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This article is training material that support the Listserv Course 3040 Video Training. Can be printed and used for notes while watching the videos.
LISTSERV® Training
May 2018
by Liam Kelly
(Member of the L-Soft Training & Consulting Group)
© 2009 L-Soft international, Inc. – 1 –
Course Schedule
Tuesday, June 5
3040 LISTSERV List Owner I (Basics)
Wednesday, June 6
3042 LISTSERV List Owner III (Advanced)
Your Instructor
Liam Kelly joined L-Soft as a support engineer in 1998. He received his MS from the department of Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech in 2004, and now lives and works part time from Blacksburg, VA as L-Soft’s Senior Consulting Analyst.
Tools We Will Be Using Together
Your regular e-mail address:
*@ucf.edu
Our group training list: ucf@training.lsoft.com http://training.lsoft.com/archives/ucf.html
Tools You Will Need / Want Later
All L-Soft Documentation:
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/
List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV
Site Manager’s Operations Manual for LISTSERV
Tools You Will Need / Want Later
Public Lists
LSTOWN-L: List Owners give-and-take forum lstown-l@peach.ease.lsoft.com http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/lstown-l.html
LSTSRV-L: LISTSERV Site Admins give-and-take forum lstsrv-l@peach.ease.lsoft.com http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/lstsrv-l.html
About L-Soft
Premier provider of solutions used worldwide for: E-mail list management (LISTSERV®)
E-mail management / assessment solutions (LISTSERV®-Maestro)
Best known for LISTSERV®, the standard for e-mail list management since 1986
About LISTSERV®
LISTSERV® e-mail list management software facilitates and simplifies
creation management use
of e-mail lists on private Intranets and/or the Internet.
More About LISTSERV®
Electronic mailing list management software developed in 1986 by Eric Thomas, Founder and CEO of L-Soft international
LISTSERV® was registered as a trademark in 1996.
LISTSERV® History and Mission
Developed in the mid-1980s:
IBM mainframe systems (VM) BITNET network connectivity
Tool to facilitate and expedite communication Design considerations / objectives:
As quick and easy to learn and use as e-mail
Designed for Self-Service by users
Practically non-existent demands on hardware and human resources (CPU cycles, sysadmin time/effort)
Success of VM freeware release led to market demand for ports to other hardware / operating system platforms
© 2009 L-Soft international, Inc. – 10 –
L-Soft Product Line
LISTSERV® Maestro
Creation and Management of Mailing Jobs Assessment of Mailing Effectiveness (tracking)
LISTSERV®
Premier Mail List Manager Electronic Mail-Merge
Course 3040 LISTSERV® List Owner I (Basics)
Rev. 2018-05-29
by L-Soft Training & Consulting Group
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 1 –
What We Will Cover in this Course
Seeing your list from your user’s perspective
Joining / leaving, posting, contacting owners, seeking assistance
Managing your list’s character and behavior
Configuring LISTSERV lists for various uses 
Managing your list’s recipients / subscribers Configuring recipient / subscriber list settings
Error Bounce Management
Diagnosing and solving problems
Getting Started: General Terminology
Content: information intended for dissemination or exchange
List: a collection of e-mail addresses assembled for the purpose of delivering common content (identical or customized)
Recipients (a/k/a subscribers): holders of the e-mail addresses to which content is delivered
Server (a/k/a list server): machine & software that maintains the list of recipients and processes the content for delivery
Getting Started: List Server Hierarchy
Getting Started: List Server Hierarchy
List server administrator(s): responsible for managing the server and its operations, and implementing server-wide institutional policies, and assisting List Owners
List owner(s): responsible for managing a list’s technical behavior, and its recipients / subscribers
List editor(s) / moderator(s): responsible for managing a list’s content
List subscribers: recipients of list content
List non-subscribers: possible non-recipients of list content
LISTSERV Through E-mail
LISTSERV originally written as e-mail based application All commands were transmitted/returned by e-mail LISTSERV e-mail distribution:
Recipient Addresses + Message Content Packaging via Bulk SMTP (BSMTP)
LISTSERV through the Web
Web interface is an optional, but very popular, feature A few pages are static, but nearly all are dynamically constructed on-the-fly by invoking a single executable
script (WA.EXE) with a variety of arguments / parameters
Dynamic web pages are constructed based on the user’s authentication and level of authorization (non-subscriber through site administrator)
Getting Started: Addresses
List address (a/k/a posting address): for sending (a/k/a “posting”) message content intended for distribution to list recipients / subscribers listname@host.domain
Example: ucf@training.lsoft.com
Command address (a/k/a server address): for commands intended for processing by the server
listserv@host.domain
Example: LISTSERV@training.lsoft.com
Seeing Your List From Your User’s Perspective
Who are your users? Content recipients Content providers
Joining / leaving a list
SUBscribe [Confirmation] / UNSUBscribe (SIGNOFF)
Posting content to a list Contacting a list owner
Seeking assistance: useful resources for list users & owners
Exercise One:
Seeing your list from your user’s perspective
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 10 –
Join a List (e-mail)
Send e-mail to server address: LISTSERV@training.lsoft.com Containing message text: SUBscribe ucf first_name last_name
*or*
Send e-mail to:
ucf-SUBSCRIBE-REQUEST@training.lsoft.com
Join a List (www)
http://training.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-training.exe?SUBED1=ucf&A=1
Post Content to a List (e-mail)
Send e-mail to list-address from an authorized (subscribed) e-mail address:
Contacting a List Owner (e-mail)
Send e-mail to special address alias:
Leave a List (e-mail)
Send e-mail to server address: LISTSERV@training.lsoft.com Containing message text: UNSUBscribe ucf
*or*
Send e-mail to:
ucf-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@training.lsoft.com
Seeking Assistance:
useful references for list users
LISTSERV server home page
http://training.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-training.exe
List home page
http://training.lsoft.com/archives/ucf.html
List Subscribers Manual
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 16 –
Seeking Assistance:
useful references for list owners
LISTSERV server home page http://training.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-training.exe
List Management home page http://training.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-training.exe?OWNER
List Owner’s Manual
http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 17 –
Managing Your List’s Character & Behavior
Configuring LISTSERV lists for various uses
Major uses of lists Discussion
One-Way, Announcements
Other
List character and behavior as a function of configuration Configuration keyword groups
Discussion Lists
Direct exchange of information and interaction among list users
Unmoderated
Moderated
Most common uses:
Subject-based interest groups
Inter- or intra-organizational workgroups
One-Way, Announcement lists
Pure, unidirectional dissemination, rather than exchange or discussion, of information
Most common uses:
News
Newsletters (general free or fee-based, external and internal organizational, etc.)
Announcements (organizational, product, etc.)
Marketing and sales promotions
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 20 –
List Character and Behavior as a Function of Configuration
Both should reflect your mission
Both should be clear to your recipients Character
Recipients: who are they, how did they get there? Content providers: who are they, how authoritative? Content value: short or long-term, preservation-worthy?
Behavior
Content delivery: modes, security, etc. Content organization: format, categorization / compartmentalization, etc.
Error handling
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 21 –
Configuration Keyword Groups
LISTSERV list configuration is keyword-based Keywords are grouped by function:
Access control: who can see, use, send, etc. Distribution: mechanics of delivery
Error handling: dealing with vagaries of e-mail
List maintenance and moderation: who controls list content and operation, & how
Security: protections for list content & operation Subscription: list population and settings
Other: additional features & functionality
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 22 –
Exercise Two:
List Configurations
Let’s take a look …
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 23 –
What We’ve Covered So Far …
Introduction to L-Soft and LISTSERV
Overview of basic e-mail list terminology
User perspective on interacting with e-mail lists through e-mail and web [Exercise One]
Character and behavior of e-mail lists Various uses of e-mail lists
Managing list character and behavior
Introduction to list configuration keyword groups and review of list configurations [Exercise Two]
… and What Comes Next
Managing your list via web and e-mail Managing your list’s configuration Managing your list’s recipients / subscribers
Configuring recipient / subscriber list settings Diagnosing and solving problems
Review of List Owner I (Basics)
Managing Your List through the Web & E-mail
Editing a list configuration
ADDing / DELeting subscribers (individually; in bulk)
REViewing a listing of subscribers
Changing subscriber settings
Exercise Three:
Managing your list through the web
Access
http://training.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-training.exe?OWNER
Exercise Four: Managing your own list
Your list: ucf@training.lsoft.com
Review the configuration of your list Add yourself to your list
Add others to your list Submit a posting to your list
Did you receive a copy of your posting?
Did your subscribers receive your posting? Set your own subscription options
SET REPRO
Send another posting to your list 
What changed?
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 28 –
Exercise Five:
Editing your own list configuration
Change your List header information Send= Editor, Hold, Confirm Editor= your_email_address
Send another message to your list
What’s different this time?
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 29 –
Exercise Six:
Editing your own list templates
Modify the BOTTOM_BANNER and BOTTOM_BANNER_HTML templates
Post to your list
What happened?
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 30 –
Error Bounce Management
Why bounce management is important Bounce management for standard lists
Bounce management for DISTRIBUTE jobs and non- list mailings
Email: Return-Path Address
SMTP Envelope (Recipient/Return Addresses)
Message within (To:, From:, Subject:, Date: )
Email: Return-Path Address
Normal List mail Return-Path:
List mail 'Probe' Return-Path:
Return-Path:
<owner-ease-home*user**example*-com@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Error Bounce Management
Return-Path: address
Error message reporting formats (RFC1894) LISTSERV Daily Monitoring Report
Bounce Management for Discussion Lists
Controlled for each list by the List Header setting
Auto-Delete= Yes,Full-Auto,Delay(4),Max(20)
Delay(n)= #days in monitoring period (deletion will occur after n days of errors) OR (whichever happens first)
Max(n)= max number of bounces before deletion
(deletion will occur after n bounces)
Rule: Max(n)= Avg. # msgs/day * Delay(n) days
Bounce Management for One-Way Lists
Controlled for each list by the List Header setting
Auto-Delete= Yes,Full-Auto,Delay(8),Max(3)
Delay(n)= #days in mailing period + 1
Max(n)= max number of bounces before deletion
Rule: The longer Delay(n), the smaller Max(n)
Diagnosing and Solving Problems: List Configuration Solutions
Auto-Delete=
Allows LISTSERV to intercept and handle most error messages it receives when e-mail is rejected
Errors-To=
Can direct error messages to a specific address rather than the owner’s e-mail address
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 37 –
Diagnosing and Solving Problems: Other Issues
List subscriber is not receiving list or server e-mail
List subscriber cannot UNSUBscribe (“get me off!”) (possibly subscribed with a different e-mail address)
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 38 –
What We Have Covered in this Course:
Seeing your list from your user’s perspective
Managing your list’s character and behavior
Managing your list’s recipients / subscribers
Error Bounce Management
Diagnosing and solving problems
© 2018 L-Soft international, Inc. – 40 –
Thank you!
Thank you very much for your
attendance, attention, and participation!
For more information:
Send questions specific to this course offering, to the course list: ucf@training.lsoft.com
Send questions about this and other L-Soft Training opportunities to: training@lsoft.com
Local Site Admins (only) may send general technical support questions to: support@lsoft.com
L-Soft international Inc.
http://www.lsoft.com/
Phone: +1 301 731 0440
Fax: +1 301 731 6302
sales@lsoft.com