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Listserv – Email Commands Guide
Commands Overview
All commands that control a list must be sent to the LISTSERV@LISTS.NAU.EDU.
Listserv commands are in the form of: COMMAND LISTNAME ADDITIONAL_ARGUMENTS
Important!
Commands must always be in the body of the email. Make sure you remove any text in you email body like signatures, pictures and animated pictures.
Any commands that are sent to a listname itself, such as sample-l@lists.nau.edu will be distributed to everyone on the particular list as a normal email message. Don’t send commands to the listname address
Subscribing to a Listserv
To subscribe yourself to a list (you can only ‘subscribe’ yourself!) use the Subscribe and Unsubscribe command.
Command Format: COMMAND ListServName
Examples:
SUBSCRIBE ListName
UNSUBSCRIBE ListName
LISTSERV will extract the email address from the “From:” line of your message and add that address to the subscriber list.
List Owners Commands
List owners must use ADD and DELETE commands to subscribe or un-subscribe others to/from a list.
Command Format: COMMAND listname Full_name
Examples:
ADD sample-l John.Doe@nau.edu john doe
DELETE sample-l John.Doe@nau.edu
Note:
The Full_name should contain at least two words, but it is also possible to add users without knowing the value for Full_name. Simply use an asterisk “*” character.
Examples:
Correct — ADD sample-l John.Doe@nau.edu John Doe
Correct — ADD sample-l John.Doe@nau.edu *
Wrong — ADD sample-l John.Doe@nau.edu John
Reviewing Subscribers on Your List
To review all the subscribers on your list use the REVIEW command.
Command Format: COMMAND listnameNOHEADER BY NAME
Example:
REVIEW sample-l NOHEADER BY NAME
This gives you a list of subscribers sorted by last name, without including the list header.
Related Services
Listserv is a bulk email tool that can send thousands of individual emails to predefined groups of people. Listserv provides the performance you need to manage all of your opt-in email lists, including email newsletters, announcement lists, discussion groups and email communities.