Using E-mailing lists and Newsgroups: Using E-mailing lists and Newsgroups Tony Brett Oxford University Computing Services February 2004


Agenda: Agenda E-mail lists How to set up How to use Subscribing Moderating Newsgroups (Usenet) How to set up How to set up newsreader Comparison of Newsgroups and Maillists Netiquette Conclusion


E-mailing lists: E-mailing lists Oxford University uses EZMLM (easy mailing list manager) Other Products: Majordomo, mailman OUCS-written web interface to EZMLM https://maillist.ox.ac.uk Distributed Subscription - based Designated receivers of messages


How to Set up E-mail lists: How to Set up E-mail lists Moderate vs. non-moderate Subscriber posting vs. open posting Open or Closed Subscription? http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/email/maillists/ezmlm/owners.xml Request to list-request@maillist.ox.ac.uk List gets created Login to https://maillist.ox.ac.uk Use your herald username and password Full details and instructions at:


How to Use Oxford E-mail lists (1): How to Use Oxford E-mail lists (1) Send mail to listname@servername might be oucs-courses@maillist.ox.ac.uk Message goes to all subscribed people Everything controlled by the address you send to. E-mail subject and content are irrelevant. Listname-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk Listname-unsubscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/email/maillists/ezmlm/users.xml


How to Use Oxford E-mail lists (2): How to Use Oxford E-mail lists (2) Moderation requires a reply message Can have many moderators. Postings from Moderators must be self-moderated. Postings from others can be moderated by any moderator. Decision of first is final! Security relies on ability to RECEIVE mail, not send it.


Newsgroups: Newsgroups Dates from 1986 – RFC977 Sometimes called Usenet NNTP Acronymns: BTW, AFAIK, IMHO etc. Emoticons :-) :-( ;-) FAQs – Read them! Thousands of groups andamp; servers worldwide News.ox.ac.uk Spam, Troll, Flame Google groups etc. brings it to the web


How to set up newsgroups: How to set up newsgroups In Oxford E-mail newsmaster@oucs.ox.ac.uk http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/netnews/ ox.clubs.*, ox.colleges.*, ox.[dept] Accessible only in Oxford


How to set up a newsreader: How to set up a newsreader Many available – Outlook Express, Netscape Collabra, PINE, TRN, RN. Available for all Operating Systems Use your ISPs news server for example: news.ox.ac.uk, news.ntlworld.com, news.tiscali.co.uk and so on Can read through the web using google groups or similar


Outlook using Oxford’s News (1): Outlook using Oxford’s News (1)


Configuring a news account: Configuring a news account


Getting the Newsgroups: This can be slow on dial-up! Enter a search term or browse and double-click the ones you want. Getting the Newsgroups


Reading Articles: Reading Articles


News vs. Maillist: News vs. Maillist NEWS Wider audience. No management effort. Messages can be kept indefinitely. Only one copy of each message. Can read newsgroup messages when you wish. Subscription to a newsgroup is easy Not Private Less urgent – read news less often than E-mail New software might need to be learned EMAIL LIST Can be set up to be private Addresses on a list are not restricted to Oxford Easier to send urgent messages Existing, familiar mail software can be used. High-volume of email can prove intrusive. The method of subscribing to an email distribution list can be tricky 'list maintainer' required Each message replicated many times - inefficient. Storage at the discretion of each member of the list.


Netiquette: Netiquette Use the Subject: field Don’t auto-reply to mailing lists! (Herald does this automatically) Don’t have an argument on a mailing list Write carefully if you feel strongly about something. Use emoticons to convey sense of what you’re saying Keep messages brief Don’t flame, spam or troll Don’t quote others without acknowledgement Be Legal, Decent, Honest andamp; Truthful http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/email/netiquette/


Conclusions: Conclusions Maillist and News both have their uses Never a definitive correct solution Use requires care and planning Both can save time, paper and frustration High volume E-mail lists sometimes move to newsgroups Enjoy!