Short answer: Four settings decide how a mailing list behaves. Name becomes the list’s email address. Moderator is the owner, and must be a user in your domain. Password optionally restricts who can send to it. Allowed Posters is the important one — anyone, subscribers only, or moderators only.
Applies to: Infosaic web hosting email · domain administrators
A mailing list is one address that delivers to many people. Set it up correctly and it is the simplest internal announcement tool there is. Set it up carelessly — specifically, leave posting open to anyone — and it becomes a spam relay with your company name on it.
These are the settings you will be asked for, and what each one actually does.
Name, moderator and password
- Name — the name of the mailing list. The email address for the list is created from it, so choose something you are happy to publish and unlikely to want to change.
- Moderator — the owner of the list. The moderator must be a user in your domain, and retains the right to post whatever the other settings say.
- Password — type a password here to restrict subscribers from sending to the list. To send to a password-protected list, the password goes in the subject line, enclosed by brackets and colons: [:password:] Attention all subscribers. Tick Enabled to switch the protection on.
The password mechanism is unusual and worth reading twice. The password is not entered anywhere in the mail program — it is typed at the start of the subject, and stripped before the message goes out.
Allowed Posters — the setting that matters
Sending an email to the list, and therefore to all its subscribers, is called posting. This setting decides who is allowed to do it.
- Anyone — anybody at all, subscribed or not, can send a message that goes out to every member. This can cause abuse if it is not closely monitored.
- Subscribers Only — only the people on the list can send and receive posts. The moderator can still post.
- Moderators Only — only the moderator can post. Nobody else, not even subscribers, can send to the list.
For announcements — the commonest use — choose moderators only. For an internal discussion list, subscribers only. Choose anyone only if you have a specific reason and somebody watching it.
An open list published on a website will be found. Automated systems harvest addresses continuously, and a list set to “anyone” will forward whatever they send to every one of your subscribers, from your domain. Start restricted and loosen it only if you must.
Setting one up sensibly
- Decide the purpose first — announcements or discussion. It determines every other setting.
- Name it for its function, not for a person or a date.
- Make the moderator a role address where you can, so the list survives a staff change.
- Use digest mode for busy discussion lists, so subscribers get one message a day rather than twenty.
- Add a whitelisted poster if a specific outside address needs to send to a restricted list.
- Test with two addresses before adding several hundred subscribers.
Subscribers can be added one at a time or imported in bulk from a CSV file, which is covered separately.
Questions and answers
What does the mailing list Name setting do?
It names the list, and the list’s email address is created from it.
Who can be the moderator?
The moderator must be a user in your domain. They own the list and can always post to it.
How does the mailing list password work?
You type it in the subject line enclosed by brackets and colons, like [:password:] followed by your subject.
What are the Allowed Posters options?
Anyone, subscribers only, or moderators only.
Which posting setting should I choose?
Moderators only for announcements, subscribers only for internal discussion. Anyone is open to abuse and needs close monitoring.
Can subscribers reply to the whole list?
Only if the list is set to subscribers only or anyone. With moderators only, they cannot post at all.
What is digest mode?
It sends subscribers one combined message rather than each post individually.
How do I add lots of subscribers at once?
Import them from a CSV file containing a column named EmailAddress.
Related articles
- How do I upload my CSV file of subscribers?
- Whitelisted posters on a mailing list
- What your Infosaic mail service can do
- Can I set up email aliases?
- Fighting spam in webmail: trusted senders and filter weights
- How do I contact tech support?
Still stuck?
Open a support ticket from your hosting control panel at controlpanel.infosaic.com — that is the fastest route, because it reaches the team who can already see your account. You can also email [email protected].