The 20 Minute E-Mail Solution!
TOC PREV NEXT INDEX

Requesting Information and Subscribing

In order for a user to get information about lists on a particular host, or to subscribe to lists on a particular host, the user must send a request addressed to imailsrv@domain.com (where domain.com is the name of the host). This e-mail address is a built-in IMail alias that lets users:

Format of Requests

Requests addressed to imailsrv@domain.com must contain a
list-server command and (when appropriate) a list name in the
body of the message. The following commands may appear in the body of the message:

Commands for Requesting Information

The following examples assume there is a list named beer on a mail host named domain.com. The commands for requesting information are the following:

Commands for Subscribing and Unsubscribing

The following examples assume there is a list named beer on a mail host named domain.com. The commands for subscribing and unsubscribing are the following:

Commands for the Use of Subscribers

The following examples assume there is a list named beer on a mail host named domain.com. Once a user is already subscribed to a list, he can use the following commands:

Commands for the Use of the List Owner (or Moderator)

The following example assumes there is a list named beer on a mail host named domain.com. Only the list owner (or moderator) can use the following:

How the List Server Works

When you create a mail host, the program alias imailsrv is created automatically and defined as imailsrv.exe domain. Therefore, messages addressed to imailsrv@domain.com are processed by the IMail list server application, imailsrv.exe.

Note: Upgraders: In earlier versions of IMail Server, the list server application and its alias were named listserv, but they were changed due to a trademark conflict. If you have used the listserv alias,
you do not have to change anything because IMail Server allows
the old listserv alias to work properly. However, all aliases now
return imailsrv in place of listserv. If you set up a new list, use the imailsrv alias.

The list server directory is the directory lists created under your main imail directory. Each list is created as a separate directory under that directory and there is an alias created for each list.

Creating a List-Server Mailing List

To create a list (assuming that Use Wizards on the Tools menu is turned off):

  1. In the left panel, expand the mail host folder and then select the "Lists" folder.
  2. Click the Add List button. The "Add New List" dialog box appears.
  3. Enter a name for the list-server mailing list. This is the name used to send mail to the list. For example, if you enter the name Parrotlist, users will send mail to the list by specifying the "To" address as follows: Parrotlist@domain.com.

    The name must be from 3 to 23 characters in length, with no spaces between characters.

Note: Do not use the name imailsrv for a list-server mailing list; this name is reserved.

  1. Click OK. The General tab appears. The List Name and Directory are displayed but cannot be edited.
  2. Complete the entries.

    Title. Enter a descriptive title to help the list owner and/or administrator identify the list. The title must be from 3 to 23 characters in length; spaces are allowed.

    Owner. This is the full e-mail address of the mail account that receives all messages (such as Subscribe requests, Unsubscribe requests, and error messages) to the list. It is also the account from which all messages are sent:

    • To the list
    • To anyone who requests information about the list
    • In response to invalid attempts to post to the list

      The list owner and list administrator are usually the same person, but a "dummy" user account can be set up for the list owner to hide the identity of the list administrator. On a moderated list, the list owner is also known as the "moderator."

      Local administrator. This is a user ID on the current mail host who can administer the list using Web Messaging. This person can modify list properties, add and delete users, and edit all related files.

Note: List-server mailing lists can also be administered by any user on the local mail host who is a List Administrator as specified on the General tab of the user properties.

Related Files. You can edit related files by clicking the appropriate button:

  1. Click Apply to save your changes.
  2. From a different system, send a test mail message to imailsrv@domain. In the body of the message, place the lines: 
    subscribe listname your_full_name 
help 
help listname 
list 
list listname

    You should get five messages back from the system.

    For a description of the commands accepted by the list server, see "Requesting Information and Subscribing"..

Setting Advanced Options

You can use the Advanced tab to further define the operation of a list-server mailing list. To do this:

  1. Click the Advanced tab. The Advanced options appear.

  1. Select the options you want to use.

    Reply-To list (vs. sender). Turn on Reply-To list (vs. sender) to have replies from a subscriber go to the list. Turn this off to have replies from a subscriber go to the sender of the original message.

    Enable Digest Mode. Turn this on to allow users to group the messages sent to the list into a digest, which is then sent as a single message. You can schedule the digest to be sent periodically or when the accumulated messages exceed a particular size. When list users receive a digest, it contains all messages sent since the last digest.

    When you select Enable Digest Mode, the Digest and Digest Scheduling tabs appear. You need to define how the digest will operate by setting the options on these tabs. For more information, see "Setting Up Digest Mode"..

    Enable Subject Modification. When selected, displays the text string (entered in the Edit box) at the beginning of the subject line of every message sent to the list.
    For example, if you enter [Bird-info] as the defined text string, the subject line of messages will appear as follows:     

    Subject: re:[Bird-info] How do you receive mail?

    The default string is the name of the list-server mailing list.

    Enable Header/Enable Trailer. When selected, displays text information (entered in the Edit function) at the beginning or end of every message sent to the list. To enter the header information, select the Enable Header option, click Edit, and then enter the text information. This information is entered in the header.txt file. To enter the trailer info, select the Enable Trailer option, click Edit, and then enter the text information. This information is entered in the trailer.txt file.

    For example, you can enter the Subscribe/Unsubscribe information for the list and have it appear at the beginning or end of every message.

    Max message size in bytes (0 = unlimited). The maximum size (in bytes) of a message that can be sent to the list. Enter 0 if you want the size to be unlimited.

    Number of recipients per message. You must calculate this number; it determines the number of recipients each SMTP process will send to.

    Divide the expected number of subscribers by 25, and enter the result. We recommend that no more than 25 processes be used by a list.

    For information on how to change the default number of SMTP processes for IMail Server, see "Changing the Number of SMTP Processes"..

  2. Click OK to save your changes.

Ipswitch, Inc.
http://www.ipswitch.com
TOC PREV NEXT INDEX
©Ipswitch 2001

IMail Server
Support Center