Commands for List Owners

In the commands below, if a word appears in capitals, you will need to replace it with the appropriate value. For example, wherever you see LIST, you will need to substitute the name of one of CSF's mailing lists. Majordomo commands should be sent to majordomo@csf.colorado.edu. Always put the commands in the body of the message; commands in the Subject: line will be ignored.

Subscriber Commands

Commands that pertain to individual subscribers use the same syntax as the ones the subscribers themselves use. The only difference is that the appropriate e-mail address must be the last part of the command. For example, to unsubscribe the address somebody@example.com from your list, simply use the command

unsubscribe LIST somebody@example.com

A table of commands for subscribers appears on the listproc-majordomo comparison chart.

Passwords

For majordomo to accept commands for a list, you must tell it the correct password for your list. There are two ways to do this. The first is to indicate the password once, as the first command:

default password YOUR_PASSWORD

The other way is to use the approve command as a preface to every command you use. In the example above, this would look like

approve YOUR_PASSWORD unsubscribe LIST somebody@example.com

The first way will often save some typing.

Basic Commands

How do I change the welcome message?
You can only change the final part of the welcome message, the "info" document. There are three steps to changing an existing info document:
- Obtain the current document with the info command:
```
  info-edit LIST
```
  Substitute the name of your mailing list for LIST.
- Edit the text between the "newinfo" line and the ending tag.
- Use the "default password" command to give Majordomo your credentials.
- Send the commands back to majordomo@csf.colorado.edu.
The commands should look something like the following:
```
default password YOURADMINPASSWORD
newinfo LIST <<ACEBDF

The citrus list is a forum for the discussion of
oranges, lemons, limes, and related flora.

Comparisons to non-citrus fruit (e.g., apples) 
are strongly discouraged.  Violators will likely
be given sour grapes by the other list participants.

ACEBDF
```
Majordomo also supports newfaq and newintro commands which you can use to update the Frequently Asked Questions and Introduction documents for your mailing list.
How do I subscribe someone to the mailing list?
The simple answer is to use the following command:
```
approve YOUR_PASSWORD subscribe YOUR_LIST NEW_ADDRESS
```
If your list is named citrus, your password is florida, and you want to subscribe someone@example.com to the list, the command would look like this:
```
approve florida subscribe citrus someone@example.com
```

The Help Command

Many of the most important settings are discussed in detail in the New list configuration document. That document contains basic information about issuing commands. Please read it first. In addition, majordomo has a help file which is available through e-mail for many of these topics. For example, to get the help file for the subject_prefix option, use the command

help configset_subject_prefix

A full list of commands is available using the command

help topics

Some of the help files are difficult to understand. If you have any questions, please tell us right away; it will help us to improve the software.

The following table summarizes a motley collection of commands for list owners, most of which are not described in the other documents.

How do I... Majordomo Command Comments
Moderate some individuals who are not being civil configset LIST access_rules <<TAG
post
consult
@SUBLIST
TAG
subscribe LIST:SUBLIST ADDRESS Create a "sublist" of people who need to be moderated. Use the subscribe command once for each person in the sublist. See below for more details.
Add someone to the list without sending a welcome message subscribe-nowelcome LIST ADDRESS
Remove someone from the list quietly unsubscribe LIST ADDRESS People are not notified when you remove them from the list.
Obtain a list of all of the list's settings configshow LIST Some of the settings, such as delivery_rules, may only be changed by one of the site managers.
Allow only subscribers to post messages to the list configset LIST access_rules <<TAG
post
consult
!@MAIN
TAG
See below for more discussion about access rules.
Limit the size of messages distributed on the list configset LIST maxlength = SIZE SIZE is the number of bytes, 40000 by default. Messages larger than this will be sent to you for approval.
Include e-mail addresses in index digests configset LIST digest_index_format = subject_author Index digests list only the subjects of the messages by default.
Obtain a list of subscribers who LIST Addresses in an auxiliary list may be obtained using who LIST:SUBLIST.
Give people a choice of seeing a Subject: prefix configset LIST subject_prefix = PREFIX Subscribers who do not like prefixes must use the command set LIST noprefix. See the subscriber features document.
Search the subscriber list who LIST PATTERN Use the command help patterns for a discussion of how to write regular expression patterns.

How do I...	Majordomo Command	Comments
Moderate some individuals who are not being civil	configset LIST access_rules <<TAG post consult @SUBLIST TAG subscribe LIST:SUBLIST ADDRESS	Create a "sublist" of people who need to be moderated. Use the subscribe command once for each person in the sublist. See below for more details.
Add someone to the list without sending a welcome message	subscribe-nowelcome LIST ADDRESS
Remove someone from the list quietly	unsubscribe LIST ADDRESS	People are not notified when you remove them from the list.
Obtain a list of all of the list's settings	configshow LIST	Some of the settings, such as delivery_rules, may only be changed by one of the site managers.
Allow only subscribers to post messages to the list	configset LIST access_rules <<TAG post consult !@MAIN TAG	See below for more discussion about access rules.
Limit the size of messages distributed on the list	configset LIST maxlength = SIZE	SIZE is the number of bytes, 40000 by default. Messages larger than this will be sent to you for approval.
Include e-mail addresses in index digests	configset LIST digest_index_format = subject_author	Index digests list only the subjects of the messages by default.
Obtain a list of subscribers	who LIST	Addresses in an auxiliary list may be obtained using who LIST:SUBLIST.
Give people a choice of seeing a Subject: prefix	configset LIST subject_prefix = PREFIX	Subscribers who do not like prefixes must use the command set LIST noprefix. See the subscriber features document.
Search the subscriber list	who LIST PATTERN	Use the command help patterns for a discussion of how to write regular expression patterns.

Access Rules and Auxiliary Lists

Several examples of access rules are given in this and the other majordomo web pages. If it is your desire to use more than one access rule, remember to leave a blank line between rules. Since some access rules may already be defined, the safest way to define new access rules is to obtain the current settings with

configshow LIST access_rules

and then edit and send back the result of the configshow command.

Auxiliary lists are used in access rules to allow you to refer to a group of people conveniently. Subscribing someone to a sublist does not automatically subscribe that person to your mailing list; nor does removing an address from a sublist cause that person to be unsubscribed from the mailing list. To remove someone from a sublist, use the unsubscribe command.

The following example illustrates the flexibility of access rules and sublists. Consider these access rules:

configset LIST access_rules <<EXAGGERATED
post
allow
@heroes

post
deny, reply="Ssh!  Keep your voice down."
@loudmouths

post
confirm
@hoopjumpers

post
consult
@MAIN

post
deny, reply="You need to sign up first."
ALL

unsubscribe
deny, reply="Sorry, I can't let you do that."
@prisoners

subscribe
deny, replyfile=goaway.txt
@villains

access
consult
ALL

EXAGGERATED

There are six sublists used here, of which only MAIN necessarily exists. MAIN refers to all people who are subscribed to your list. It is up to you to decide who belongs in what sublist, and what the sublists are called. I have arbitrarily named the other sublists heroes, villains, prisoners, hoopjumpers, and loudmouths...when someone tries to use the list, majordomo will use the first rule which matches the identity of that someone.

heroes are always allowed to send messages to the mailing list.
loudmouths are only allowed to listen, and always have their posts blocked.
hoopjumpers are sometimes impatient, letting their tempers get the best of them. They are required to confirm that they wanted their messages sent to the list.
anyone else who is subscribed to the list must have their messages approved by one (or more) of the list owners.
anyone not on the list, nor on one of the sublists, will have their messages blocked.
prisoners are required to stay on the list, and cannot unsubscribe themselves.
villains are excluded from the list entirely.
any other action undertaken by anyone must be approved by the list owners.

The use of sublists may seem a bit awkward. When you use the subscribe command to place someone's address into an auxiliary list, you use the plain name of the sublist, like heroes. When you refer to a sublist in an access rule, you must preface it with a '@', for example @heroes, to tell majordomo you mean "everyone in this list of addresses."

Questions?