ITS and UVa logos for printed output

Mailing List Services

Mailing List Management Information: How to Use Sympa

How to Log into the UVa Mailing List Management Tool, Sympa

  1. Go to the Sympa mailing list server: http://lists.virginia.edu.
  2. Log into Sympa using the appropriate box:
    • Choose the UVa affiliates box and log in through NetBadge if:
      • You already own, or are subscribed to, a mailing list with the email address Your Computing ID@virginia.edu (e.g., mst3k@virginia.edu); or
      • You want to create a mailing list for the first time.
    • Choose the Non-UVa users box to log in instead if:
      • You already own, or are subscribed to, a mailing list with any email address other than Your Computing ID@virginia.edu (e.g., mst3k@virginia.edu). This includes:
        • Other forms of your UVa email address (e.g., or mike@eservices.virginia.edu); or
        • A UVa email alias (e.g., mike@virginia.edu or mike@email.virginia.edu); or
        • A non-UVa email address (e.g., mike@gmail.com); or
        • Other UVa mailing lists that function as the owner of this mailing list.
      • Note: You may need to click the Lost Password link if you don't remember the password.
  3. After logging in, you will see the name(s) of any mailing lists that you subscribe to at this email address, and any that are owned by this email address.

Changing the Configuration of an Existing Mailing List

There are many customized configurations you may want to set for your mailing list(s) in Sympa. Below are instructions on how to do two common types of configuration changes that list owners may want to verify and/or change.

Change List to Moderated or Subscriber Only

To change your list back to moderated or to set it so only subscribers are allowed to post to the list:

  1. Log into Sympa.
  2. In the lower left box, beside the name of the list you would like to change, click on admin.
  3. Click the Edit List Config link; then click the Sending/Reception link.
  4. In the first box at the top of the page, Who can send messages, make your selection from the dropdown menu:
    • Choose Moderated (editorkey) for a list that you want to keep moderated.
    • Choose Restricted to subscribers (default) to keep non-subscribers from sending to the list.
  5. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Update button.

Review List Membership

To review your list membership, as Sympa uses different rules than Mailman did to identify mail from subscribers and moderators:

  1. Log into Sympa.
  2. In the lower left box, beside the name of the list you would like to change, click on admin.
  3. Then click on Manage Subscribers. Or, just click Review Members at the bottom.
  4. Check members’ email listing to ensure they can send mail to the list.
    • Users who subscribed in Mailman with multiple addresses (for example: Computing ID@virginia.edu, Computing ID@eservices.virginia.edu, etc.) may appear multiple times.
    • Those listed with “nomail” in the Reception column are “From” addresses, which are allowed to post to the list, but that email address will not receive its own copy of the message.

Creating a List: Mailing List Types

At UVa, there are 4 preconfigured mailing list types, each with two options: archiving and non-archiving:

About Public Discussion Lists

  • Best for: open communication among subscribers and others
  • Who can subscribe/post: anyone, even if they are not a subscribed member of the list
  • Archives: can be turned on or off

About Notification Lists

  • Best for: distribution of announcements to subscribers
  • Who can subscribe/post: anyone, but administrator/moderator approves distribution of messages
  • Archives: can be turned on or off

About Contact Address Lists

  • Best for: use as a public point of contact, such as an email address listed as a contact on a webpage or brochure
  • Who can subscribe/post: The administrator/moderator approves subscriptions to the list, and anyone can send, even if not subscribed as a member
  • Archives: can be turned on or off

About Members Only Lists

  • Best for: encouraging communication among list subscribers
  • Who can subscribe/post: administrator/moderator approves subscriptions, and subscribers can send without moderation, but non-subscriber messages are moderated
  • Archives: can be turned on or off

Note: All of the features of lists are configurable after the initial list creation for administrators under the Admin menu, except for archiving. To change this feature, you must write to postmaster@virginia.edu.

Creating a List: Mailing List Name Requirements

With Sympa, mailing lists can be created instantly, without waiting for postmaster processing. Just log into Sympa and create your list, as long as:

  • at least one of its owners is affiliated with the University (with an email address ending in @virginia.edu);
  • its name is currently not in use; and
  • its name does not contain:
    • any spaces, accents, or special characters; or
    • a word “reserved” by Sympa:
      • -request
      • -editor
      • -owner
      • -subscribe
      • -unsubscribe

Note: The post-audit process will be used for the naming of lists. This is the same process that has been in use with email aliases at UVa: if someone complains about your choice of mailing list name, the situation will be reviewed. The postmaster will then determine whether the name may remain with your list, or not.

Deleting/Closing a Mailing List

Mailing lists are closed in two ways: at the request of the owner, or due to inactivity. Either way, the name of a closed mailing list goes into a two-year quarantine, so no other list can use the same name as the deleted list. After two years, the name becomes again available for assignment to another list.

Closing a List at the Request of the List Owner(s)

Sympa list owners may close their own lists, and need not send a request to close a list to the Postmaster. A closed list no longer works, but the list name/alias will stay active for 4 months. List owners should download their archives—if they want to keep them—for off-list storage before closing their lists.

After a mailing list has been closed:

  • If someone sends to the list, s/he will get a reply from Sympa that informs them the list is closed.
  • It can be restored up to 4 months by writing to postmaster@virginia.edu.
  • Its name will be put in “cooldown” mode in the UVa Email Address Management System (AMS) after 4 months, and is quarantined for 2 years.
    • The list and archives will be kept on the system for 12 months, after which all will be deleted. At that point, there is no way to recover the archives.

Closing a List Due to Inactivity

If a list is inactive for 12 months, a message will be sent to the list owner warning them that the list will be closed the following month (during month 13 of inactivity).

If the list does not become active during that month and it is closed, the list configuration and archives will be deleted, and the list name will be put into a quarantine for 2 years, as described above.

Need Help Using Sympa for Mailing List Management?

If you need assistance beyond this page in using Sympa:

Page Updated: 2012-02-16

Standards & Policy

University of Virginia
Information Technology Services
2015 Ivy Road
P.O. Box 400324
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904-4324 USA

UVa Help Desk: 434-924-HELP (434-924-4357) • 4help@virginia.edu

Page Updated: 2012-02-16; © 2012 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

The information contained on the University of Virginia’s Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) website is provided as a public service with the understanding that ITS makes no representations or warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability or suitability of the information, including warrantees of title, non-infringement of copyright or patent rights of others. These pages are expected to represent the University of Virginia community and the State of Virginia in a professional manner in accordance with the University of Virginia’s Computing Policies.