Greenbelt List FAQ

The various Greenbelt mailing lists are all run by automated software (called Majordomo), which frees us from what would otherwise be a considerable administrative load. The notes on this page are intended to explain how you can effectively manage your own subscription(s), by sending special email messages to Majordomo. However, if you have difficulty, you can contact the list manager at majordomo-owner@lists.greenbelt.org.uk

Joining a list ("subscribe")

When you send your initial request, Majordomo will respond with a message containing a confirmation token: you must follow the instructions in that message, to verify that your email address is working and that it really was you who sent the request. In general, any request to Majordomo requires confirmation before it can succeed, and that confirmation is as simple as hitting reply and sending the one-word message "accept".

You will then receive a message welcoming you to the list, and giving you a password. By quoting this password, it avoids you having to return a confirmation token in the future if you decide to leave or if you change your email address, so it is quite important (though not essential) for you to keep the welcome message.

If you need a reminder of your password later, send the one-line message

password-show

To unsubscribe from the Greenbelt Dispatches mailing list, send a blank message to news-unsubscribe@lists.greenbelt.org.uk (the other mailing lists have similar corresponding "-unsubscribe" addresses).

If you unsubscribing because you have changed your email address, and it is already difficult for you to send an email from the old address, but you are still able to read emails sent to the old address, then you can alternatively send the following one-line message to majordomo@lists.greenbelt.org.uk:

unsubscribe news <your.old.email.address.here>

In either case, you may be sent a confirmation token: if so, follow the instructions that come with it.

If you have already lost all access to the old email address, then (and only then, please) you can send an email to the list manager. Otherwise, though, please do not send "please unsubscribe me" messages to the list or anywhere else unless you have already tried both methods above.

There is actually a third method, which you can use even if you have no access to the old email address at all. This involves quoting the password you were sent when you first subscribed. If you kept that original "welcome" email (you did, didn't you?!), then you can use the password to bypass all confirmation tokens. Details are in the welcome email!

Taking a break

When you go away on holiday, it is quite common, particularly with work addresses, to set up an auto-reply system. If you do this, you must ensure that it is configured not to reply to list messages. The easiest method is for it only to reply to messages which are addressed personally to you. Many auto-reply systems behave this way, but there are a few which do not (including, unfortunately, some of the most common ones).

If you cannot configure your auto-reply appropriately, or if you want to stop receiving Greenbelt emails temporarily for any other reason, send:

set news nomail

set news nomail-return

If you have a space limit on your email account, please also unsubscribe or set "nomail" before going away for any length of time.

For taking a break from one of the other lists, use the list name instead of "news" in each message described above. If you want to take a break from all Greenbelt lists at once, use the word "ALL" (in capital letters) instead of an individual list name.

Changing your Email address

With so many cheap and free Internet providers, it's becoming quite common to change your email address from time to time. Also, companies will sometimes modify the exact form of staff email addresses. If your email address changes, even slightly, please remember to update your subscription.

The easiest way, which keeps all your Greenbelt subscriptions and options intact, is to send:

changeaddr my.old.address@old.isp.com

You can achieve a similar effect by unsubscribing from each list and then and re-subscribing with your new address, but if you are subscribed to several lists this will be much more work. It also means all of your options (such as subject line tagging) will be lost.

Problems?

• If you don't get a reply almost immediately to your request, or when you send in a confirmation token, then it may be that your email program has messed up the subject line or the reply address. In particular, addresses with the word "owner" in them are always wrong (they are intended for contacting the list manager, or for detecting bounced messages), but some email programs tend to choose these incorrectly when you hit reply. See also the next point.

• If you believe you have successfully subscribed, but you don't then receive any messages when other people have done, or if you are not seeing any messages from Majordomo at all, then it may be due to an over-zealous "anti-spam" filter. If you or your email provider (ISP) run any kind of filter, you may have to tell it about the Greenbelt mailing list, otherwise any messages you receive may be rejected or consigned to the "junk" folder. Note that, in common with most other email lists, messages from us are sent with a variety of "one-time" sender addresses (a method known as "VERP"), so you may have particular difficulty if you have a filter which junks messages from anyone who is not in your address book - there is no one single address which you can add.

  There is unfortunately nothing we can do about this at our end, and if you cannot find a way to allow our messages through your junk filter then your only option may be to switch to a different ISP which has a different filtering policy. Please, however, let us know so that we can compile a list of "list-unfriendly" ISPs to warn other people!

  If you want to check that your subscription is OK, send the single word "show" in the body of a message to majordomo@lists.greenbelt.org.uk. A complete summary of everything Majordomo knows about you will be sent back straight away (so if that reply doesn't arrive, you definitely need to check for a filter getting in the way!).

• If you are really stuck, you can contact the list manager at majordomo-owner@lists.greenbelt.org.uk