Lyris User's Guide
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How do I make a Mailing List that sends to several Mailing lists?
Table of Contents
· Introduction
· Email Commands
· Web Interface for Users
· Server Administrator
· Site Administrator
· List Administrator
· Other Topics
· Add-On Packages
· Installing and Upgrading
· Appendix
· Frequently Asked Questions
· · DocBots
· · Running Lyris List Manager
· · Email
· · Lyris List Manager Administration
· · Web Browsers
· · Usenet Newsgroups
· · International
· · Other FAQ issues
· · Mailing List Features
· · · How can I make a private list?
· · · How can I make a moderated list?
· · · How can Members "expire" after a certain time period?
· · · How do I approve Moderated Messages in bulk?
· · · One Way Mailing Lists
· · · How do I make a Mailing List that sends to several Mailing lists?
· · · How do I add a CancelBot to my mailing list?
· · · What Happens to Bad Mail Addresses?
· · · What about MIME Digests?
· · · How to use Lyris List Manager Extensions
· · · How Lyris List Manager Decides Who to Unsubscribe
· · Perl/LCP Toolkit
· · Unix Administration

How do I make a Mailing List that sends to several Mailing lists?

    I am trying to make several distribution lists. We have (5) different groups of e-mail addresses we want to send information to, but often we send the same message to all of them. I was thinking of making those 5 lists and subscribe the relevant addresses to each of them, and then make a "umbrella-list" that had 5 members; the other lists (with "real" members). However, Lyris List Manager will not let me have one list belong to another Lyris List Manager list: it refuses to distribute the mail.

That's right, Lyris List Manager will not allow one mailing list to receive mail from another Lyris List Manager mailing list. The reason for this is to prevent mail loops: if two automated programs start trading mail, it is possible to have a mail loop, as the two programs exchange messages. There are other technical reasons for this as well, such as avoiding confusions when bounces occur.

Instead, the correct way to have an "umbrella list", where sending mail to one address automatically distributes it to several other lists, is to use a "forwarding order". A Lyris List Manager forwarding order takes any mail it gets at the defined address, and forwards it the address(es) you specify.

For example, if you have two lists named "sports" and "food", you could make a forwarding order called "sportsfood" which forwards anything it receives onto both "sports" and "food".

You create a forwarding order from the "server config" page of the server admin menu. To create the above forwarding order, for a hostname named "lyris.net", you would type:

    sportsfood@lyris.net sports@lyris.net,food@lyris.net

For more information, see Forwarding Orders.

Other pages which link to this page:
  • Mailing List Features
  • Page 619 of 629