ALIA e-list help

How to: use my list password | unsubscribe from a list | find a lost password | use my list's web interface | temporarily stop mail from lists to my address | set up and manage topics

Q: What is my e-list subscription password?

A: When you subscribe to an ALIAnet e-list, a password is issued which allows you to access your subscription details and to make changes to how you receive e-list messages [including removing yourself from the list]. If you subscribed via the e-list's web-based interface, you were asked to supply a password before proceeding. If you were subscribed to the e-list by a list-owner, you will have been issued a randomly-generated password in your e-list welcome message. You can change your password at any time, most easily using the list web-based interface.

Q: How do I unsubscribe - or remove myself - from an e-list?

A: Use the web-based interface, with two options:

1. Under the heading Manage your <listname> subscription, enter your e-mail address and click 'unsubscribe or edit options'. You will be presented with a screen showing three options: log in, unsubscribe, and remind. Click 'unsubscribe' and you will be sent a confirmation e-mail from '<listname>-request@lists.alia.org.au'. Follow the instructions in the e-mail, and your subscription will be cancelled. NOTE: this only works if you still have the same e-mail address as used to subscribe to the e-list. If it has changed or has been cancelled, read on...
   
   
2. For immediate removal [if you are not able to access your subscribed e-mail address, for example], follow the first part of the step above. Instead of clicking 'unsubscribe', enter your password and choose 'log in'. You will be presented with a screen of options, with an 'unsubscribe' button at the bottom of the right-hand column. Check the 'Yes, I really want to unsubscribe' button and click 'unsubscribe'. You will be removed from the e-list immediately.

If you get stuck, you can contact the list-owner and ask him/her to remove your address from the e-list.

Q: I've lost my password! How do I get it? Where can I find out what it is?

A: Go to the e-list's web-based interface. Under the heading 'Manage your <listname> subscription', enter your e-mail address and click 'unsubscribe or edit options'. You will be presented with a screen showing three options: log in, unsubscribe, and remind. Click 'remind' to have your e-list password e-mailed to your subscribed address. NOTE: List-owners cannot recover your password or issue a new one. If you cannot retrieve it using the web-based interface, you will need to ask the list-owner to remove your address and then re-subscribe you to the e-list.

Q: What's this web interface I keep being referred to?

A: Every ALIAnet e-list has a web-based management system. You can see general e-list information at 'http://lists.alia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/<listname>' - for example, aliaNEWS is at http://lists.alia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/alianews/. Once there, you can subscribe yourself [under the 'Subscribe to <listname>' heading] - or if you are already subscribed, you can log in by entering your subscription address under the heading 'Manage your <listname> subscription'.

Q: I will be away from my e-mail for a while. Do I need to unsubscribe to stop e-list postings?

A: No. You are able to place a temporary hold on your subscription. To do so, head to your e-list's web management interface and log in [instructions above]. At your e-list subscription options page, look for 'Mail delivery options' [top row of the left-hand table] and check the button next to 'Disabled'. If you are subscribed to multiple ALIAnet e-lists, you can set this option for all of them right here: Just check the 'Set globally' button underneath 'Disabled'. To make your new settings stick, scroll to the base of the page and click 'Submit my changes'. When you return, you can reverse the hold in the same way - except that this time, you will be clicking 'Enabled'...

Q: What are topics? How do I use them?

A: Topics are 'channels' within e-lists, used to define discrete areas of interest - or non-interest - within ALIAnet e-lists. Topics are set up by list-owners, and can have one of two functions:

1. To allow only messages relating to the topic
2. To exclude all messages matching the topic description

At your e-list subscription options page, Look for 'Which topics would you like to subscribe to?'. If topics are enabled, you will be able to select one or more topics from a list. Next, go to the following option: 'Do you want to receive messages that do not match any topic filter?'. Here, you can decide if you want to receive posts that do not match any topics. Setting 'Yes' will block all posts other than those which pass the topic filters. Setting 'No' will allow all posts. Be careful when choosing topics - the results of setting multiple topic filters may not deliver what you expect! If you run into trouble, ask the list-owner for more help. You can change these options any time. If you're a new subscriber, we recommend not setting topics until you have seen a good cross-section of what the e-list has to offer.