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LISTSERV Subscription Management and Administration

LISTSERV is an email list management software that provides everything you need to manage all of your opt-in email lists, including email newsletters, announcements, discussion groups, and email communities.

For more advanced instructions not detailed in this guide, please see the LISTSERV Documentation and Manuals page.

LISTSERV Logins use an Email Address

UVM affiliates should use their UVM email address and password to log into LISTSERV. Non-UVM affiliates who have subscribed to a list will use the email address they subscribed with.

Subscriber Commands

Theses guides are intended for users looking to subscribe or unsubscribe from a List. If you are are a List Subscriber seeking other guides, please use the LISTSERV List Subscriber’s Manual provided by L-Soft.

Subscribing by Email

  1. Email listserv@list.uvm.edu with the following format: subscribe [listname] [first_name] [last_name]
  2. After sending the email, you should receive a confirmation email with a link to activate your subscription.

Unsubscribing from a Single List by Email

This option only works if the address from which you are sending the email command is the same as the one receiving the list emails.

  1. Email listserv@list.uvm.edu. The body of the email should read “unsubscribe [listname]” where “listname” is a portion of the email address preceding the @list.uvm.edu.
    1. Remove any signature or other text from the message body.
    2. Leave the Subject of your email empty.
  2. You should receive an email with confirmation that your request was processed.

Unsubscribing from Several Lists by Email

This option only works if the address from which you are sending the email command is the same as the one receiving the list emails.

  1. You can enter multiple unsubscribe commands on separate lines
  2. Remove any signature or other text from the message and send the email. You should receive an email with confirmation that your request was processed.

Subscribing using a Web Browser

  1. Go to https://list.uvm.edu and click the Log In link in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Log in using the email address associated with the list, either firstname.lastname@uvm.edu OR NetID@uvm.edu and user your NetID password.
  3. Click the Subscriber’s Corner link in the upper left.
  4. Select Show All Lists to list all publicly available lists. You can search lists by list name in the Show Lists entry box.
  5. Check the boxes next to the names of any list you want to subscribe to, then select Subscribe from the drop-down menu at the bottom left of the list.
  6. Click the Submit button on the bottom right.

Unsubscribing using a Web Browser

  1. Go to https://list.uvm.edu Click the Log in link in the upper right corner of the page.
  2. Log in using the email address that received the message, either firstname.lastname@uvm.edu OR NetID@uvm.edu and user your NetID password.
  3. Click the Subscriber’s Corner link in the upper left. You will see the email lists to which that email address is subscribed.
  4.  Check the boxes next to the names of any list you want to unsubscribe from, then select Unsubscribe from the drop-down menu at the bottom left of the list.
  5. Click the Submit button on the bottom right.

LISTSERV Administration

These guides are intended for List owners and administrators. If you are are a List Owner seeking other guides, please use the LISTSERV List Owner’s Manual provided by L-Soft.

Creating a New List

Students looking to request the creation of a new list can fill out this form: https://www.uvm.edu/it/forms/create-student-electronic-mailing-list

Staff and Faculty may use this form to request creation of a new list: https://www.uvm.edu/it/forms/create-electronic-mailing-list

It can take up to several days for a request to be processed and approved. Once a request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email containing a link to your new list.

Adding a Single Subscriber to Your List

There are several ways to add subscribers to your list. Depending on the design of your list you can add the subscribers manually, or you can allow the users to add themselves by mailing the list directly.

  1. Go to https://list.uvm.edu and click the Log In link in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Log in using the email address associated with the list, either firstname.lastname@uvm.edu OR NetID@uvm.edu and user your NetID password.
  3. Click List Management then Subscriber Management.
  4. Make sure you are in Single Subscriber. Then navigate down to the add new Subscriber section and enter in the subscriber’s email address and name.

Adding Subscribers in Bulk

Warning about Adding Subscribers In Bulk

When importing a new list you have the option to remove all current subscribers. There is no option to recover those emails once deleted.

To add a large number of subscribers to a list, create a spreadsheet with a list of emails, first names and last names. Once your list of emails is complete, export the spreadsheet in MS-DOS or Windows text format. Then upload that file to LISTSERV using the Bulk Operations menu. Uploading a Subscriber Text File is the best way to add or remove a large number of subscribers.

Creating a Subscriber Text File

The Subscriber Text File you will upload to LISTSERV must be ordered “e-mail address, space, the subscriber’s first name, space, and the subscriber’s last name”

For example:

rcat@uvm.edu Rally Cat

tcat@uvm.edu Tammy Cat

dcat@uvm.edu Danny Cat

The easiest way to create a subscriber list is in a spreadsheet. Use the first column for the e-mail address, the second for the first name, and the third for the last name.

  1. Once you have created the subscriber list, you will need to export the file in MS-DOS or Windows Text Format.
  2. Scroll through File Format and under Specialty Format, select MS-DOS Formatted Text (.txt).
  3. Select “Yes” to continue using the .txt format.

Uploading a Subscriber Text File

  1. Go to https://list.uvm.edu and click the Log In link in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Log in using the email address associated with the list, either firstname.lastname@uvm.edu OR NetID@uvm.edu and user your NetID password.
  3. Click List Management then Subscriber Management.
  4. Select Bulk Operations. You can “add imported,” “remove all,” and “remove imported” on this page.

Spam Prevention and Security

Setting a Daily Threshold

The Daily Threshold option prevents users from repeatedly messaging the LISTSERV by limiting the number of times in a day a user can send messages to the LISTSERV.

The Daily Threshold option is under the Distribution tab. If you leave this field blank, then no limit will be applied on how many messages a user can send in a day.

Making the List Confidential

The Confidential option makes your list unlisted for all users excluding known subscribers, but, will still allow subscriptions if the user subscribing knows the list name. Additionally, this function also prevents the list from being probed externally with the “list” command.

In the Security tab under List Configuration, select the “Confidential” dropdown. The “No” option will make the list public to unknown subscribers.

Setting Permissions for Users

Access Controls moderate what attachments can be sent to the list, who can send to the list and gives options for reviewing content that is sent to the list.

  1. Go to https://list.uvm.edu and click the Log In link in the top right corner of the page.
  2. Log in using the email address associated with the list, either firstname.lastname@uvm.edu OR NetID@uvm.edu and user your NetID password.
  3. Click List Management then List Dashboard.
  4. Click [Configure] beneath the list you wish to edit.
  5. Click the Access Control Tab.

Attachments: Controls what attachments users can email to the list.

  1. Allowed Types:
    1. “No” – Disallows all attachments excluding plain text.
    2. “Yes” – Allows user-defined attachments, ex: image, message, etc
  2. Filter:
    1. Check this box to remove all contact that is not allowed without notifying the sender.

Review: The Review option permits specific users to review emails sent to the list before they are sent to everyone on the list. The user can then authorize or reject the message being sent to the list. Any role can be set as a Reviewer.

Send: Moderates settings for emails sent to the list.

  1. Send: The send option permits users to send emails to the list based on their group.
  2. Special: The Special Cases Box allows you to add/remove individual users to the Send option manually.
  3. Confirm: The confirm option functions similarly to the review option; however, instead of having an independent reviewer confirm the email, it forces the sender to verify their email before it sends to the list.
  4. Only Non-Members Confirm: Forces Non-Members to confirm emails sent to the list. Prevents spamming from outside sources
  5. Hold: The Hold option allows Moderators to act as a buffer for all incoming mail to the list by holding emails for review before sending them to the list.
  6. Semi Moderated: Allows messages with the Subject Header “URGENT:” to be passed through the confirmation block.
Roles Overview

Lists have four roles and two list protocols that can be modified to grant levels of access to your list. While each role can be modified they each have unique properties that make some roles superior in access/control to others. Below is a diagram to organize the access that each role is inherently permitted.

Each role no matter their position on the figure can be given permissions regarding

  • Review mail sent to the list by all senders
  • Sending mail to the list

However, each role does have specific powers.

Postmaster Role

The Postmaster role is a role assigned to Administrators for the LISTSERV site as a whole. If you create a List, you will not have access to this role. Instead, you will be granted the role of “Owner.”

Owner Role

The Owner has access to all parts of their list even when not specified; this allows them to properly manage the list without locking themselves out of a certain function such as sending to the list. The Owner can grant roles to other users and moderate the various role abilities.

Moderator Role

The Moderator role has advanced access to editing the list. Most options available to the Owner role will be available. However, Moderators are more limited in their control of the list. Unlike the other roles which can be clicked on and added directly, you have to go to the List Maintenance tab to add a user to the Moderator role.

Editor/Service Role

The Editor/Service role is very malleable and can be set by the Owner to handle specified permissions. For this reason, they have the highest access in the sending and receiving area, only surpassed by that of the list owner.

Public and Private are classified as roles, but instead, function as protocols and adjust how the list behaves on a broader scale than the above roles.

Public Role

The Public protocol allows all users, if subscribed or not, to make emails and send them to a list. By adding it to the review area, it will force all users to review their email before they send it.

Private Role

The Private protocol acts as a placeholder for a role rather than an actual role. The Private protocol allows all users who have subscribed to the list to send mail to the list as well as review it.

Adding or Removing List Owners

In order to change the owners of a list, a current owner of the list will need to follow the below instructions.  If you believe that a list’s ownership should be changed, and are unable to reach the list’s current owner, please contact the Tech Team for assistance.

  1. Visit UVM’s ListServ site and sign in with your UVM email address.
  2. In the top-left corner of the screen, click on List Management, then click List Dashboard.
  3. Under the name of the list that you would like to manage, click Configure.
  4. Click on List Maintenance, then scroll down to Owner.
  5. Here, you can make changes to the list’s owners list.  Email addresses should be added with an optional display name in this format:
    example@uvm.edu (Example User)
  6. Click save in the top-right corner to save your changes.

Updated on June 23, 2021

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