University Computer Help Desk

Listserv Purpose

A listserv is an automated email service and is most commonly used for announcements and discussions. A listserv can be thought of as a mailing list or distribution list.

Listservs are used at Illinois State University to transmit announcements and to communicate about classes, business, technology, and many other issues. Instructors, managers, and organization leaders use listservs to communicate with their students, employees, and members.

Before you request a listserv, you should have a good idea about how you plan to use it. This will help you make appropriate choices as you complete the listserv request process.

• 1105: Overview of listservs

Listserv Request

To request an email listserv, do the following:

1. Go to http://listserv.ilstu.edu/.
2. Click Listserv Request.
3. The Listserv Request form allows you to customize your listserv request to fit your needs.

Skip the first three options

Each of the listserv options is described in detail below. It is recommended that you go through each option, one-by-one, until you have completed the form. After submitting the form, your listserv request is sent to the system administrators who will create your listserv using the options you've specified.

• Discussion List
• Department Mailing List
• Departmental Feedback

These instructions ignore the first three options (shown above), which are listserv templates. Instead, these instructions describe how to customize the listserv to fit your needs.

Email addresses, listserv name and description

Proceed by following the directions below.

1. Enter your email address in the box labeled, Enter YOUR e-mail address.
2. Enter your email address in the box labeled, Enter the e-mail address of the person to be informed when the list is created.
   • Unless you are requesting this listserv for someone else, you should put your own ilstu.edu email address in this box.
3. Enter a name for your listserv in the box labeled, Enter the list name.
   • You should choose a name that reflects the nature of the listserv. For example, if the listserv will be used for the Biology 101 class you teach, you might call it BIOLOGY101.
   • Your listserv name will automatically have -L added to the end of its name. For example, the full email address for this listserv example above would be BIOLOGY101-L@ilstu.edu.
4. Enter your email address in the box that says, Enter the e-mail address of the list owner.
   • Unless you are requesting the listserv for someone else, you will be the listserv owner. You will use your email address to log in to the Listserv Management website, and any listserv errors or problems will be sent to your ilstu.edu email address. As the owner, you can make changes to your listserv and you can add/remove subscribers.
5. Enter a short description of your listserv in the box that says, Enter a one line description.
   • If your listserv is public, others will see your short description if they search through the available listservs. Your short description should reflect the nature of your listserv. Continuing the example from above, you might enter "Biology 101 announcements."
6. Enter a longer description in the box that says, Enter a long description.
   • If you want to include more detail about your listserv, write a long description here. Otherwise, you may include the same text as the short description.

Choose Listserv Options

Select the listserv options you want as indicated below.

1. Auto-Delete – Are subscribers automatically deleted if the listserv cannot reach their email address after four days?
   • Yes – If you select Yes, invalid email addresses will automatically be removed for you.
   • No – If you select No, you will be responsible for removing invalid email addresses. If you want to have more control over your listserv and want to make sure all intended subscribers are receiving listserv emails, we recommend choosing No so that subscribers are not removed from your listserv without your knowledge.
2. Confidential – Will this list be hidden from everyone (unless you know it's name)?
   • Yes – If you select Yes, people can find your listserv through http://listserv.ilstu.edu/lists/. This is helpful when you are managing a public list and want to allow people to join your listserv on their own.
   • No – If you select No, your listserv will be hidden. You must either add new members yourself, or prospective members must know the name of the listserv to join it.
3. Daily-Threshold – Maximum number of messages allowed per day.
   • Total – By default, this option is set to 100. This means that no more than 100 emails can be sent to the listserv on any given day. It is recommended that you leave this option as is.
   • Sender – If you want to further restrict activity for your listserv, make this number smaller. You can also limit the number of emails each member can send to the listserv by entering a number in the Sender box.
4. Default-Options – Default list options.
   • repro – Do people get their own postings? Put a check mark next to this option so when a subscriber sends an email to the listserv, he or she receives the message too. We recommend having this option selected because otherwise the sender may not be sure whether or not his or her message was sent successfully.
   • ack – Will a short ackonwledgement be sent to each poster? Put a check mark next to this option if you want each person who sends an email to the listserv to receive a short acknowledgement indicating the message was received by the listserv. 
   • digest – Will users get a digest (instead of normal postings)? Put a check mark next to this option if you want members to periodically receive a digest email, (i.e. a composite of all recent activity on the listserv) rather than receiving individual emails sent to the listserv.
5. Digest – Does this listserv support digests? If so, what frequency are they done?
   • Yes/No – If you put a check mark next to digest in step 4 (above), you should select Yes here. Otherwise, select No.
   • Daily/Weekly/Monthly – If you selected Yes, then you should also select the frequency with which you want digest emails delivered to your members. For example, if you want your members to receive a digest of listserv emails each day, then you would select Daily.
6. Editor – Email address of the person who will be the editor of the list (optional)?
   • This option is used primarily on moderated listservs. If you plan to set up your listserv for moderation, you might want to specify someone as an editor (including yourself). Editors are allowed to post directly to a moderated listserv without needing a moderator to approve their messages. Most listservs do not need an editor.
7. Errors-To – Who do list error messages get sent to?
   • Owners – By default, listserv owners receive these listserv errors.
   • Other (below) – If you would rather have listserv errors sent to a different email address, select Other (below): and enter the email address in the box.
8. Moderator – Email address of the person who will moderate the list (optional)?
   • If you want to set up a moderated listserv, you should specify the email address of the moderator in this box. When a subscriber pots to a moderated listserv, his or her email is first sent to a moderator for approval. Once the moderator approves the message, it will be delivered to the listserv's subscribers. Most listservs are not moderated.
9. Notify – Does the list owner receive notifications of new subscriptions and deletions, etc.?
   • Yes – If you select Yes, you will receive an email each time a subscriber is added or removed from your listserv. Select this option if you allow people to join and leave your listserv on their own and if you care about knowing when those events occur.
   • No – If you select No, you will not be notified when a subscriber is added or removed. Select this option if you control membership to your listserv or if you do not care about knowing when people are added or removed from your listserv.
   • Other (below) – If you want notifications about membership changes to be sent to another email address instead, select Other and type the appropriate email address in the box.
10. Reply-To – What to put in the Reply-To: field.
    • List – If you select List, replies are sent back to the listserv. We recommend selecting this option if you have a discussion listserv. Members of your listserv will see everyone's responses, which is good for facilitating discussion.
    • Sender – If you select Sender, replies are sent to the sender of the original email (not the listserv). We recommend this option if you have an announcement listserv. Replies will go back to the person who sent the announcement (which is probably you).
    • Both – If you select Both, replies are sent to both the listserv and the original sender. Usually, there is no need to select this option and can sometimes result in people receiving duplicate emails.
    • Other – If you select Other, replies are sent to an address you specify. Usually, there is no need to select this option. If you have a special email address set up for responses, you may want to use this option.
    • Respect/Ignore – If you selected List, you should choose Respect. If you selected Sender, Both, or Other, you should choose Ignore.
11. Review – Who is allowed to see the list configuration and subscribers?
    • Private – Only subscribers can see the listserv and its members. Choose this option if you want to hide your listserv, and you want to manage adding and removing subscribers on your own.
    • Public – Anyone can see the listserv and its members. Choose this option if you want to allow people to join your listserv on their own without needing to go through you.
    • Editor – Only the editor can see the listserv and its members.
    • Owner – Only the owner can see the listserv and its members.
    • Other – Only the email addresses you specify can see the listserv and its members. Separate multiple email addresses with commas.
12. Send – Who is allowed to post messages to the list?
    • Private – Only subscribers can post to your listserv. If you have a discussion listserv, you should choose this option. That way, members of your listserv will be able to send and receive listserv emails, but non-members cannot.
    • Public – Anyone can post to your listerv. If your listserv is open to the public and you want anyone (even non-members) to be able to send email to your listserv, select this option.
    • Editor – Only the editor can post to your listserv. If you have an editor for your listserv and want only that person to be able to send email to your listserv, select this option. You may want to choose this option if this is an announcement listserv and you have chosen an editor.
    • Owner – Only the owner can post to your listserv. If you want to be the only one who can send email to the listserv, choose this option. You may want to choose this option for an announcement listserv because it means only you can send announcements. Members will receive your emails with this option selected, but they cannot reply to the listserv (though they may be able to reply directly to you if you've selected that as the Reply-To option above).
    • Other – One or more email addresses you specify can post to your listserv. If you want to give a few people the ability to send announcements, select this option and type their email addresses in the box. Separate multiple email addresses with commas. You may want to choose this option for an announcement listserv because it means only the people you specify can send announcements. Members will receive announcement emails with this option selected, but they cannot reply to the listserv (though they may be able to reply directly to the sender or to you, depending on how you configured the  Reply-To option above).
    • Semi-Moderated/Hold/Confirm – Unless you chose to have a moderator for your listserv, you should ignore this option.
13. Sender – What will be placed in the Sender: emial field?
    • List – The listserv email address appears in the From: line as the sender. We recommend this option because it will be obvious to recipients that the message was sent through the listserv.
    • None – No email address appears in the From: line. The sender appears to be unknown.
      Unless you have a good reason for choosing this option, you should disregard it.
    • Other – An email address you specify appears in the From: line as the sender. You may want to choose this option if you want it to look like the message was sent from another address. For example, if this is an announcement listserv, you may want the announcement to look like it was sent from your email address.
14. Sizelim – The maximum characters allowed in a posting.
    • If you want to impose a limit on the maximum number of characters allowed in emails sent to the listserv, type a number in this box. We recommend that you leave this box blank, which means there is no size limit.
15. Subscription – How are subscriptions handled?
    • By Owner – As the listserv owner, you must approve each person who requests membership to your listserv. You may want to choose this option if you are not strictly controlling membership to your listserv, but still want a say in who can and cannot join.
    • Closed – You must manually add anyone who you want to be a member of your listserv. You may want to choose this option if you want strict control over who can and cannot join your listserv.
    • Open – Anyone may join your listserv; no special permission is required. 
    • Confirm – If you select this option, the listserv will send an automated email to any individual who requests membership. The user must reply to the email or click a confirmation link before membership is granted. This option is used to make sure the prospective member's email address is valid.
16. Validate – Are list commands sent in by owner(s) validated?
    • Yes/No/All – It is recommended that you select No. This way, commands will be executed without any validation.

Completing your listserv request

When you are ready to submit your request, select Yes, I've read the policy and agree to it. Then click Send.

Your listserv request will be sent to the system administrators. The system administrators will create your listserv using the options you specified. Once it has been created, you will receive an email with further instructions. At that point, you may add members to your listserv.