Subscribing to a Mailing List

at Washtenaw Community College

Module NA17w

* About this document... * Audience and Objectives *

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Subscribing to a Group Email List

One neat feature of email is that you can use it to communicate to groups of people, like a class. You instructor may have set up an email list for the class. It's easy to subscribe, and when you do, you can share information with the entire class.

Note: If your privacy is a concern, speak with the instructor about limiting access to the names and email addresses on the list.

  1. Start your email program. You can use any email program you like. For those who aren't sure about how email works, we'll use the WCC student email system as an example. Module NG20h has complete instructions for:
  2. Start the process of sending an email message. WCC student system: Click the button to send a mail message. 
  3. In the TO: window, type

    4. majordomo@stu.wccnet.org
  4. Leave the subject window empty.
  5. In the big "Body" window, type the subscription command appropriate for youself. Spaces are very important! Here's a model; there are examples, too:

    6. subscribe  YourClass  YourID@email.wccnet.org
    For YourClass: You instructor will tell you what to use for YourClass; often, it is the class number with no spaces, for example cis101, cis160, cis290, or it may be the class and section, for example cis100s18, cis160s3
    For YourID put in the WCC user ID you received when you activated your account; OR use your own personal email account, if you prefer.
    Sarah Strong's would look like this if she used her WCC email account:
    subscribe  cis101  ssw123@email.wccnet.org
    OR if she used a personal account:
    subscribe  cis101  sstrong@coolmail.com
  6. Don't add anything to the message: it will be read by a computer program, not a human being, so adding more would just confuse it! Click the Send button at the bottom of the message window when you're done.

Confirming your Subscription

Most email subscription programs require confirmation of the address. They will send you a return message explaining the need for you to reply and confirm your address. (This will happen whether you subscribe yourself or someone else, such as your instructor, puts your name on the mailing list.)

Usually, the request for confirmation reaches you within five minutes of the subscription note's arrival at the server; but sometimes, especially if the server is busy, it may take much longer. If you have 5 minutes, wait to see if you get a reply. Check your email Inbox. If you're short of time, you may want to return later. In that case, if you are using Netscape at WCC, exit from Netscape when you finish with the mail program, to prevent other people from using your email account or seeing your mail.

To confirm your subscription:

  1. Run your email program and check your inbox. Look for a message from majordomo@stu.wccnet.org, with a subject like, "Request for Confirmation of Subscription".~
  2. Read the message carefully, and follow the instructions. They will ask that you send a message with a confirmation code. To do that:
    1. Press the email program's Reply button to reply to the message.
    2. In your reply, use the mouse to edit out all the lines of the message except the line containing the special code.
    3. Fill in your own name and email address where asked to do so.~
  3. Make sure only the required information is in the body of the message; then click the email program's Send button.
Some lists also require approval from a human administrator. If so, your message from the list software will say so. You don't need to do anything.

When your subscription has been accepted, you will receive two emails from the system; they may arrive in any order:

In order to keep the welcome message, and any other messages you receive from the list, you should create a mail folder for the list. Most email programs make it easy to set up folders; if you're not sure how, check the program's Help menu. On the WCC email program, ~

What you can Find Out about Lists

List programs not only distribute mail, they allow subscribers to find out about the list itself. It all works by sending email messages to the list server software. Each message can have one or more commands, and the list server will reply by sending an email - either with the answers to your questions, or with some error message! Commands should be sent in the body of an email message to "majordomo@stu.wccnet.org". Multiple commands can be processed provided each occurs on a separate line.

Here are some of the commands you can send:
 

Email command Purpose
which [<address>] Find out which lists you (or <address> if specified) are on.
who <list> Find out who is on the named <list>. This is usually restricted to members of the list, and often disabled entirely to protect people's privacy.
info <list> Retrieve the general introductory information for the named <list>.
intro <list> Retrieve the introductory message sent to new users.  Non-subscribers may not be able to retrieve this.
lists Show the lists served by this Majordomo server.
help Get the full help message (9 Kb)
end Stop processing commands (useful if your mailer adds a signature).

Feel free to send email with these commands. The Help message will give you lots of information - perhaps more than you want!

Audience: This is for people who want to subscribe to a mailing lsit at Washtenaw Community College.
Objectives: When you successfully complete this lesson, you will be able to...

About this document...
Module NA17w: This document is part of a modular instruction series in Computer Information Systems. For more information, see the overview or the list of modules in this series, NA: Networked Applications. This document has been used in the following classes:

Author: Laurence J. Krieg
Institution: Department of Computer Information Systems, Washtenaw Community College
History: Original: 12 Jan 1999; This revision posted Monday, 31-Aug-2009 11:47:59 EDT
Copyright © 1999, Laurence J. Krieg.
Instructors: You may point to this file in your Web-based materials.
Students: you may make a copy for your personal use.
All other uses: contact the author, Laurence J. Krieg for permission.