[Imc-tech] Important Info about the IMC e-mail lists

[Paul Bengt Riismandel]

For the last year or so most of the IMC e-mail lists have been set up to
be "subscriber-only" for posting. This means that in order to send an
e-mail to any one of the IMC lists you have to be subscribed to the
list.

 

This was done in order to cut back on the raging tides of spam that hit
our lists everyday.  The "subscriber-only" method keeps between 5 and 20
spam messages out of your INBOX everyday. 

 

The downside to this method is that often many IMC volunteers wish to
cast an e-mail out to all the working groups, but are not subscribed to
all these lists.  So what happens is that the list software holds those
e-mails in a queue waiting for a list admin to check it and pass it
through.  

 

(Some of you may have experienced this - you'll get an e-mail back
telling you your e-mail is awaiting admin approval. - see additional
note below)**

 

On average, somebody checks the queue of e-mails being held every few
days.  In most cases, this is fine, unless of course you intend your
e-mail to be received more quickly, in which case, it's a problem.

 

Now, some lists are administered by a member of the working group, and
because that person often only administers one list, messages get pushed
through pretty quickly.

 

However, it seems like I have ended up as the only active list admin for
all the other lists (like the main IMC list), even though I've made
several pleas for help in the past.  And, these days, I simply don't
have the time to check the queue of held messages daily - sometimes I'm
lucky if I can get to it once a week.  That means if you're not
subscribed to an IMC list that you send an e-mail to, it might be held
for a week or longer (especially if I'm on vacation).

 

The best and most simple solution is that you should subscribe yourself
to any e-mail list you want to send messages to. A great feature of
mailman (our list software) is that you can subscribe yourself to a list
but tell it not to send you any e-mail. So, you can send e-mail to, say,
IMC-Video, without having to read all of IMC-Video's messages everyday -
this can be useful for someone in, say, the Shows group who just wants
to distribute some info around the IMC from time to time. And even if
you have e-mail delivery turned off for a list, you can still read the
messages on the web.

 

Do all of your e-mail list subscribing and reading here:

http://lists.cu.groogroo.com

 

Another reason some e-mails get held is due to people using multiple
e-mail accounts. I, myself, have two active accounts, but only one is
subscribed to any IMC lists. So, I have to make sure that I send IMC
e-mail with the account I know is subscribed. If this were a problem for
me I could subscribe both accounts, and turn off delivery for one so I
don't have to receive all messages twice.

 

And, of course, if there were more list administration help, that would
probably help things run smoother, but it still will result in some
important e-mails being delayed, perhaps for too long. No matter how
many list admins we have, we can't monitor the queue of held e-mails
24/7. 

 

So, you're best bet for having your e-mail go to the list you send it to
in a timely fashion is to make sure you're subscribed.

 

**A final note - when the list software notifies you that a message is
being held or has been rejected it will say that it's because only
"members" can send e-mails.  Occasionally people get upset when they
read this, because it sounds like either: a)only paid-up IMC members can
use the list,  or b) some paid up members are being denied their due
rights. Neither is the case.  In the list software language
"member"="subscriber" - so all it means is that you have to subscribe
yourself to send e-mail to the list.  Most IMC lists, including the main
IMC list, are open to anyone to subscribe, regardless of U-C IMC
membership status.

 

 

Thanks and happy posting,

 

Paul

 

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