Create and Modify a Sympa List

Sympa lists are created using a department or club account. Once created, additional owners can be assigned.

Create a list

Log in to the My Cal Poly Portal > My Apps > Email Distribution Lists using a department or club account.
Click the Create List button.
Select the list type.
1. Create a list using a template.
  1. Select the type of list to be created.
  2. Enter list description information and click Submit your creation request.
2. Copy an existing list.
  1. Select the list to be copied.
  2. Enter a new list name and click Copy list configuration.
  3. This option only copies the list configuration. List membership will not be copied to the new list.

The list can be modified after creation. The list is not available to use until approved by the listmaster and uploaded to the Cal Poly directory, which can take up to 48 hours.

Modify a list

After the list has been created, modifications can be made to the configuration.

Sympa Options	Location on List Home Menu
List Visibility	List Configuration > Modify list subject and visibility > Visibility of the list	Public: Intranet The list is visible in the Cal Poly and Office 365 directory.	Private: Conceal The list is not visible in the Cal Poly or Office 365 directory.
Owners or Moderators	List Configuration > Modify owners and moderators > Owner or Moderator	Owners manage the list; multiple owners can be added. Privileged owners can designate other owners and have more access rights than normal owners.	Moderators are responsible for approving or rejecting messages for distribution.
Manage Subscribers	View or Manage Subscribers > Add/delete subscribers	Add subscribers: Cal Poly addresses must be in the format username@calpoly.edu. List subscribers can include other Sympa lists. Multiple add: A list of email address can be copied/pasted into the list. Verify no extra characters at the end of the data.	Delete subscribers The quiet option can be checked to not send an email regarding the deletion.
Viewing Log Files	Admin menu > Logs > View	The log file records all operations that have been performed on the list and can assist in troubleshooting list issues.

List names

The following restrictions are in place when naming a list.

Do not include @calpoly.edu in the list creation process.
Do not use any spaces, underscores, accents, or special characters.
Do not insert a period “.” in the listname. If a separator is needed in the listname, hyphens must be used.
The list name must be lowercase. Letters, numbers and hyphens can be included in the name.
Do not use any Sympa reserved words in the listname:
- -request
- -editor
- -owner
- -subscribe
- -unsubscribe

List send options

The Send parameter specifies who can send email to the Sympa list. To make changes to the Send parameter:

Log in to the My Cal Poly Portal> My Apps > Email Distribution Lists using a department or club account.
Click on My Lists and select the list to be modified.
On the List Home page, under List Configuration, select Change who can post to this list.
For Who can Send messages, click the drop-down arrow to select another Send option.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Update to save the change.

Send Scenarios

Option	Key	Roles	Definition
Closed	closed	Moderator: no Owner: no Subscriber: no Non-subscriber: no	No one may send to the list; all messages are rejected. Can be set if you need to temporarily shut off list traffic due to a rampant virus or aggressive spammer.
Moderated	editorkey	Moderator: yes Owner: yes, moderator approved Subscriber: yes, moderator approved Non-subscriber: yes, moderator approved	Anyone may send to the list, and their messages get flagged for moderation. List moderators may send straight to the list.
Moderated, even for moderators	editorkeyonly	Moderator: yes, moderator approved Owner: yes, moderator approved Subscriber: yes, moderator approved Non-subscriber: yes, moderator approved	Anyone may send to the list, and their messages get flagged for moderation. This even applies to moderators.
Moderated, need authentication from editor	editorkeyonlyauth	Moderator: yes, verified & moderator approved Owner: yes, moderator approved Subscriber: yes, moderator approved Non-subscriber: yes, moderator approved	Anyone may send to the list, and their messages get flagged for moderation. List moderators, however, are sent back a confirmation request when they send messages to the list, asking them to confirm the message before it gets sent out.
Restricted to local domain	intranet	calpoly.edu only	Anyone whose address ends in calpoly.edu may send messages to the list.
Restricted to local domain and subscribers	intranetorprivate	calpoly.edu & subscribers	Anyone whose address ends in calpoly.edu or anyone who's subscribed to the list may send messages. This can be useful for when you want a more open list without opening it up too widely for spammers.
Newsletter, restricted to moderators and owners	newsletter	Moderator: yes Owner: yes Subscriber: no Non-subscriber: no	Only list owners or moderators may send messages to the list. This is most useful for announcement-style lists, where you want a select group to be able to broadcast messages out to all the list members, without anyone else being able to contact the list.
Newsletter, restriced to moderators after confirmation	newsletterkeyonly	Moderator: yes, verified Owner: yes, verified Subscriber: no Non-subscriber: no	Similar to the newsletter send scenario, this one only allows owners or moderators to address the list, and it sends them back a confirmation message asking them to make sure they want to send that message to the list. It also prevents people from being able to falsify messages to the list by setting their mail client up to claim to be one of the moderators.
Restricted to subscribers	private	Moderator: yes Owner: yes Subscriber: yes Non-subscriber: no	Only list owners, moderators, and subscribers may send messages to the list. This is the standard default for non-public lists as it prevents spammers from sending messages out to the list.
Restricted to subscribers with previous md5 authentiation	private_smime	Moderator: yes, RD5 required Owner: yes, RD5 required Subscriber: yes, RD5 required Non-subscriber: no	Only list owners, moderators, and subscribers may send to the list, and they all require valid S/MIME signatures. S/MIME signatures are specialized attachments that verify, through the use of a trusted third party, the sender's identity as being authentic and the message as being unaltered. This is the most secure setting for your list, but all the users on the list must have valid S/MIME signatures
Moderated, restricted to subscribers	privateandeditorkey	Moderator: yes Owner: no Subscriber: yes, moderator approved Non-subscriber: no	Only subscribers and moderators may send messages to the list. The subscribers are moderated and the moderators go straight through. Similar to the editorkey option, but only allowing subscribers to submit messages for approval rather than anyone
Moderated, for non subscribers sending multipart messages	privateandnomultipartoreditorkey	Moderator: yes, attachments moderated Owner: no Subscriber: yes, attachments moderated Non-subscriber: no	Moderators can send straight through to the list, as can subscribers. But messages with attachments will be flagged for approval by a moderator.
Restricted to subscribers and checked smime signature	privatekey	Moderator: no Owner: no Subscriber: yes, verified Non-subscriber: no	Only subscribers may send to the list, and they will need to confirm every message by replying to a confirmation message Sympa sends them before the message will go through to the list.
Moderated, for subscribers and even moderators themself	privatekeyandeditorkeyonly	Moderator: yes, verified Owner: no Subscriber: yes, verified & moderator approved Non-subscriber: no	Only subscribers and moderators may send to the list. They'll both be asked to confirm their messages, and subscribers' messages will get put into the moderation queue; moderators' messages will go straight out.
Private, moderated for non subscribers	privateoreditorkey	Moderator: yes Owner: yes, moderator approved Subscriber: yes Non-subscriber: yes, moderator approved	Subscribers and moderators may send messages straight out to the list. Non-subscribers' messages will be flagged for moderation. This can be useful for allowing users who are not subscribers to submit messages while still letting the moderators keep spam away from the list's population.
Private, confirmation for non subsribers	privateorpublickey	Moderator: yes Owner: yes, verified Subscriber: yes Non-subscriber: yes, verified	Subscribers may send messages to the list, as may users whose S/MIME signatures can be verified. Everyone else must confirm their messages by replying to a confirmation message Sympa sends them before the message gets resent on to the list. This is useful for reducing spam without increasing the list moderators' workload.
Public list	public	Moderator: yes Owner: yes Subscriber: yes Non-subscriber: yes	Anybody can send to the list. This setting allows anyone with an external email delivery address (EDA) the ability to send to the list.
Public list, Bcc rejected (anti-spam)	public_nobcc	Moderator: yes, no BCC Owner: yes, no BCC Subscriber: yes, no BCC Non-subscriber: yes, no BCC	Anyone may send to the list, but messages with Bcc (blind carbon copy) recipients are rejected.
Anyone no authentication if DKIM signature is OK	publickey	Moderator: yes, verified Owner: yes, verified Subscriber: yes, verified Non-subscriber: yes, verified	Anyone may send to the list, provided they approve their own message by appropriately replying to the confirmation message Sympa sends them.
Public list multipart/mixed messages are forwarded to moderator	publicnoattachment	Moderator: yes, attachments moderated Owner: yes, attachments moderated Subscriber: yes, attachments moderated Non-subscriber: yes, attachments moderated	Anyone may send to the list. Messages with attachments are flagged for moderation.
Public list multipart messages are rejected	publicnomultipart	Moderator: yes, no attachments Owner: yes, no attachments Subscriber: yes, no attachments Non-subscriber: yes, no attachments	Anyone may send to the list. Messages with attachments are rejected.

Create and Modify a Sympa List

Send Scenarios

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