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How to Moderate a Mailman List

Moderate submissions by all list members
Moderate submissions by selected senders
Tend to pending moderation requests
Automatic deletion of messages pending review

Moderate All Messages to List

To moderate a Mailman mailing list so that you or someone else reviews each message received for list members before the message is distributed to the ids on the list:

1. Access the list administration web site for your list by going to the web site whose address is similar to:
   
   http://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/admin/list_name
   
   In the above, replace list_name with the name of your list.
   
   
2. The first page you see will require you to enter your list password. Type the password for your list into the box following the words: List Administrator Password: and click on the Let me In button.
   
   
3. Select Privacy Options, then select Sender filters.
   
   
4. Select Yes for By default, should new list member postings be moderated? Click the Submit Your Changes button to cause this setting to be stored.
   
   This option needs to be set before ids are added to a list and will apply to all new subscriptions to a list following its setting.
   
   
5. From Initial Options, select What to do with non-listmember email, and set it to hold. Click the Submit your changes button to save these settings.

Moderation for all list members can also be set at any time via the list administration page using Membership Management -> Membership List -> Additional Member Tasks. Remember to use the Submit Your Changes button to cause this setting to be stored.

Lastly, if you moderate your list, the list moderator can control who is allowed to unsubscribe from the list. This option can be set by selecting from the list administration page:

• Privacy options
• Subscription rules
• Select setting for Is the list moderator's approval required for unsubscription requests?*
• Remember to use the Submit Your Changes button to cause this setting to be stored.

*We strongly recommend that this option be set to No to allow list members the option to unsubscribe from your list when they no longer need messages from it.

Selective Moderation Options

You, as list owner, can selectively choose who, among the list members, can send messages directly to all list members and who cannot. These choices are made via the list administration page by selecting Membership Management -> Membership List. In addition, you can enable addresses of people who are not members of your list to send messages to it by choosing Privacy Options -> Sender Filters -> List of non-member addresses whose postings should be automatically accepted. Remember to use the Submit Your Changes button to cause these settings to be stored.

In addition, you, as list owner, can allow others to act as list moderators. The electronic mail ids of these people can be set by selecting from the list administration page:

• General options
• The list moderator email addresses. Multiple moderator addresses may be entered here, each on a separate line.
• Remember to use the Submit Your Changes button to cause these ids to be stored.

Tend to Pending Moderator Requests

When a message is awaiting approval by the list owner or moderator, the owner or moderator will receive email indicating message(s) awaiting approval. To process the messages pending moderator approval:

1. Access the list administration web site for your list by going to the web site whose address is similar to:
   
   http://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/admin/list_name
   
   In the above, replace list_name with the name of your list.
   
   
2. The first page you see will require you to enter your list password. Type the password for your list into the box following the words: List Administrator Password: and click on the Let me In button.
   
   
3. Under Other Administrative Activities, select Tend to pending moderator requests.
   
   

4. Select how you want to process each message. If you would like to discard all messages marked defer, click the box to the left of Discard all messages marked Defer. Note: There is no way to retrieve a pending message after it has been deleted, so use this option carefully.
   
   

5. Click the Submit All Data button to invoke your selections.

Automatic Deletion of Messages Pending Review

The configuration of some Mailman mailing lists will cause some messages to those lists to be held for review by the list administrator/list moderator. The administrator/list moderator is notified of these pending messages at least once a day. One of the duties of a list administrator is to review such pending messages and decide their disposition (reject, discard, accept) in a timely manner.

Mailman can be configured to automatically purge messages pending approval after a specific number of days. To set the number of days Mailman will hold your messages:

1. Access the list administration web site for your list by going to the web site whose address is similar to:
   
   http://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/admin/list_name
   
   In the above, replace list_name with the name of your list.
   
   
2. The first page you see will require you to enter your list password. Type the password for your list into the box following the words: List Administrator Password: and click on the Let me In button.
   
   
3. Under General Options, scroll down to Discard held messages older than this number of days.
   
   
4. Enter the number of days Mailman is to hold messages pending approval (enter 0 for no automatic discarding of messages). If set to 0 messages will be held for approval until 21 days have passed.
   
   
5. Click the Submit All Data button to invoke your selections.

Messages that are pending moderation for 21 days will be deleted automatically from the list of held messages. This purge of older messages prevents the list pending message queues from becoming so large they affect system performance.

Allowing these messages to accumulate on the mailing list server negatively affects the performance for all lists on the server. To prevent neglected lists from causing problems for the list system as a whole, messages that have been held pending review for 21 or more days will be deleted.

If you, as a list administrator/list moderator, are going to be unable to attend to your list for more than 3 weeks, please arrange to have a list co-administrator or a list moderator process these messages during your absence.