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Email discussion lists for the UK Education and Research communities

List owner's quick guide

This quick guide has been put together to help you, as a list owner, get to grips with the key tools you need to start using your mailing list. Each section can be downloaded as a single pdf document, or you can download the full 4-page List owner's quick guide.

1. List management dashboard

The list management dashboard displays all the mailing lists you own in JiscMail. To get to the List management dashboard use the "List Owner's Dashboard" link on the JiscMail website homepage, or bookmark this List Management Dashboard link. Screenshot of a List management dashboard

  1. You need to be logged in to access the list management dashboard. Log into JiscMail using your email address and password. If you haven’t registered a password, visit register a password.
  2. Every list you own is displayed in the dashboard. Click the list name to visit the list homepage where you can carry out list owner tasks such as manage subscribers, run reports, view/search archives, and send messages. The Mailing list homepage section of this quick guide provides for more information on this feature.
  3. The number of subscribers on each list is displayed, use the [View] link to view Subscriber Reports.
  4. Key settings for each list you manage are displayed: who can post messages, how people can join the list, who manages the list, if and how archives are stored and if attachments are enabled.

Contact help@jisc.ac.uk to make changes to any of these settings, or to add more list configuration settings to the dashboard.

Download 1-page pdf of this section, List management dashboard.

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2. Mailing list homepage

The mailing list homepage is a landing page for your mailing list, it also displays the list's default Privacy Policy. If you have chosen to keep a record of messages posted, you will find the archives here. Anyone can access the list’s homepage by visiting www.jiscmail.ac.uk/LISTNAME (replace LISTNAME with the name of your mailing list). The amount of information a visitor can view is determined by the privacy settings on your mailing list.

Screenshot of a JiscMail list homepage
  1. You need to be logged in to access the mailing list homepage. Log into JiscMail using your email address and password. If you haven’t registered a password, visit register a password.
  2. The List Management menu provides functions to: manage subscribers and run list reports. The List Management menu section of this quick guide provides for more information on this feature.
  3. To post messages to your mailing list, either:
    • a) Click on the Post New Message button – and use the JiscMail website to post a message. Or alternatively,
    • b) Send an email from your own email account, to the mailing list email address (in red), LISTNAME@jiscmail.ac.uk (replacing LISTNAME with the name of your mailing list).
  4. People can sign up to the list, or leave your list, by selecting the Subscribe or Unsubscribe button, and completing their details on the registration page.
  5. Every list is configured with a default privacy policy, which can be viewed by clicking the link, to update the wording of the policy contact help@jisc.ac.uk.
  6. Use the links in the Help & Support section to email JiscMail helpline or search the website help pages.
  7. Latest messages are displayed at the top of the archive page. Click the subject of any message to open and read it and use the onscreen tools to reply to messages. If you are subscribed to the mailing list, you will receive these messages in your email account.
  8. The list name and description define the list purpose or discussion topic. Note, this description can be viewed by anyone visiting your list homepage, they don’t need to be subscribed or logged in. To update this information contact help@jisc.ac.uk.
  9. By default, older archives are organised by month. Click a month to open the archive. List owners can delete messages from the archives.

Contact help@jisc.ac.uk for further help with your list homepage.

Download 1-page pdf of this section, Mailing list homepage.

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3. List management menu

The List management menus, and sub menus, provide you with everything you need to help you manage your mailing list.

Screenshot of the list management menu
  1. You need to be logged in to access the list management menu. Log into JiscMail using your email address and password. If you haven’t registered a password, visit register a password.
  2. Click on the List Management menu to access additional menus to manage your mailing list.
  3. Select the List Dashboard menu to return to your list dashboard at any time.
  4. Use List Reports menus to drill down into historical and/or statistical list activity reports, and subscription reports. Reports can be viewed online, or downloaded for offline processing and analysis.
  5. Make changes to the subscribers on your mailing list using the Subscriber Management menu: add, remove, update, search subscribers and their subscriptions. The Subscriber Management section of this quick guide provides for more information on this feature.
  6. Use the File Store to drop off documents you want to share with your subscribers (or make changes to them).
  7. If your list is moderated, use the online List Moderation tools to approve/reject message as well as checking the senders credentials.
Download 1-page pdf of this section, List management menu.

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4. Subscriber management

The Subscriber Management menu, accessed from the List Management menu, enables you to search, add, edit and delete subscribers, as well as make changes to subscription settings.

Screenshot of the subscriber management page
  1. You need to be logged in to access the subscriber management menu. Log into JiscMail using your email address and password. If you haven’t registered a password, visit register a password.
  2. If you manage more than one mailing list, you can choose the mailing list you want to manage from the drop-down options. Your subscriber management actions will be performed on the selected list.
  3. To Examine or Delete a subscriber: Add their email to the search box (you can also search on part of an email address, e.g. searching for *@jisc.ac.uk will return all matching subscribers from @jisc.ac.uk - and you can select the subscriber from the results). If you search for a subscriber by their full email address and there are no results, the email address will be added to the “Add new subscriber” box.
  4. To add a new subscriber, enter their email address and name in the box, and click the “Add to…” button to complete their subscription. The new subscriber will receive an email confirming their subscription to your mailing list.
Download 1-page pdf of this section, subscriber management.

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5. Help and support

For more help and support

  1. Visit the Help section on this website, for more in-depth information to support you.
  2. Join our fortnightly drop-in surgery sessions, see our training section on this website for more details.
  3. Contact the support team at help@jisc.ac.uk.

If you have found these pages helpful, or can suggest improvements for consideration, please complete Jisc's Product Satisfaction Survey

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