STC Email List Training
How to request, set up, and use an announcement list
Request the list and set it up
- Ask the STC Office for the URL to request a new list.
- Navigate to the URL and complete the form.
- When the email arrives from the list provider with the name and URL for your announcement list, visit the list website and set up the list. Only minimal set up is needed.
- At the list interface, enter your email address and password. Enter the list. Click List Admin.
- Click List Info and be sure the following settings are as indicated. Leave the other settings as they were when you received the new list.
- Message footer and Digest footer: "You are temporarily subscribed for this announcement only to..."
- Security: closed--only an administrator can add new members
- Ask subscribers for name: optional
- Require password: optional
- Security of member list: Only allow list administrator to obtain the member listing
- Admin send: Yes only admins can contribute
- Moderated: not moderated; the other moderation settings can be 1, always, and midnight
- Non-members can post: No
- From: blank
- Reply to: author
Prepare the list of email addresses
- Open the text file of membership data sent by the Office in Excel, using File > Open.
- Follow the wizard to create a spreadsheet. The membership text file is comma-delimited.
- Select the email address column for all the members you want to send news to. This is everyone except those with a SIG code of 4.
- Paste the Excel column into MS Word.
- On the Table menu, choose Select > Table. Then: Table > Convert > Table to Text. Select "Separate text with: Other" and type a space in the box. Click OK.
- Save the MS Word file.
Subscribe the list
- Open a new email message and put lyris@lists.stc.org in the To field.
- Delete your signature and any other characters.
- In the blank message, paste the following:
login YOUR_PASSWORD
add LISTNAME quiet <<
emailaddress1
emailaddress2
>>Type the name of your list over LISTNAME. The double set of angle brackets surround the list email addresses. Paste the email addresses in the MS Word file over emailaddress1 and emailaddress2. Type your own password over YOUR_PASSWORD.
Send the message
If you are the sender of the message, you can send it from your email client to the email address of the announcement list.
If you are sending the message for someone else:
- Log in to the list.
- Click List Admin > Click Send Message.
- In the form to send a message, enter the name and email address of the sender.
- Enter the text.
- Click the Schedule button to send immediately.
- Click Review Message and Send.
- Click Confirm Message and Send.
- If the message goes into the moderation queue, approve it.
Delete the subscribers from the list
When you have sent the news message, delete all the subscribers except the list administrators. When you want to send another message, you will re-subscribe the list with the current members of the SIG.
You can delete the subscribers via an email command, but this procedure is easier and very quick.
- Log in to the list.
- Click List Admin > Click Members.
- Below "Delete all members?" click "Are you sure?" > Click Delete all members.
- Confirm the deletion.
