Sympa List Types and Roles

Announcements lists allow subscribers to receive messages without being allowed to post or reply to the messages. With this type of mailing list, the information flows from the sender to a large number of recipients.

Discussion lists allow all subscribers to take part in exchanges. This type of list can be moderated or not.

• In a moderated discussion list, messages are transmitted to all subscribers after approval by one of the list moderators. Moderation can reflect a higher message quality since it ensures that subscribers will not receive off-topic messages or unsolicited commercial messages.
• In a non moderated discussion list, messages are transmitted to all subscribers as soon as the mailing list server receives the message.

The owner is normally the list creator. List owner responsibilities include:

• Overseeing subscription and unsubscription requests.
• Managing the list’s settings and permissions.
• To contact a list's owner, send an email to listname-request@calpoly.edu replacing listname with the actual list name.

The moderator is appointed by the list owner. Moderator responsibilities include:

• Managing the relevancy of messages sent to the list.
• Approving or declining messages sent to a moderated list.
• To contact a list's moderator, send an email to listname-editor@calpoly.edu replacing listname with the actual list name.

The subscriber is the recipient of messages sent to the list. Some lists will let anyone email to the list, and some lists are set to only allow subscribers to email to it.