List Moderator Role

What to expect as moderator...

As a list moderator, you will receive emails letting you know when an email or sign-up request is pending your review.

When you receive such an email, you will need to follow the link to the moderator's control screen. In order to enter this area, you will be required to enter the moderator's password.

If there are no requests pending when you get to the moderator's control screen, that simply means that another moderator got to the control screen before you did and made a decision about the incident.

Reviewing memberships

In a private email list, the moderator(s) control who is able to become a member of the list. This is usually to ensure appropriate privacy within the group and to prevent spammers from coming in unannounced.

If membership in your list is open to all (public), then you will not need to review subscription requests.

When a subscription request needs to be reviewed, the moderator will receive an email with a subject like this "New subscription request to list mailing-list from email@aol.com".

To approve/deny the membership, follow the web link at the bottom of the note.

You need a password to prove that you are a moderator.

Once inside the moderator area, you'll see any memberships that are currently pending. If there's nothing there, then one of the other moderators has already attended to the incident.

If there's a membership still pending, you have several options:

defer: This means do nothing. The membership will stay pending
approve: This means the membership will be approved and will become active immediately.
reject: This means the sender will get a note saying the membership was rejected. In this case, you are able to enter a brief (optional) reason why the membership was refused. This reason will be included in the rejection note.
discard: This means the sender will get no communication, but the membership will nonetheless be refused (best for spam, for instance)

----- Sample Moderator Message -----

Your authorization is required for a mailing list subscription request
approval:

    For: email@aol.com
    List: mailing-list@domainname.com

At your convenience, visit:

    domainname.com/mailman/admindb/mailing-list_domainname.com

to process the request.

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Reviewing emails

Sometimes an email to the list needs to be reviewed. On a moderated list, all emails will need to be reviewed. On a private discussion list, only emails from people who are not members of the list will need to be reviewed (infrequent).

When a moderated email is sent to your list, the moderator will receive an email with a subject like this "mailing-list post from email@aol.com requires approval".

If you look at the attachments, you'll see the original note and can review it to determine if it's appropriate or not.

There is an email way to approve/deny, but it seems a little prone to user to me. The best way to approve/deny is to follow the web link at the bottom of the note.

You need a password to prove that you are a moderator.

Once inside the moderator area, you'll see any notes that are currently pending. If there's nothing there, then one of the other moderators has already attended to the note.

If there's something still pending, you have several options

defer: This means do nothing. The note will stay pending
approve: This means the note will go to the list
reject: This means the sender will get a note saying the note was rejected. You may provide an (optional) reason for why the note was refused. This reason will be included in the rejection notice to the original sender.
discard: This means the sender will get no communication, but the note is thrown away (best for spam, for instance). It is not necessary to provide a reason for refusal.

In addition, you can enter a forward email address. Say the note is intended for an individual and not the entire list (but they hit reply... to the list instead). You might reject the note, but put the email address of the intended recipien in the forward box. That way they get the note and you don't have to take an extra step.

----- Sample Moderator Message -----
From: mailing-list-owner@domain.com
To: mailing-list-owner@domain.com
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 4:02 PM
Subject: mailing-list post from email@aol.com requires approval

As list administrator, your authorization is requested for the
following mailing list posting:

    List:    mailing-list@domain.com
    From:    email@aol.com
    Subject: subject of original note goes here
    Reason: Post to moderated list

At your convenience, visit:

    domain.com/mailman/admindb/mailing-list_domain.com

to approve or deny the request.

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Inviting New Members

To invite a member to join your list, you can send an email to mailing-list-request@domain.com (where mailing-list is the name of your list and domain.com is the website address hosting the list).

In the body of the email, put "subscribe address=email@aol.com" (where email@aol.com is the address you want to invite to the list).

The person at the invited email address will receive an email asking them to confirm their membership. They will only become a member if they confirm their membership.

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Who are your members?

To find out who is currently a member of your list, you can send an email to mailing-list-request@domain.com (where mailing-list is the name of your list and domain.com is the website address hosting the list).

In the body of the email, put "who password" (where password is your moderator's password).

(In some lists, any list member can get the member list -- but they would need to supply the password corresponding to their email addres in the mailing list in question.)

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How To Helps

As moderator, you may get questions from members about how to do something. Here's some quick answers.

Subscribe: Anyone can request membership in a mailing list by sending an email to mailing-list-subscribe@domain.com (where mailing-list is the name of your list and domain.com is the website address hosting the list).

Unsubscribe: Anyone can request membership in a mailing list by sending an email to mailing-list-unsubscribe@domain.com (where mailing-list is the name of your list and domain.com is the website address hosting the list).

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