Listserv Management Tutorial

How to request for a New Listserv list
Please visit the Listserv Information page and select a link from the "Create" section. Then fill out the web form and submit it to ITS. Lists are usually created in one business day.

How to Send to a List
To send a message to a list, compose an email and address it to [LISTNAME]@med.cornell.edu, where [LISTNAME] is replaced by the name of the list, e.g., "support@med.cornell.edu", "teach@med.cornell.edu".

How to Release a List that is Being Held
I am a list owner and I received the following message from Listserv:
Daily message threshold (50) exceeded for list TEST. The list has been held and will stop processing messages until a "FREE TEST" command is received from you. You can change the daily message threshold by adding a "Daily-Threshold= nnn" keyword to the list header.

The "daily threshold" limits the number of postings that may be processed by the list in a calendar day (midnight to midnight, server time). The default is Daily-Threshold= 50. When the value of this parameter is reached, the list is automatically placed on hold, and the list owner or LISTSERV maintainer must issue the FREE listname command.

You can use this link to send the Free list command (you must be an owner of the list). You can raise the threshold of your list by following these steps:

  1. Log into the Listserv web application
  2. Click on the "List Management" menu
  3. Select "List Configuration --> Alphabetic Keyword List"
  4. Find the keyword "Daily-threshold" and click its link
  5. Type a number (higher than 50) in the box next to "Daily-threshold="
  6. Click the "Submit" button

How to Create Auto-reply for Messages Sent to the List
Auto-replies to successful posts must be turned on for most lists. Once the auto-reply is turned on, the message can be customized as you like. Follow these steps to turn on the auto-reply:

  1. Log into the Listserv web application
  2. Click on the "List Management" menu
  3. Select "List Configuration --> Alphabetic Keyword Listing"
  4. Find the keyword "Ack" and click its link
  5. Select "Yes" from the drop-down list labelled "Ack="
  6. Click the "Submit" button

Follow these steps to customize the auto-reply message:

  1. Log into the Listserv web application
  2. Click on the "List Management" menu
  3. Select "Customization --> Mail Templates"
  4. Select your list from the drop-down list labelled "Select List"
  5. Select "Posting Responses" from the drop-down list labelled "Select Template Category"
  6. Select the template titled "MSG_POSTING_SUCCESS_ACK" (it's near the bottom of the list) from the drop-down list labelled "Select Template"
  7. Click the "Edit Template" button
    8. Edit the "Contents" section as desired
  8. Click the "Update" button

How to Delete my List
If you'd like to have a list that is no longer used deleted from Listserv, please email ITS Service Desk to make the request.

How to stop SPAM and/or Viruses from being sent to my list
Messages posted to Listserv are scanned by the PMX Antispam software. Unfortunately, spammers are clever and deceptive and some unwanted messages pass through.

There are some additional things you can do as a list owner, to make sure your list isn't transmitting spam, viruses or malware to your subscribers.

If your list is Send= Public, change it!

Lists configured in this manner will allow any posting from any. If you wish to maintain a list to which both subscribers and non-subscribers can post, the suggested settings are Send= Public, Confirm. This setting will allow postings from any address, but will require the poster to confirm (via email or web link) that they intended to post a message. This setting prevents spam because most spam is sent out in an automated way and there is not a real person there to make the confirmation.
It is also possible to only require non-subscribers to make this confirmation. People subscribed to the list can post without confirmation.

The next most effective preventive measure is to use the "Attachments" key word in your list configuration. This feature will cause to Listserv disallow or filter email attachments.

A related keyword, "Language, isn't really to guard against viruses, just annoyance. When set to "Language=NOHTML", this setting affects messages posted with both plain text and HTML versions of the text: it causes the HTML copy of the message to be stripped off.

Back to top