Participating in Mailing Lists

LISTSERV was created before the World Wide Web was in general use. Back then, the primary way for most people to communicate with the LISTSERV program was by email, and this method is still available.  LISTSERV also includes a Web Interface to make communication easier and more intuitive. The Web interface is now the preferred way to interact with LISTSERV.

Using the Web Interface

LISTSERV’s Web Interface makes it significantly easier to join or leave a list, change your settings, view your list archives, post messages to your list, and reply to messages from your list. Virtually all list subscriber operations can be accomplished via the web interface.

Logging In

The home page for LISTSERV is at the URL:

• https://listserv.uoguelph.ca/cgi-bin/wa

Log in using your email address (i.e. uid@uoguelph.ca) and central login password.

Using the Toolbar

The Toolbar contains menus and icons that give you quick access to the different functions in the LISTSERV Web Interface.

The Subscriber’s Corner option lets you access the lists that you are subscribed to as well as all public lists on the server. For more information on this feature, see Working with Mailing Lists in the LISTSERV Subscriber's Manual.

The Email Lists option takes you to the main list archives page. For more information on this feature, see Viewing the List Archives in the LISTSERV Subscriber's Manual.

The Preferences option allows you to set personal preferences to control the appearance and default settings of the Web Interface. For more information on this feature, see Setting Your Personal Preferences in the LISTSERV Subscriber's Manual.

The Logout option logs you out of the LISTSERV Web Interface.

Joining a List

To subscribe to one or more lists, click on Subscriber's Corner in the Toolbar. Click the Show All Lists drop-down menu and select Show All Lists. Check the boxes next to the lists that you want to subscribe to, and then click the Invert drop-down menu and select Subscribe. Check the Send email notification of changes option to have a notification email sent with information about the changes. Finally, click the [Submit] button.

Leaving a List

To unsubscribe to one or more lists, click on Subscriber's Corner in the Toolbar. Click the Show All Lists drop-down menu and select Show Subscribed Lists Only. Check the boxes next to the lists that you want to unsubscribe from, and then click the Invert drop-down menu and select UnSubscribe. Check the Send email notification of changes option to have a notification email sent with information about the deletions. Finally, click the [Submit] button.

Posting to a List

After you have subscribed to a list you will eventually want to participate in the discussion, assuming that you have joined a list where subscribers have permission to post (on some lists you are not allowed to post mail back to the other subscribers).

Using the Web Interface to Post a Message

There are two ways to post a message to a list using the Web Interface:

• The archives for a list give you the option to post a message from the List Archive screen, the Archive Index, and the Archive Browsing screen. To access the list archives, click Email Lists on the Toolbar. To compose and send a message to the list from the archives, click the Post New Message option on any of the screens previously mentioned.
• The Subscriber’s Corner screen lets you see the lists that you’re subscribed to or all public lists on the server. To access the Subscriber’s Corner screen, simply click Subscriber’s Corner on the Toolbar. To display the lists that you are subscribed to, click the Show All Lists drop-down menu and select Show Subscribed Lists Only. Next, to compose and send a message to the list, click the Post option next to the list name (this option is located on both tabs).

Using Email to Post a Message

To send mail to the list by using your email client program, simply compose a message and address it to listname@listserv.uoguelph.ca.

Finding Out Who Owns the List

Send a message to listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca  with a message body of:

REVIEW <listname>

replacing <listname> with the name of the list. You'll get a detailed reply with information about the list, including the list owner. If the list is an open list, this command will also result in a list of all subscribers on the list.