Mailing List How-To

Mailing lists are are easily added and configured from the "Email" area of your account control panel. Simply select "Mailing list" and click "Add", configure your customization preferences (see below), and select "Create".

Please allow up to 30 minutes for new mailing lists to become active.

Mailing List Options

Mailing list settings may be changed at any time. Remember to allow up to 30 minutes for your changes to become active.

• Garbage detection - When enabled (default), messages are screened before being accepted to the list. Messages identified as spam, or incorrectly posted, are bounced to the moderator.
   
• Maximum permitted message length - When enabled, users are prevented from sending messages lager than the specified size (20,000 bytes by default). Messages that exceed the specified size are bounced to the moderator.
   
• Subscriber notification - When enabled (default), the list owner is notified by email whenever users subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) the list.
   
• Restrict posting to members - When enabled (default), only list members are able to post to the list. Messages from non-members are bounced to the moderator.
   
• Message subject prefix - If this option is enabled, you may specify a text string to prefix to the message subject for all messages posted to the list.
   
• Moderated list - If this option is enabled, all messages are bounced to the moderator before being added to the list. This option is usually used for announcements, or if you prefer to screen messages before they are posted to the list.
   
• Message headers and footers - If this option is enabled, you may enter header and/or footer text that will be appended to every message. This option is usually used to explain what the list is, and to provide instructions for unsubscribing.
   
• Welcome message for new subscribers - New subscribers receive a standard welcome message by default. If this option is enabled, you may specify your own custom welcome message.

Supported Commands

The mailing list responds to commands included in the body of email messages. For details of all supported commands, send an email to yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the word "help" (without the quotes) in the message body. The message should not contain any other text.

Remember to allow up to 30 minutes for new mailing lists to become active.

Subscribing/Unsubscribing (Users)

For your users to subscribe to/unsubscribe from your mailing list, they should send an email to yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message body. Their message should not contain any other text.

The action of their message depends on your subscribe/unsubscribe policies. If you have an open policy, then users will automatically be added to/removed from the mailing list. If you have a closed policy, then requests will be bounced to the moderator for approval.

Note: It is not recommended that you use the "auto" subscribe policy. This permits users to add third-party email addresses to your list, which could be subject to abuse.

Subscribing/Unsubscribing (Administrators)

Administrators can manually subscribe/unsubscribe users to/from mailing lists. To subscribe a user, email yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the following command in the message body:

approve [administrator-password] subscribe [user's email address]

To unsubscribe a user:

approve [administrator-password] unsubscribe [user's email address]

Note: To subscribe/unsubscribe multiple users at the same time, repeat the command for each user on a separate line.

Obtaining a List of Subscribers

To obtain a list of all your mailing list subscribers, email yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the following command in the message body:

approve [administrator-password] who

Approving Messages (Moderated Lists)

If your mailing list is moderated, all messages are bounced to the moderator for approval before being added to the list. Messages requiring approval have the word "BOUNCE" prefixed to the message subject.

To approve a bounced message, forward the message to yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the following command at the beginning of the message:

Approved: [moderator-password]

You must include the original message and header after the approved command as follows:

Approved: [moderator-password]
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 12:13:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Peter Jones  <peter.jones@anisp.com>
Subject: Original message subject
 
[Original message]

Note: If you have configured your email client to append ">" characters to your forwards, the mailing list system may have trouble recognizing the original message. To avoid having to manually remove these characters from your approval forwards, it is not recommended that moderators enable this option.

Pre-approving Messages (Moderated Lists)

If your mailing list is moderated, all messages are normally bounced to the moderator for approval before being added to the list. Moderators can side-step this process by sending pre-approved messages.

To send a pre-approved message, send the message to yourlist-request@yourname.com (replacing "yourlist" and "yourname" with your list name and domain name) with the following command at the beginning of the message:

Approved: [moderator-password]
From: Your Name <you@yourname.com>
Subject: Message subject
 
[Your message]

Note: You must include the "From" and "Subject" lines as above for your message to be successfully approved.

Sending Multiple Commands

You may include multiple commands in a single message. Each command should be on a separate line.

Importing Existing Mailing Lists

To move an existing mailing list to FastVirtual from another provider, please see the above instructions for manually subscribing multiple users. Alternatively, if you upload a text file containing your existing subscribers, then contact FastVirtual Support with the location of the file and the name of your mailing list, we can complete this process for you.

Billing Information

Mailing lists are billed monthly, irrespective of the selected account billing period, and are based on blocks of 50,000 messages. Each message block is billed at $5.00 per month, whether entirely or partly used. Usage counters are reset at the beginning of each month.

Message blocks can be used across multiple mailing lists, so if you run several mailing lists, and your total monthly message count does not exceed 50,000 messages, you would only be billed for a single message block.

Need More Information?

If you wish to use advanced mailing list features, it is recommended that you read the official Majordomo FAQ.