Discussion Group Lists
Discussion groups allow any subscriber to post a message, in addition to receiving each message. So if you want to have open forums with a group of people about a certain topic, a discussion group mailing list is the way to go. Each discussion group has at least one list moderator that controls how the list functions.

Most discussion groups have a moderated subscription process, where requests to join are deflected to the list moderator(s) for approval. The list moderator must complete the subscription process, by forwarding the email on to mail-list.com, indicating their approval.

Some discussion groups have membership criteria that needs to be reviewed prior to joining the list. This subscription approval process can be handled by returning the list's mission and rules upon the request to subscribe. The potential subscriber would then email the moderator with the details needed for approval. When the moderator is satisfied that the new subscriber will fit into the discussion group, the moderator forwards on the subscription request to mail-list.com.

Or you may allow anybody to directly join your discussion group list, without any intervention by the list moderator(s). In this case, when our machine receives a request to join your list, it will send back a confirmation message. This confirmation message will have a random number in the Subject line. When they reply with that same random number, we know that nobody was forging their email address, and our machine will add them to your list and send them your welcome message. This is called double opt-in.

Sophisticated email readers like the option to receive their discussion groups messages in a digest format. This digest is simply an accumulation of all the individual messages, typically for an entire day.

mail-list.com sets up both a regular list and a digest version of your list. The digest is available in either standard or multi-part format. The multi-part format digests is appreciated by those with modern email readers (like Eudora, Outlook, or Netscape), as the fancy digest turns into a miniature mailbox, allowing each individual message from the list to be read and replied to separately.

Your subscribers can easily switch themselves between the regular list, with each individual message, and the digest version, by sending a blank message to yourlist-switch@mail-list.com.

Your subscribers can toggle themselves into and out of vacation mode, by sending a blank message to yourlist-vacation@mail-list.com. Vacation mode will stop delivery of mailing list messages. Subscribers in vacation mode may still post messages to the list.

Each message to your list can contain a clickable URL that will allow people to unsubscribe with two clicks of their mouse. Or they can simply send a blank message to yourlist-off@mail-list.com to remove themselves from your list.

If there are any bad email addresses on your list, they will be automatically removed after multiple bounces.

Some lists moderators like to approve each message to the list, while other list moderators allow messages from any subscriber to immediately go to everybody on the list. You may choose that option when setting up your list, and if you do not like it, you may change it back.

mail-list.com is setup by default to convert any HTML email sent to a list to plain text. Plain text URL's are clickable (like http://www.mail-list.com), and will take your subscribers straight to the web page you specify. For AOL and CompuServe subscribers, mail-list.com automatically converts the plain text URL into a clickable format.

mail-list.com only stores the email address of your subscribers. We do not maintain any other information, like name, address, age or income bracket. So we cannot personalize your email. This is a simple list serve, designed to allow the same message to quickly go to a number of different subscribers.

mail-list.com does not insert any advertisements in any message. What you send is what your subscribers receive. Nor does mail-list.com rent, sell, use or abuse your email addresses. Our computer hardware and software simply handles the clerical tasks of administering your mailing list.

The list owner pays a small fee for hosting their mailing list with mail-list.com.

You may choose to use our list archives on the world wide web, where your previous messages can be seen with a web browser. A search engine that encompasses just your mailing list is included. You may choose to block the general public or robots from your web archive with a password. Everybody on your list will use the same password, which you may change as needed.

You may choose to use your own domain name, and hide the mail-list.com domain name. In order to accomplish this, your domain name techie will need to set up new mail aliases for 8 different email addresses associated with running your list. Such as the on and off addresses, address for bounces to come back, address for the list owner. Sometimes this is an easy task and sometimes not. If in doubt, start with mail-list.com, get things going, and then change it to your domain name later.

Most lists have a web page that allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe. A program called a CGI is needed to email our machines what they typed in. Typically your web hosting company provides these programs, and you simply need to tell it our specific email address. If not, mail-list.com can provide HTML for you to copy and paste into your web site. This HTML will call our CGI on our server, allowing people to get on and off your list from your web site, without any involvement from your web host.

When any subscriber sends a message to your list, our machines send the plain text version of that email to all subscribers. This eliminates a host of problems with HTML email. Should you have a special situation and need to send HTML email or attachments to your list, please contact us to change that default setting.

mail-list.com handles all the administrative chores of running a mailing list, allowing you to concentrate on the real needs of your list members.

Discussion Group lists are ideal for:

Medical support groups Internet standards working groups Neighborhood Civic Associations Virtual meetings for small groups and committees Alumni organizations

mail-list.com has been running mailing lists since 1995, and has helped thousands of clients communicate over a broad range of topics.

If you want to start conversing about a particular subject with other like minded people, please set up your new client account now.