An electronic mailing list or email list is a special use of email
that allows for widespread distribution of information to many
Internet
a list of email addresses, the people ("subscribers") receiving mail at those addresses, the publications (email messages) sent to those addresses, and a reflector, which is a single email address that, when designated as the recipient of a message, will send a copy of that message to all of the subscribers. Contents 1 How automated electronic mailing lists work 2 Types 2.1 Announcement list 2.2 Discussion list 3 List security 3.1 Subscription 4 Archives 5 See also 6 References 7 External links How automated electronic mailing lists work[edit]
Electronic mailing lists usually are fully or partially automated
through the use of special mailing list software and a reflector
address set up on a server capable of receiving email. Incoming
messages sent to the reflector address are processed by the software,
and, depending on their content, are acted upon internally (in the
case of messages containing commands directed at the software itself)
or are distributed to all email addresses subscribed to the mailing
list.
A web-based interface is often available to allow people to subscribe,
unsubscribe, and change their preferences. However, mailing list
servers existed long before the World Wide Web,[1] so most also accept
commands over email to a special email address. This allows
subscribers (or those who want to be subscribers) to perform such
tasks as subscribing and unsubscribing, temporarily halting the
sending of messages to them, or changing available preferences - all
via email. The common format for sending these commands is to send an
email that contains simply, the command followed by the name of the
electronic mailing list the command pertains to. Examples: subscribe
anylist or subscribe anylist John Doe.
Electronic mailing list servers may be set to forward messages to
subscribers of a particular mailing list either individually as they
are received by the list server, or in digest form in which all
messages received on a particular day by the list server are combined
into one email that is sent once per day to subscribers. Some mailing
lists allow individual subscribers to decide how they prefer to
receive messages from the list server (individual or digest).[2]
Types[edit]
Announcement list[edit]
One type of electronic mailing list is an announcement list, which is
used primarily as a one-way conduit of information and may only be
"posted to" by selected people. This may also be referred to by the
term newsletter. Newsletter and promotional emailing lists are
employed in various sectors as parts of direct marketing campaigns.
Discussion list[edit]
Another type of electronic mailing list is a discussion list, in which
any subscriber may post. On a discussion list, a subscriber uses the
mailing list to send messages to all the other subscribers, who may
answer in similar fashion. Thus, actual discussion and information
exchanges can happen. Mailing lists of this type are usually
topic-oriented (for example, politics, scientific discussion, health
problems, joke contests), and the topic may range from extremely
narrow to "whatever you think could interest us". In this they are
similar to
Usenet
List of mailing list software
Dada Mail
Dgroups
eGroups
Email
References[edit] ^ "Listserv product history timeline". ^ "HOW TO SET YOUR LISTSERV SUBSCRIPTION TO DIGEST MODE". Hamilton. Retrieved 7 April 2017. ^ "What is a 'Whitelist' and why do I want to work with a 'Whitelisted' Mail Distributor?". External links[edit] Discussion_groups article at LISWiki, a
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