An up-to-date version of this Welcome document is always available here at http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/birders_welcome.html. This latest version of the document is dated March 14, 2010.
Additional information about the birders@umich.edu email list can be found in the birders FAQ.
Welcome to the birders@umich.edu email list. You have been subscribed as $subst('Recip.EmailAddr') in the Lyris listserver.
1. BIRDERS@UMICH.EDU
The purpose of this list is to provide an open forum for the posting and discussion of news and information relating to birding in southeast Michigan.
The FAQ for the birders@umich.edu list is at http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/birders_FAQ.html
Please bookmark the address of this Welcome document for later reference.
You may contact the list owners about list administrative matters at either of the addresses below:
admin-birders@umich.edu
birders-owner@listserver.itd.umich.edu
If and only if the list owners cannot help with your request, you may contact ITCS-listmaster@umich.edu for help with problems associated with the operation of this list. Most list operations are explained below, and the web interface for this group has a good help facility.
2. POSTING TO THE LIST
You can post to the list by sending email to either of the functionally equivalent addresses below:
birders@umich.edu
birders@listserver.itd.umich.edu
3. MEMBERSHIP SETTINGS
You can set your subscription preferences either by using email commands or a web interface. This includes subscribing, suspending, and unsubscribing, as well as other options. You can go directly to the web page for the birders list at the following URL:
https://listserver.itd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=birders
Bookmark this URL. Also see item 5 below regarding the web interface. For an explanation of email commands that you can use to change your membership settings, see item 4 below.
4. EMAIL COMMANDS
You can send commands for membership options to the listserver by email. Commands should be placed in the SUBJECT line, and you should leave the body of your message blank. A synopsis of the most commonly used commands is below. For more information on Lyris listservers, see http://www.lyris.com/help/. Also, be aware that Lyris commands might be different from those that you are using on other listservers, so use the information below (or from the help page) as your guide.
Put all commands in the subject line and leave the body of your message blank. (Alternatively, you can leave the subject line blank and send your command as a single line in the body of the message.) IMPORTANT NOTE: You must send all email commands to the listserver -- lyris@listserver.itd.umich.edu. DO NOT send listserver commands to birders@listserver.itd.umich.edu or birders@umich.edu!!!
SUBSCRIBING: Send an email to
lyris@listserver.itd.umich.edu
with "SUBSCRIBE BIRDERS Your Name" as the subject (minus the quotation marks). Your name is optional.
Or, for admin only, in message body:
login password
add birders new_subscriber_address firstname lastname
UNSUBSCRIBING: Send an email to
lyris@listserver.itd.umich.edu
with UNSUBSCRIBE BIRDERS in the subject line. You must send your unsubscribe request from the same email address that you want to unsubscribe. If this is not possible, you will need to unsubscribe at the web interface.
For admin only, in message body:
login password
delete birders subscriber_address
=OTHER COMMANDS= (all sent to lyris@listserver.itd.umich.edu)
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO MIMEDIGEST MODE: set birders mimedigest
In digest mode you will get one mailing per day consisting of the last 24 hours of postings. "Mimedigest" is recommended over "Digest" mode because deliveries in Digest generally include a lot of HTML hash that is eliminated in Mimedigest mode.
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO INDEX MODE: set birders index
"Index" mode is a once-a-day mailing of the SUBJECT lines of the postings of the last 24 hours with links for retrieving those postings that are of interest to you.
SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO DISCUSSION MODE: set birders mail
This switches from NoMail, Mimedigest, or Index mode to "discussion" mode, in which postings will be delivered to you when they are posted.
SUSPENDING MAIL FROM THE LIST: set birders nomail
"Nomail" is the option to stop mail until you send a command to resume mail delivery from this list. Setting to "nomail" is good thing to do when you go on vacation as it will keep your mailbox from filling up. Note that if your mailbox fills up and your server then sends too many error messages back to the list, your subscription will be automatically terminated.
The NoMail setting can also be used if you want to retain posting privileges but want to read list postings at an archive site rather than having them delivered to you as email.
RESUMING MAIL FROM THE LIST: (select your preferred mode)
set birders mail
set birders mimedigest
set birders index
Any of these commands will undo the "NoMail" option.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: set birders ack
This sets an option to have a confirmation (acknowledgment) message sent to you when your posts are distributed. The ack option is usually not set on. If you have set ack on, you can turn it back off by sending the command "set birders noack".
DETERMINING YOUR MEMBERSHIP SETTINGS: query birders
You will receive an email that lists your settings.
GETTING NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES OF MEMBERS:
login password
review birders names
(In message body; admin only)
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT: get birders hello
RETRIEVING THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE FAQ: get birders FAQ
MORE INFORMATION ON LYRIS LIST MANAGER'S COMMANDS: help
CHANGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
If your email address is about to change, send an email from your CURRENT email address, with the following on the subject line:
set birders email=[new_email_address]
substituting your new email address (don't use the brackets!) You should receive confirmation by return mail. Please do this while you have access to your old account.
5. THE WEB INTERFACE (including accessing the archives)
At the Lyris listserver web interface you can change your membership settings and read and post birders messages. To use the web interface to change your settings or address go to
https://listserver.itd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=birders
Enter your email address and password (if you have one set), click on "Enter birders". (If you've forgotten your password, you can type in your email address in the field at the bottom of the page and click "Get password" to request Lyris to email your password to you.)
At the next screen you can read messages, post a message, adjust your settings, or unsubscribe. You can also search the archives. From the settings page, you can change your status (MAIL, DIGEST, INDEX, or NOMAIL), choose whether or not to see your own messages, and choose whether or not you want to receive a separate acknowledgment via email when one of your messages is posted to the list. You can also change your email address if you need to. When you change your settings, make sure you click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page.
ARCHIVES - The threaded archives for this list are available on the Web at the following URL:
https://listserver.itd.umich.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?visit=birders
Note that viewing list archives is presently restricted to those who are subscribed to the list. Presently postings to the list are archived for 365 days.
6. BOUNCED MAIL
The Lyris listserver has the ability to handle mail bounces transparently to the list owner. In other types of distribution of group email, bounces are sent to the list owners (administrators). If your mailbox fills up or if there are other failures in getting the list postings to you, you may be automatically unsubscribed. The list owner has set the conditions for automatic deletion of your subscription. The current setting is for deletion after 11 days of failures. In the case you fail to receive postings to the list, you may need to resubscribe, especially if you have had your mailbox overflow.
7. POSTS/REPLIES FROM DIGEST USERS
You must change the subject line when replying to a digest; all posts with "DIGEST" in the subject line will be rejected by the server. (You will receive a rejection message from the listserver or the list owner when this happens.)
8. PROBLEMS?
If you have ANY problems related to the birders@umich.edu discussion list, please write to the list owners and do not post them to the list. To contact the list owners send a message to one of the following equivalent addresses:
admin-birders@umich.edu
birders-owner@listserver.itd.umich.edu
For additional information about birders@umich.edu see the birders FAQ.
Bruce Bowman (bbowman@umich.edu)
last modified: March 14, 2010
URL: http://www.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/birders_welcome.html