installing Configuring the Server Starting and Stopping the Server Adding Lists Archives The Web Interface Daily Maintenance and Troubleshooting. Appendix A. Listproc Reference. Appendix B. Majordomo Reference. Appendix C. SmartList Reference. Appendix D. LISTSERV Lite Reference. Index

About the Author :
Alan Schwartz is an assistant professor of clinical decision making in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In his spare time, he develops and maintains the PennMUSH MUD server and brews beer and mead with his wife. Alan runs multiple mailing lists for the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and for PennMUSH users and developers; he has been managing mailing lists for at least five years now. Turn-ons for Alan include sailing, programming in Perl, playing duplicate bridge, and drinking Anchor Porter. Turnoffs include subscription requests sent to list addresses and watery American lagers.