Part 3: Announcement list settings

If you requested an announcement list, your list will already have the basic settings appropriate for that kind of list.

If you're satisfied with your list's settings, you can skip this section and start testing your list. Alternatively, you may want to fine-tune your list to use more of the special features that are available.

This section of Getting Started covers only the basic settings that you may want to change.

How to adjust settings

On the List Admin Menu, click on the first button, List Info. This will give you access to the numerous list settings that may be modified. See below for a description of the basic features and how you can adjust them.

Headers and Footers:

You may add additional information in the headers and footers, but you must keep the unsubscribe information that is already in the footers.

If you do add to the headers and footers, make sure the information is the same for both regular and digest messages. (See "Email Headers" below for more.)

If you are sending email in HTML or multi-part alternative format, you should delete the information in the headers and footers and put it in the body of the message. Learn more about sending HTML email.

Security for Subscribers:

• Security: This setting determines how (or if) people can subscribe to your announcement list. Most announcement lists want as many people to subscribe who'd like to, so security is set to open. If you'd like to limit how people subscribe to your list, select one of the other options.

• Visitors: If you'd like people who are not recipients of your list to see it, change the visitor setting to yes. Otherwise, leave it the way it is.

Documents:

A "confirm" document is the message that a person must reply to in order to opt-in and become a member of your list. After they reply, they will receive the "hello" document. Learn how to create and edit these documents. After creating your own "hello" and "confirm" documents, select them here.

Email Headers:

• List Subject: If you'd like the name of your list added to the subject line of the email messages your list members receive, select "Yes" here.

• From: The default, this field is left blank and the email address of the message's author is automatically inserted. If you'd like the message to look like it comes from somewhere else, enter that email address here. Note: there must be a legitimate email address in this field. Otherwise, many sites will not accept your mail because it looks like spam.

• Reply To: The default setting is blank, and the email address of the list is automatically inserted.

  Because announcement lists are set to only allow admins to post messages, any messages sent by non-administrators will be returned to the sender with an error. Therefore, a valid email address must be entered in this field.

  If most people replying to your list are trying to unsubscribe, you might want to put the mail merge tag %%email.unsub%% in both the From: and Reply To: fields. This tag merges in each member's unique unsubscribe email address, so if a member replys to your announcement, he or she will be unsubscribed automatically. This configuration will satisfy list members' typical reply objectives, and also make your list administration easier.

  If you prefer not to use this unsubscribe process, we suggest the following alternatives:

  1. Insert the word author in the From: and Reply To: fields. All list member replies will then be sent to the message's author.
  2. Create an email address specifically for dealing with email replies to your list.
  3. Create an auto-responder with unsubscribe and contact information.

  Learn more about headers.

• To: By default, this field is not filled in, and Lyris ListManager sets the To: header to be: List Description <list-email-address> as in Jazz Announcement List <jazz@comet.sparklist.com>.

  If you want to have the To: header be the email address of each recipient, you can use the Lyris ListManager mail merge feature to accomplish this. In the To: field, enter %%nameemail%%.

  All the other settings on your list are preset for a basic announcement list.

What's next?

• Part 4: Discussion list settings
• Part 5: Testing your list
• Getting Started main page