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Mailing Lists Overview

This settings page is only available to domain administrators, mailing list moderators and system administrators with the proper permissions.

Mailing Lists are a great way to allow users to communicate with a number of different individuals via a single email address. For example, many companies use mailing lists to email newsletters, promotional offers, or information about product updates to subscribers. Unlike an Alias, a mailing list allows people to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, email communications. In addition, mailing lists can be public or private, be replied to by all users or managed by a single list moderator and more. NOTE: SmarterMail can accommodate mailing lists of up to 75,000 subscribers. Anything greater than that should be managed by a third-party mailing list service provider such as Constant Contact or MailChimp.

Using a mailing list is as simple as sending a standard email: the allowed posters simply send an email to the list address, which takes the form of the list name appended to the domain name. For example, if you create a mailing list called "newsletter" you send a message to newsletter@example.com. If there are other requirements, such as a password, etc. those need to be taken into account as well.

By default, when a subscriber reads a mailing list message, the From field in the subscriber's inbox will display the email address of the individual that sent the mailing list message; the To field will display the list name or mailing list email address; and the Reply To field will display the mailing list email address or the email address of the individual that sent the message, depending on the list settings.

Mailing Lists can be managed by system administrators with Manage Domains permissions, domain administrators and the list moderators themselves. Accessing Mailing Lists is dependent on the role you possess:

List Moderators

If you are a list moderator, when you navigate to your Settings, you'll have Mailing Lists display in the navigation pane. The lists you manage will be displayed here.

Domain Administrators

As a domain administrator, lists are displayed on the Mailing Lists tab on the domain's Accounts page. All lists set up for various administrators are displayed here.

System Administrators

As a system administrator, select a domain and go to the Accounts tab for the domain. All lists set up for various list moderators for the domain can be found on the Mailing Lists tab.

Regardless of your role, whether creating a new mailing list or modifying an existing one, the following options will be available:

  • Options - Configure the mailing list options and permissions
  • Subscribers and Digest Subscribers - Add subscribers who will receive the standard mailing list postings or digest emails.
  • Allowed Posters - Whitelist email addresses or domains who can post to the mailing list
  • Banned Posters - Prevent specific email addresses or domains from posting to the mailing list
  • Messages - Configure the header and footer for postings as well as the replies sent to listserv commands
  • Custom Fields - Customize list postings with subscriber custom fields

Variables

Emails that are posted to a mailing list support the use of the following variables. These variables can be used in the body or subject line of emails that are sent to the mailing list subscribers and also in the footer, header and subscriber Messages. Though similar to Custom Fields in format, these variables need no additional configuration. Simply enter the variable below to display its associated information. Variables will always follow this format: #Variable#

  • Unsubscribe Link (#UnsubscribeLink#) - An unsubscribe variable is included to allow users to unsubscribe from the mailing list with a URL. Note: This URL can also be given friendly hyperlink text (rather than linking the URL) by modifying the Friendly Unsubscribe setting when configuring or modifying a mailing list. For more information, see Mailing List | Options.
  • Recipient (#Recipient#) - The email address of the subscriber who was sent the message.
  • Sender (#Sender#) - The email address of the user sending the message.

  • Domain Date Now (#DomainDateNow#) - The current date (in shorthand) according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: 07/13/2015.
  • Domain Time Now (#DomainTimeNow#) - The current time according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Displayed in 24-hour format.
  • Domain Date Time Now (#DomainDateTimeNow#) - The current date and time according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Displayed in shorthand and 24-hour format.
  • Domain Day Now (#DomainDayNow#) - The current date (date alone, without month and year) according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: 13.
  • Domain Month Now (#DomainMonthNow#) - The current month (in numeric value) according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: 07.
  • Domain Year Now (#DomainYearNow#) - The current year according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: 2015.
  • Domain Day Name Now (#DomainDayNameNow#) - The current day of the week according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: Monday.
  • Domain Month Name Now (#DomainMonthNameNow#) - The current month (by its name) according to the domain's new user time zone defaults found in User Defaults. Ex: July.

  • Moderator Date Now (#ModeratorDateNow#) - The current date (in shorthand) according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: 07/13/2015.
  • Moderator Time Now (#ModeratorTimeNow#) - The current time according to the Moderator's time zone. Displayed in 24-hour format.
  • Moderator Date Time Now (#ModeratorDateTimeNow#) - The current date and time according to the Moderator's time zone. Displayed in shorthand and 24-hour format.
  • Moderator Day Now (#ModeratorDayNow#) - The current date (date alone, without month and year) according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: 13.
  • Moderator Month Now (#ModeratorMonthNow#) - The current month (in numeric value) according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: 07.
  • Moderator Year Now (#ModeratorYearNow#) - The current year according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: 2015.
  • Moderator Day Name Now (#ModeratorDayNameNow#) - The current day of the week according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: Monday.
  • Moderator Month Name Now (#ModeratorMonthNameNow#) - The current month (by its name) according to the Moderator's time zone. Ex: July.

  • Server Date Now (#ServerDateNow#) - The current date (in shorthand) according to the server's system time zone. Ex: 07/13/2015.
  • Server Time Now (#ServerTimeNow#) - The current time according to the server's system time zone. Displayed in 24-hour format.
  • Server Date Time Now (#ServerDateTimeNow#) - The current date and time according to the server's system time zone. Displayed in shorthand and 24-hour format.
  • Server Day Now (#ServerDayNow#) - The current date (date alone, without month and year) according to the server's system time zone. Ex: 13.
  • Server Month Now (#ServerMonthNow#) - The current month (in numeric value) according to the server's system time zone. Ex: 07.
  • Server Year Now (#ServerYearNow#) - The current year according to the server's system time zone. Ex: 2015.
  • Server Day Name Now (#ServerDayNameNow#) - The current day of the week according to the server's system time zone. Ex: Monday.
  • Server Month Name Now (#ServerMonthNameNow#) - The current month (by its name) according to the server's system time zone. Ex: July.
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