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Getting Started with PairList: Discussion List

We are deprecating PairList. While existing lists will still work, users may no longer create new lists.

Assess Your List Type

So you’ve created a PairList. Now what? Well, you need to decide whether you want it to be a one way, announcement-only mailing list or a discussion mailing list. An announcement-only mailing list is ideal for things like newsletters or updates, while discussion mailing lists are designed to facilitate discussion between all subscribing members.

If you think an announcement-only PairList would better suit your needs, check out our Getting Started with PairList: Announcement-Only List article.

If a discussion list still works best for you, continue reading this article.

Set Up Your Discussion List

Discussion mailing lists allow any of a mailing list's subscribers to post comments to the list.

By default, new PairList mailing lists are configured as announcement-only lists, which means only authorized users can post to the list. Because of the nature of discussion lists, we want to configure the list so that anyone can post.

Step 1: Enter the PairList Admin Interface

You can manage your Pairlist mailing lists via our Account Control Center (ACC) by following the instructions below:

  1. Log in to the ACC
  2. Select Add Ons
  3. Select PairList
  4. Click on the name of the list that you wish to configure
  5. A new tab will be opened. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click the administrative interface linkadmin interface image
  6. Enter your PairList administrative password, and click Let me in...

This is where you can manage your mailing list and make the changes needed to configure your PairList.

Step 2: Configure Discussion List Settings

  1. Once you’ve reached the admin interface, click Privacy OptionsPrivacy Options location image
  2. Click Sender filterssender filters location image
  3. Scroll down Privacy Options and find By default, should new list member postings be moderated?
  4. Change the value to Nono moderation image
  5. Click Submit Your Changes at the bottom of the page

Step 3: Turn Off Email Moderation

A discussion list should allow subscribers to post to the rest of the list, without the administrator approving every comment. Turning off moderation will allow subscribers to post directly to the mailing list. You can set up filters to keep out unwanted topics or words so that you can keep your discussion list on track without having to approve every comment. See our How to Filter PairList Posts article for more instructions. Follow the steps below to turn off email moderation.

  1. While still in the PairList admin interface, go up to the top list of links and click Membership Management
  2. In the Additional Member Tasks section, turn "Set everyone's moderation bit to Off
  3. Click Setmoderation bit changed to no image

You will be able to tell if moderation has been turned off for a specific email address by going to the Membership List section and checking the mod column. If the email address has not been marked with a checkmark in the mod column, then moderation has been turned off for that email address.

Step 4: Set Up Authorized Senders

Now your mailing list is set up as discussion! You only have one more step to go until you’re ready to post.

Now, your discussion list lets those who have subscribed post back and forth to the mailing list. However, unless your email address is subscribed to the mailing list, you won’t be able to post to the mailing list. To post to the mailing list without subscribing, you can add your email address as an authorized sender.

The mailing list keeps a list of authorized senders. If an email address is on the list, their initial posts to the mailing list will be automatically accepted and distributed. If the email is not on the authorized senders' list or subscribed, the post will automatically be denied. No authorized senders are set by default, so you’ll need to enter the email(s) that you want to use to post to your mailing list. See our article, Setting Up PairList Authorized Senders, for more instructions.

Updated on February 3, 2023

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