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Home » Faculty & Staff Services » Email Lists (ListServ) » Quick Start Instructions for LISTSERV Owners

Quick Start Instructions for LISTSERV Owners

FAQ Video: Logging into LISTSERV for the first time

FAQ Video: Adding and removing subscribers in LISTSERV

FAQ Video: Adding and removing owners in LISTSERV

The following instructions cover both the email and web interfaces. The web interface is much easier to use.

  1. What is the purpose of a LIST OWNER?
  2. Who can request that a LIST be created?
  3. How do I obtain a copy of the List Owner's Manual?
  4. How do I request (start-up) a LIST?
  5. How do I permanently remove a LIST?
  6. How do I rename my LISTSERV LIST?
  7. How do I set up a personal password?
  8. How do I change my password or reset a password that has been forgotten?
  9. How do I add a subscriber to my LIST?
  10. How do I add multiple subscribers to my LIST?
  11. How do I change the name or email address of a subscriber?
  12. How do I unsubscribe myself from a LIST?
  13. How do I remove/delete subscribers from my LIST?
  14. How do I view the names of the people subscribed to my LIST?
  15. How do I prevent my LIST from appearing on York's LISTSERV index?
  16. How do I get a copy of my own posts back from the LIST after they are processed?
  17. How do I increase the daily limit of postings on the LISTSERV?
  18. How do I send an email to the LIST owner only?
  19. How do I change the LIST header information?
  20. How do I add or remove a LIST owner(s)?
  21. How do I stop someone from subscribing and posting to my list?
  22. How do I import email addresses from my Classlist to my LISTSERV?
  23. Why do winmail.dat attachments fail to be sent over listserves?
  24. How do I setup the listserv so I can see the cc'd email addresses when I receive an email from a listserv?

What is the purpose of a LIST OWNER?

  • Each LISTSERV list must have at least one LIST OWNER.
  • The LIST OWNER(s) maintains the LIST and performs LIST maintenance functions (like adding and removing subscribers from the LIST).
  • Only the list owner has access to certain administrative functions of the list
  • The LIST OWNER is the person you contact when you have a problem with a LIST.
  • The owner’s email address appears in the LIST HEADER.

Who can request that a LIST be created?

  • Only faculty and staff can apply to have a list created.
  • Others who want to start and own a LIST must be sponsored by a faculty or staff member.

How do I obtain a copy of the List Owner's Manual?

To obtain LIST OWNER information, request the List Owner's Manual as follows.

  1. Address your mail message to listserv@yorku.ca
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:info owner
  3. LISTSERV will reply with the List Owner's Manual.

You can also obtain the owner's manual in PDF format by clicking
http://www.lsoft.com/resources/manuals.asp

How do I request (start-up) my own LIST?

  1. Click Listserv Request Form
  2. Complete the online LISTSERV Creation Request Form.

When the LIST is created, you will receive an email confirmation message from UIT. At this point you must set up a password for your LIST

Note: A password is required to access the LIST.

How do I permanently remove (shut down) a LIST?

  • To completely shutdown an old LISTSERV LIST the owner must send an email to askit@yorku.ca requesting that the LIST be removed.

How do I rename my LISTSERV LIST?

  • To rename a LISTSERV LIST the list owner must send email to askit@yorku.ca requesting the name change. The email must include the new name, which can be up to 16 characters long.

How do I set up a personal password?

To set up a personal password, you must send the password command to LISTSERV.

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:PW ADD yourLISTSERVpassword

where:

yourLISTSERVpassword is the password you select for yourself.

Note: You must choose a password for your LIST. When LISTSERV receives your password request, it will reply with an email message asking you to confirm your password. You must reply to this message by inserting the word OK in the body of the reply.

OR

Using the Web interface:

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Select Login
  3. Click register password
  4. Enter your York email address and the password you wish to create. Click Register Password.
  5. At this point a notification will be sent to your email address. You must reply to the email within 48 hours to confirm and activate the requested password.

How do I reset/change a password that has been forgotten or become a problem?

A) If you KNOW your current password but want to change it:

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:PW CHange newpw

where:

PW is your current password
CHange is the change commend
newpw is your new password

B) If you have FORGOTTEN your current password and want to reset it:

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:PW RESET
  3. When LISTSERV receives your request, it will reply with an email asking you to confirm the request. You must reply to this message by inserting the word OK in the body of the reply.
  4. At this point your old LIST password will be deleted and you must follow the instructions outlined above in the section titled How do I set up a personal password?

OR

Using the Web interface

A) If you KNOW your current password but wish to change it:

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Click Change Password

B) If you have FORGOTTEN your current password and want to reset it:

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Click forgot password
  3. Follow the instructions
  4. At this point an email notification is sent to your email address. You must reply to that email within 48 hrs to confirm and activate the requested password.

How do I add a subscriber to my LIST?

To add an individual user to your LIST:

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:

QUIET ADD listname user@address Firstname Lastname

where:

QUIET is an optional parameter and indicates that no notification or WELCOME message will be sent. The WELCOME message lets new subscribers know that they have been added to the LIST and provides some information about the LIST. If you want the WELCOME message to be sent, simply omit the QUIET parameter.

ADD is the command to add an individual to the LIST.

listname is the name of your LIST.

user@address is the email address of the user you want to add.

Firstname Lastname is the subscriber's first and last name.

For example: To add Tessa Smith (tsmith@yorku.ca) to your Listserv LIST mylist@yorku.ca you would type:

QUIET ADD mylist tsmith@yorku.ca Tessa Smith

OR

Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select Subscriber Reports
  3. Select List from drop down menu
  4. In the box under Add Subscriber, enter the email address followed by the first name of the subscriber you want to add. For example, tsmith@yorku.ca Tessa Smith
  5. Click the Add Subscriber Button

How do I add multiple subscribers to my LIST?

To add multiple subscribers to your LIST send the bulk-add command:

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:

QUIET ADD listname DD=X IMPORT PW=yourLISTSERVpassword
//X DD *
user1@address Firstname Lastname
user2@address Firstname Lastname
/*

where:

QUIET is an optional parameter and indicates that no notification or WELCOME message will be sent. After you have added a group of people to a new list, you should send a message to the LIST telling everyone that the LIST is ready.

listname is the name of your LIST.

yourLISTSERVpassword is your LISTSERV password.

userX@address is the email address of the user you want to add.

Firstname Lastname is replaced with the corresponding subscriber's first and last name.

OR

Using the Web interface:

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select Subscriber Reports
  3. Select list from drop down menu
  4. Beside the Add subscriber, click on Bulk Operations.
  5. Click on Browse and locate the plain text file (the input file) with the email addresses and names of the subscribers you want to add to your LIST. Further specifics about the input file see Note section below.
  6. Click Import.

Note:

  • The input file must be a plain textfile (not a word processor document or spreadsheet) and must contain one address per line, optionally followed with a space (or TAB) and the subscriber's name.
  • The subscribers being added or deleted will not be notified.

How do I change the list of subscribers on any given Listserv List?

Follow the instructions in this document for removing a subscriber and then adding a subscriber.

OR

Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select Subscriber Management
  3. Select the list from drop down menu.
  4. In the box under the Search for Subscribers enter the email address or name of subscriber and click search
  5. Can either change setting and click Update Settings or Delete to delete from list.

How do I unsubscribe from a LIST?

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of your email message issue one of the following commands:To remove yourself from one list, in the body of your email message issue the following command:SIGNOFF listname

To remove yourself from ALL @yorku.ca LISTSERVS, in the body of your email message issue the command:

SIGNOFF *

where:

SIGNOFF is the command you issue to signoff a LIST.

listname is the name of the LIST from which you want to remove yourself.

* is a wildcard character which indicates ALL lists.

To remove yourself from all lists on the network issue the command:

SIGNOFF * (NETWIDE F

OR
Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. open Subscriber Options and click subscriptions.
  3. Select lists you want to unsubscribe from:                                                                                                                                                                              On drop down at bottom of List name column select unsubscribe and click update on bottom right.

How do I remove/delete subscribers from my LIST?

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of your email message issue the command:

QUIET DELETE listname user@address PW=yourLISTSERVpassword

where:

QUIET indicates that no notification message will be sent.

DELETE is the delete command.

listname is the name of the LIST from which you would like to delete the subscriber.

user@address is the email address of the subscriber you want to remove.

yourListPasword is your LISTSERV password.

For example to remove Tessa Smith (tsmith@yorku.ca) from your mylist@yorku.ca Listserv LIST you would type:

QUIET DELETE mylist tsmith@yorku.ca Tessa Smith

To delete ALL subscribers from your LIST, in the body of your email message issue the command:

QUIET DELETE listname *

where

listname is the name of the LIST from which you want to delete subscribers.

* is the wildcard character that means delete ALL subscribers from the specified list..

OR

Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select Subscriber Reports.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.
  4. Select subscribers.
  5. Click on Delete subscribers button.

How do I view the names of the people subscribed to my LIST?

  1. Address your email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of your email message issue one of the following commands:

REV listname

where:

REV is the review command.
listname is the name of the LIST you want to review.

OR

REV listname NOH

where:

REV is the review command.
listname is the name of the LIST you want to review.
NOH means NO HEADER will be displayed.

OR

QUERY listname FOR *@*

where:

QUERY allows LIST owners to view the LIST of all subscribers, even subscribers who have "concealed" their subscription from the review command.

listname is the name of the LIST you want to query.

FOR *@* means that any character can appear before and after the @ in the email address.

* is a wild card character - it returns a LIST of ALL subscribers (and their subscriber options).

OR

Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select Subscriber Reports.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.

How do I prevent my LIST from appearing on York's LISTSERV index?

Using the Web interface

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select List Configuration.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.
  4. Click Security.
  5. Set drop down menu by Confidential= to Yes and click Update.

How do I get a copy of my own posts back from the LIST after they are processed?

  • For subscribers to get copies of their posts back from the LIST after they are processed, the LIST OWNER must set the REPRO command.
  • If the OWNER has set the default to REPRO before subscribers join the LIST, then the subscribers will receive a copy of the all the emails that they send to the list.
  • However, if the OWNER does not set the default to REPRO, or if it is set after subscribes join the LIST, all subscribers that had joined prior to the default being set to REPRO must set the REPRO command for themselves or have the list owner set it for them.

To set your own REPRO command a subscriber must:

  1. Address an email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
  2. In the body of the email message issue the command:SET listname REPRO where: listname is the actual LIST name.

To set the default option to REPRO for every future subscriber, the LIST OWNER must:

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. open List Management and select List Configuration.
  3. select list from drop down menu.
  4. click Subscriptions.
  5. In the box beside Default-Options= add REPRO and click update.

To set the REPRO command for current individual subscribers (or subscribers who joined the list prior to you setting the default option to REPRO).

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and Select Subscriber Reports
  3. Select List from drop down menu.
  4. Select the Subscriber.
  5. Beside the Acknowledgements Heading ensure Receive Copy of Own Posting is selected then click the update Settings button.

How do I increase the daily limit of postings on the LISTSERV?

Using the Web Interface (i.e. Web browser):

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select List Configuration.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.
  4. Click Subscriptions.
  5. In the box beside Daily-Threshold= enter the number of messages (default is 100) and click update.

How do I send email to the LIST owner only?

Send email to:

listname-request@yorku.cawhere

listname is the name of the LISTSERV whose owner you wish to contact.

How do I change LIST header information?

To change LIST header information, you require a password.

  • If you do not have a LIST password, follow the instructions above to set up a personal password.
  • If you have forgotten your LIST password, follow the instructions above to reset your LIST password.
  • If you know your LIST password, you can request your LIST header information as follows:
    1. Address an email message to listserv@yorku.ca.
    2. In the body of the message issue the command:GET listname (HEADER NOLOCK PW=yourLISTSERVpasswordwhere:listname is the name of the LIST.yourLISTSERVpassword is your current LISTSERV password.
    3. The LISTSERV will reply with an email that contains the current header settings for your LIST.The following is a sample of the LIST header information:PUT TEST2 PW=* * * * * * * **
      * Title of sample LISTSERV list -- SAMPLELIST
      *
      * Review= OWNER Send= PRIVATE
      * Subscription= By_owner
      * Notify= Yes Reply-to= List,Respect Files= No
      * Stats= Normal,Private
      * Notebook= Yes,/usr/users/LISTSERV/archive/test2,Monthly,Public
      * Default-Options= REPRO
      * Loopcheck= Nobody
      *
      * Owner= xyz@example.com
      * Owner= abc@example.com
      *
    4. Forward the message back to LISTSERV after making desired changes to the header information.
      Make sure to replace ' * 's in PW=****** with your current LIST password.

OR

Using the Web Interface (i.e. web browser)

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select List Configuration.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.
  4. Click My Configuration and select Edit Manually.
  5. Edit list header and click update.

How do I add or remove a LIST Owner(s)?

To add or remove a LIST owner(s):

  1. Proceed to obtain your LIST header information as outlined above.
  2. Once the LISTSERV sends you your LIST header, you can edit the header information.
  3. To add a co-owner(s), issue the command:Owner = co-owner@addresswhere:Owner = is the owner command option in the LIST header.co-owner@address is the email address of the person you want to make the co-owner of your LIST.You can add as many owners as you like, just make sure you enter each one on a separate line.The following is a sample LIST header with co-owners added. The new owner information is added at the bottom of the LIST (appears in bold). To remove a LIST owner, delete the email address of the owner to be removed.

    PUT TEST2 PW=* * * * * * * * (replace ' * 's with your current LIST password)

    *
    * Title of sample LISTSERV list -- SAMPLELIST
    *
    * Review= OWNER Subscription= By_owner Send= PRIVATE
    * Notify= Yes Reply-to= List,Respect Files= No
    * Stats= Normal,Private
    * Notebook= Yes,/usr/users/LISTSERV/archive/test2,Monthly,Public
    * Default-Options=
    * Loopcheck= Nobody
    *
    * Owner= xyz@example.com
    * Owner= abc@example.com
    *

  4. Forward the message back to LISTSERV after making desired changes to the header information.
    Make sure to replace ' * 's in PW=****** with your current LIST password.

OR

Using the Web Interface (i.e. web browser)

  1. Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca
  2. Open List Management and select List Configuration.
  3. Select list from drop down menu.
  4. Click Administrators.
  5. Edit entries beside Owner= and click update.

How do I stop someone from subscribing or posting to my LIST?

To stop someone from subscribing or posting to your LIST, you must add the Filter command to your LIST header.

  1. Proceed to obtain your LIST header information as outlined above.
  2. Once the LISTSERV sends you your LIST header, add the following command to the header:Filter= Also, email@address, email@addresswhere:email@address represents the email address(es) you would like to stop from subscribing or posting to your LIST.You can filter as many email addresses as you like, just make sure you place a comma after each address.The following is a sample LIST header with the filter command added. The filter command appears at the bottom of the list (appears in bold):PUT TEST2 PW=* * * * * * * * (replace ' * 's with your current LIST password)*
    * Title of sample LISTSERV list -- SAMPLELIST
    *
    * Review= OWNER Send= PRIVATE
    * Subscription= By_owner
    * Notify= Yes Reply-to= List,Respect Files= No
    * Stats= Normal,Private
    * Notebook= Yes,/usr/users/LISTSERV/archive/test2,Monthly,Public
    * Default-Options= REPRO
    * Loopcheck= Nobody
    *
    * Filter= Also, @yorku.ca, test@yorku.ca, xyz@yorku.ca
    *
  3. Forward the message back to LISTSERV after making desired changes to the header information.
    Make sure to replace ' * 's in PW=****** with your current LIST password.

OR

Using the Web Interface (i.e. web browser)

Go to http://listserv.yorku.ca

  1. Open List Management and select List Configuration
  2. Select list from drop down menu
  3. Click My Configuration and select Edit Manually.
  4. Edit list header by adding Filter = Also, followed by the email addresses that you want to block from subscribing from your list and click update.

Note: If an email address you wish to filter is currently subscribed to your LIST, you must unsubscribe that address from the LIST manually after setting the filter command.

How do I import email addresses from my Classlist to my LISTSERV?

Note: You must have Classlist access in order to be able to use the Classlist application.

  1. Go to http://classlist.yorku.ca
  2. Enter your Passport York username and password and click Login button.
  3. Locate and display the class list that you wish to import into the LISTSERV.
  4. From the classlist download options click on Display this class list in listserv format
  5. A new window should open containing the list of emails and names of all students in the class. In this window click on File, click Save As...
  6. Save dialogue box should open.
    • Chose the location where you wish to save the file from the Save In: dropdown box at the top.
    • In the File Name: field enter a name for the file that will be created.
    • From the Save As Type: dropdown box select Text File (*.txt).
    • Click the Save button.
  7. Now follow the steps in the How do I add multiple subscribers to my LIST? section to import the text that you have just saved to your LIST.

Note: Students who have not activated their @yorku.ca Electronic Mail accounts will have none listed as their email address on the Classlist and therefore will not be added as a LISTSERV subscriber when you import the text file.

Why do winmail.dat attachments fail to be sent over listserves?

When someone is sending winmail.dat attachments (Microsoft proprietary format) through listserv they get blocked by default. If they wish to let them through the listserv list they can add the following to the listserv list header:

Language= Exchange

Note that these attachments will be allowed through but any client that cannot read those type of attachments will not be able to read them. There are particular setups for the Outlook client to try to avoid sending these type of attachments.

How do I setup the listserv so I can see the cc'd email addresses when I receive an email from a listserv?

By default cc'd email addresses are not visible. To make them visible going forward, the owner can add the following to the LIST Header:

Default-Options= IETFHDR

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