Managing Your List

These directions explain how list owners can use Listserv's web interface to add and delete subscribers, and also add or remove list owners. If you need help with these directions, or need to make other changes to a list, contact the Listserv manager, listmaint@brown.edu.

1. Open Your List's Home Page

The first step is to open your list's home page. The URL for your list's web page was included in the mail you received when your list was created. If you have that mail available you can click on the link in the mail. Otherwise, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Listserv archives page at http://listserv.brown.edu/?INDEX.
  2. Near the top of the page is a text entry field labeled Access Unlisted Lists. Enter the name of your list in lowercase and click on Submit.
    Note: Enter just the name of the list. Do not include @listserv.brown.edu after the list name.

2. Login to Listserv

Before managing your list you need to be logged-in to Listserv with your list owner e-mail address. Check the very top of your list's page above the blue Listserv banner. If you are already logged-in, it will say Logged in as: and your email address. If you are already logged-in you can skip to Managing and Reviewing Subscribers or Managing List Owners. Otherwise, follow these steps to login:

  1. Click on Log In next to Options: at the left of the page. You should go to a web page that says Login Required.
  2. Listserv manages passwords separately from other computer services at Brown. To login you must use a password that you obtained from Listserv. If you already have a Listserv password, enter your email address and password, then click on Log In. If login works you will return to your list's page, and you can skip to Managing and Reviewing Subscribers or Managing List Owners.
  3. If you don't have a Listserv password or have forgotten it, click on the blue text get a new LISTSERV password above the text entry fields.
  4. The next page should say Register LISTSERV Password. Enter your list owner e-mail address (your personal address, not the list's address.) Then enter the password you'd like in both password fields, and click on Register Password. You should go to a web page with the title Confirmation Sent.
  5. Check for new mail from Listserv with a subject that starts with Command confirmation request. To confirm your password, open the mail and click on the URL near the top. You should go to a web page that includes the text Your new password was registered successfully.
  6. Now you need to go back to opening your list's home page. However, this time you will be able to login with the password you registered.

3. Managing and Reviewing Subscribers

To manage your list's subscribers, use the List Management tab at the top of your list's home page. If the List Management tab is not present then you need to login to Listserv as described in the previous section. If you did login, but the tab is still not present, try quitting from your browser and starting over. Sometimes that's necessary for new list owners.

With the List Management tab present, click on it and then on Subscriber Management. You should go to the Subscriber Management page, and see two choices near the top, Single Subscriber and Bulk Operations. Also, at the bottom of the page are links for reviewing the list of subscribers on a web page, or receiving the list via email.

As you can see from the web page, the Single Subscriber choice allows you to search for existing subscribers to manage. Below that is a section for adding new subscribers one at a time.

You can also add a list of subscribers from a file on your computer. To do that, follow these steps:

  1. Open a program which will allow you to create a plain text file with no formatting. In Windows, you can create a plain text file using Notepad. In Mac OS X you can use the BBEdit editor in free mode. BBEdit is available from Bare Bones Software TextEdit cannot be used.
  2. Create a file with the list of email addresses you want to add. Put one address on each line. For each address you can also include the person's name. To include a name, put it on the same line following the email address.
  3. Save the file. If you are using a program with a Save As option, choose the option which creates a plain text file.
  4. Click on Bulk Operations on the Subscriber Management web page. You'll see there are different function options. The default, Add, is normally used. Be sure the selected option is correct.
  5. Click on the Browse... button and select the file with the list of subscribers.
  6. Click on Import to perform the upload. Depending on the number of addresses, the import may take a short time to complete. When it completes, Listserv will display a success message at the top of the page, or may list errors which were encountered. If there are errors, you can repeat the upload after correcting them.
  7. After the upload, you may wish to click on the Single Subscriber tab, then use one of the links at the bottom of the page to review the updated list of subscribers.

4. Managing List Owners and Other Roles

As a list owner, you can update the configuration of your list to add, modify, and delete list owners. To do that, click on the List Management tab at the top of your list's home page. Then click on List Configuration, and finally on List Configuration Tasks. That should take you to the List Configuration page. On that page there is a list of owners you can edit, and also a list of quiet owners. Quiet owners have all the privileges of a list owner, but do not receive any mail directed to list owners. There must be at least one non-quiet owner.

The configuration page also has sections for other roles associated with your list, including Configuration-Owner, Editor, and Moderator. Lists at Brown do not normally use the Configuration-Owner role. The people who can send to an announcement list or moderated list are normally entered in the Editor section (not the Moderator section.) Some lists also use the Moderator role to control which editors receive and approve postings sent to the list. If a list is not an announcement or moderated list, entering editors or moderators will have no effect. For most lists there is no need to modify the remaining roles.

5. Other Tasks

For other tasks not listed here, contact the Listserv manager, listmaint@brown.edu.