UWM PantherList Owner / Moderator FAQ's
UW-Milwaukee's reflector and list service has improved functions and a new name - PantherList. Below you will find UWM-specific FAQs for List Owners and Moderators.
Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions for PantherList Owners & Moderators
- How is the password for a PantherList different from my ePanther password?
- I sent a message to my list but it hasn't gone out yet, why?
- How do I send messages to my list?
- I got an automated message saying a message was held for approval. What does that mean?
- How do I only allow certain people to post to my list?
- Can I change the name of my list?
- How do class lists work?
- Can I change the way existing lists work? (e.g. Change an Announcement List to a 'Subscriber Only' List?)
- What is a 'whitelisted' address and how do I add one to my list?
- I have other questions about PantherList, where can I get help?
1. How is the password for a PantherList different from my ePanther password?
When you created a PantherList, you were prompted for a 'List Password'. If you had a reflector migrated to a PantherList a password was assigned to you automatically.
The PantherList list password is used to manage the moderation queue and the 'Advanced List Configuration' tools and is not connected to your ePanther password in any way for security reasons. If you forget the Password for any of your lists, just log in to PantherList with your ePanther ID and password, click the Change List Password link under the 'Manage Your Lists' menu, and select which list you'd like to change the password for.
2. I sent a message to my list but it hasn't gone out yet, why?
The first place to check if you think a message hasn't gotten delivered is your lists moderation queue Your message may have been held up in the moderation queue for several reasons including:
- You posted to a 'Subscriber Only' list from an address which isn't subscribed to the list. (e.g. Your From: line reads example-user@csd.uwm.edu but the address subscribed to the list is example-user@uwm.edu.)
- Your list may be configured to hold all messages for moderator approval.
3. How do I send messages to a list?
To send messages to a list, simply address it to list-name@uwm.edu where 'list-name' is the name of the list. Depending on the configuration of the list you're trying to send to, your message may have to be approved by a moderator before it's sent to the other subscribers of the list.
4. I got an automated message saying a message was held for moderator approval. What does that mean?
There are several reasons you may get moderator requests from your PantherList. One of the most often reasons is because a message is sent to your 'Subscriber Only' list from someone who isn't a member. Another is because the message is identified as possible spam. Here are some other common reasons for messages being held in the moderator queue:
- Message body is too big
- Post to moderated list
- Post by non-member to a members-only list
- Message has a suspicious header
- Message matches a filter rule
By default, PantherList will compare the size of the incoming message to the size allowed for each list. By default, any message over 10 Mb is held for moderation. This is configurable in the 'Advanced list options'.
This is the reason that will be given if a moderated member sends a message to the list, or if you've configured your entire PantherList to be moderated, or someone tries to post to an 'Announcement' type PantherList.
This reason is given whenever a non-member tries to post to a PantherList that is configured to only posts from subscribed members of the list.
A PantherList can be configured to moderate messages with specific headers (e.g. "Subject: On Vacation"). If a message contains such a header, it will be held for moderation.
This is typically the reason given when a message is tagged as Spam. To increase or decrease the level of Spam filtering on your PantherList, choose the 'Edit List Properties' link from the PantherList Main Menu and choose a value between 1 and 10 that will trigger moderation.
It is important to remember that list members are allowed to post individually and not by role. If the sender is a member and is not authrorized to post in the list membership table their messages will be held for moderation even if they are themselves a moderator or owner of the list.If the sender is a non-member and non-member posts are discarded or held by the list, the sender's messages will be held or discarded depending on the list settings again even if the sender is a moderator or owner of the list.
5. How do I only allow certain people to post to my list?
To allow only approved people to send messages to your list, take the following steps:
- Log in to PantherList with your ePanther ID and password, then click the Edit or View List Properties link, and select the list you'd like to configure.
- For any non-member who should be allowed to post, enter their full address in the 'Accept Messages from these Non-Members' text area. Only non-members are affected by this area. Do not add members of your list here.
- Select 'Moderator' or 'Members' from the 'Who can post' buttons. and update properties.
- click Edit or View List Membership in the PantherList main menu.
- Check the 'Moderate' checkbox for all users who should be prevented from posting. If you only want to allow a few members to post, you may wish to use the 'Moderate All Members' radio button under Mass Moderation Options, click Update and then uncheck the Moderate checkbox for members who are authorized to post and click Update.
It is important to remember that adding users to owners and moderators areas in the List Properties grants them elevated access to list configuration pages. Adding users to these groups does not inherently grant them access to post, nor is posting access restricted to members of these groups. Unmoderating a member or adding a non-member to 'Accept Messages from these Non-Members' is the correct way to allow posts from an address.
6. Can I change the name of my list?
It is not possible to change the name of a list, except with respect to capitalization. If need to 're-name' a list, you can download the membership as a TSV file, create a new list and upload the TSV file from the old list. You can then delete the old list if you wish.
Archives and customizations will not be transfered to the new list.
7. How do class lists work?
Class lists can be used by faculty and staff to send messages to the members of any class at UWM. Only the faculty member(s) who are listed as the instructor of the class in the Peoplesoft database can use class rosters to populate their lists.
To activate a class list, log in to PantherList with your ePanther ID and password, then click the 'Class List' link under the 'Create a New List' menu. You must choose a name for your list, and may provide any of the optional settings including course rosters
If you do not select a course roster when the list is created, you can select them on the Edit or View List Membership page.
You may select one or more rosters with which the list is populated, and modify this selection after the fact from the membership page.
Once a class list is activated, it is auto-populated every night with a current roster of students in the selected courses. If you'd like to add another email address to your class list (such as a Teaching Assistant or you home email address) as a subscriber, simply place it in the Add Members text area.
Members who are added manually can be unsubscribed at any time. Members who are imported from the roster can not be manually removed from PantherList.
After the end of the semester, old rosters can be removed from the existing list. If you remove an old roster, you will not be able to re-check it.
8. Can I change the way existing lists work? (e.g. Change an Announcement List to a 'Subscriber Only' List?)
Yes. For example, if you wanted to change your existing 'Subscriber Only' list to a 'Un-Moderated / Open' list type, simply Log in to PantherList with your ePanther ID and password, then click the Edit or view list properties link, select the name of the list you'd like to modify, and adjust the list moderation settings accordingly.
For a full explanation of the different types of lists offered, visit the PantherList List Type page.
9. What is a 'whitelisted' address and how do I add one to my list?
A whitelisted address is useful to specify addresses of people whose postings should be automatically accepted by your list.
Messages from any whitelisted address will be automatically accepted with no further moderation applied. To add a one to your list,
simple click on the Edit List Properties link from the PantherList main menu, select your list, and add the addresses (one per line) in the
text box labeled 'Accept Messages from these Non-Members'.
Only addresses that do not belong to the list should be entered here. Members can be moderated on the List Membership page.
10. I have other questions about PantherList, where can I get help?
If you need information about advanced Mailman features, documentation from the Mailman project is mirrored here.
If you have any other questions about PantherList, please use the PantherList Help Desk form to get help!