Oregon Mailing List Service

1. The name of the list.
2. The state email address for the list administrator/owner and one backup.
3. The phone number of the list administrator/owner and backup.  
4. The agency that will be responsible for the mailing list.
5. The name of the manager of the primary list administrator/owner.
6. A brief description of the list’s purpose.

DAS IT will create the list. The owner of the list will receive a welcome email once the list has been created.

• Subscriber: Someone who is subscribed to a list, receives messages posted to the list and may post an email for distribution, if permitted. Permission to post is controlled by the list owners. A subscriber has no administrative control over the list operation, but can change their own subscriptions settings. For example, a subscriber can decide to receive messages in digest form rather than individual postings.
• ​Subscribers are also called list members. 
  
• List Owner: Every list must have an owner and a backup owner. Owners are responsible for configuring, maintaining and operating the list. Owners may add other owners, and may designate other roles, such as moderators, and those who are able to approve subscription requests. List owners must be current state employees with a valid state email address.
• List Moderator: Not all lists require moderators. This role is assigned by the owner. Moderators can approve list subscription requests and postings.
  

• Log in to the list's administration page.
• ​Under General Options go to Membership Management, then Mass Subscription.
• Copy and paste only one address per line, then submit.
• If the subscription list is long or is available electronically, you can upload a .txt file.
• Open Membership List to make sure that all addresses have been added correctly.
• Email addresses that need permission to post must have the Mod box next to their address unchecked.
• You can add additional information that is searchable within Membership Management by adding text to the box under their name in the Membership List.
• Submit.
• IMPORTANT: If the list is configured to accept messages from subscribers, you will wish to turn off “welcome messages” when you first populate the list.

Note: Typically subscribers are added or subscribed, not invited to subscribe.

Tips:
Copying and pasting from Word and Excel can sometimes lead to hidden space characters being included at the end of the address, which can cause the email address to be invalid.

List owners must be explicitly added to the Membership List (this does not happen by default).​

​Manually Unsubscribe a Few Members:

• Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Go to Membership Management.
• Click the box in the first column (the unsub column) next to the address of each subscriber you want to delete.
• Click the Submit Your Changes button.

--OR--

• Go to Membership Management > Mass removal.
• In the large text box, type or paste the email addresses to be removed, with only one address per line.
• Click the Submit Your Changes button.   

Unsubscribe Using a .txt File 

• Log in to the list's administration page.
• Go to Membership Management > Mass Removal.
• Upload ​a .txt file in the "or specify a file to upload" field (beneath the large text box).
• Click the Submit Your Changes button.

Note: There is no “un-do” in Mailman. If you remove a subscriber accidentally, you must subscribe them again.

​When there is no longer a need for a particular list, log in to the list’s administration page and click Delete this mailing list. You will be re-prompted for the list admin password.

You will be queried about retaining the list archive before deleting the list. Consult with your agency’s public records coordinator before taking action.

Note: There is no "un-delete" in Mailman. If you delete a list by mistake, you must create another list.

​Lists can be configured as “closed” lists, which means that only those who are granted explicit permission can send to a list. An “open” list, open to both subscribers and postings, could receive spam if a spammer takes the time to subscribe or is mistakenly added.

Spam is almost always sent to the listname-owner@listsmart.osl.state.or.us address (where “listname” is replaced with the actual name of the list).

You can block specific senders by doing the following:

• Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Under Privacy Options select Sender Filters.
• Scroll to the Non-member Filters section.
• Go to List of non-member addresses whose postings will be automatically rejected.
• Enter the address you would like blocked.
• Click submit.

Refer to the next item in this FAQ to configure your list as “closed.”

• ​Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Under Privacy Options select Sender Filters.
• Set to Yes, "By default, should new list members' postings be moderated."
• You must "unmoderate" the list owner/admins, thus granting permission to post to the list.
• There is no explicit way to block subscribers from trying to send mail, but there is a workaround. You can set the mail from all members to “moderated” and then define what to do with mail from moderated subscribers. 
• The “Action to take when a moderated member posts to a list” option allows you to define what to do with email from subscribers. “Reject” will send a notice to the sender that they cannot send to the list, while “Discard” silently disposes of the mail. The reject message is customizable.

Tip:
Lists will ONLY accept posts from subscribed addresses. This can be an issue when an agency uses multiple email addresses. Examples: @state.or.us, @dhsoha.state.or.us, @ode.state.or.us, @oregonlegislature.gov, @oregon.gov. ​

​Mailman allows you to choose what to do with incoming messages.

• Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Under Privacy Options select Sender Filters.
• From there, you can decide whether you want to “Reject” or “Discard” mail, to prevent it from being sent to the list.
• “Reject” will send a notice to the sender that they cannot send to the list (this message is customizable).
• “Discard” silently disposes of the mail and the sender does not receive a response. 

Note: Mailman refers to subscribers as list members or members.

​Owners can modify moderators at any point.

• Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Under General Options you will find a setting for list moderator email address. Specify the email address(es) of the list moderator(s). Simply add or delete email addresses to add or remove list moderators.
• Click Submit Your Changes to apply the changes.

​To see a list of your current subscribers, do the following.

• Log in to the list’s administration page.
• Select Membership Management and navigate the list using the letters of the alphabet at the top of the table.

Note: The total number of subscribers appears above the letters of the alphabet at the top of the table. 

Refer to the next item in this FAQ for instructions on exporting your list.

• ​Visit the list's information page following this pattern: http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME
  
• In the "Subscribers" section, enter your listadmin/listowner email address and password. Click the Visit Subscriber List button. 
• You will be taken to a page that displays all subscribers -- both non-digested and digested.
• Digested subscribers receive list messages in a volume containing multiple messages at once, called a digest. 
• Cut and past the subscribers. 

Note: Subscribers that are in ​italics are set to not receive list mail -- "no mail."