The FNAL email listserver has a full featured web interface that allows full control over your list subscriptions, however, some of the functionality is not so obvious.

Users will typically manage list subscriptions by sending email to the list server from the subscribed email account. (When you send an email to the listserver, it uses the "from:" email header to determine which account to manage. Note, that you can the from: address in you email client's preferences.) This works well, but difficulties arise if you have subscribed to lists using different email addresses (not a problem for people who always use @fnal.gov, but people at MSU may use @fnal.gov, @pa.msu.edu, @msu.edu, etc.).

The web interface allows you to manage subscriptions for any email address (a security check verifies that you can receive email at the address).

Documentation

The lsoft documentation page is at http://www.lsoft.com/resources/manuals.asp There you can find a PDF of the user's manual. Unfortunately, lsft chose to create their HTMl documentation using a Microsoft Office filter --- so it is buggy and hard to use.

Password

The password form allows you to set or overwrite the password that works with any email address.

Managing list subscriptions

The List Management page has a link at the left "Subscriber's Corner". Click on it and you'll be taken to a page that shows all list you are subscribed to (from the email address you logged in with) and allows you to subscribe/unsubscribe. Note that when you first load this page, the listserver has to do a search which consumes tens of seconds of CPU time and the page may take up to a minute to load; reloading the page after submitting changes will take a similair amount of time.

Note that when you unsubscribe from a list, the form reloads and the list will still be shown (but without an active link), you are however unsubscribed. I suppose that this is a convenience in case you want to resubscribe.

Running commands

The same commands that you'd send to the listserver via email, can be run using the form on the "Command" page (Press the "Command" button on the List Management page). Note that some commands generate email replies instead of output that you'll see on the web page.

Example commands:

query sam-users shows the subscriptions for the subscribed list sam-users.

query * shows all subscribed lists

review sam-users emails a list of all subscribers to you (some lists don't allow this)

subscribe SCIENTIFIC-LINUX subscribes you to the named list

change * newname@pa.msu.edu change address for all my subscriptions to new address newname@pa.msu.edu this didn't work, the new address just received a confirmation, that when confirmed would result in a nother confirmation message...

-- TomRockwell - 05 Oct 2005