Answer
GMS Communication Server offers a wide range of ways to subscribe to a list. This knowledge base article will cover the different methods that can be used, also discussing the authentication options available.
Requesting list membership
To illustrate the many methods an email address can be added to a list , we will consider joining Gordano’s product
discussion list: discuss@gordano.com.
The user should send an e-mail to "discuss-join@gordano.com", their email address will be recorded as requesting membership. The word "join" may be replaced with "subscribe" or "sub" or any other alias that is configured.
The user would shortly receive an automated e-mail confirming the request. GMS Communication Server will also allow the administrator to customise the default automated "join" message that is sent out.
From the interface, GMS Communication Server offers the administrator a simple method of entering e-mail addresses requiring no input from each user. This would mean that all the e-mail addresses entered would receive an automated e-mail asking them to reply to the automated message to be added to the list.
GMS Communication Server allows for "nomination" of an e-mail address to "join" a list. Further attributes can also be specifed at this time, such as "Digests" and "Acknowledgments" This page is accessible to the administrator from the admin GUI. GMS Communication Server > Action > Join… This "nominated" e-mail address would shortly receive a join confirmation request. The user would have to reply to the automated e-mail in order to be part of the list.
Authentication options
Once someone has requested membership, GMS Communication Server can apply a range of
authentication options to ensure that the email address is correct, that
they really wanted to join and that they are actually allowed to join. Here are a couple of authentication options available…
You can password protect a list so only "join" requests that have the correct authentication will be processed. In order for the list control account to successfully process a protected "join" request, the command must be preceeded with the correct password. The syntax is described below…
password = listpassword join listname bob@yahoo.com
There is also an option to perform a DNS MX lookup on the e-mail address. Every valid address should have a valid MX record for their domain – in practice some do and some don’t! However using this option from the interface will prevent people attempting to join from an address that does not exist.
GMS Communication Server can be configured to use a join confirmation security feature. This is almost essential as any valid e-mail address can be given when joining a list. This means someone could ungracefully use your address without your consent. The email acount will shortly receive an automated confirmation message requesting the user to reply in order to be part of the list. If a reply is not received within a specified time period the initial join request will be void.
See Also:
- What are list alias commands?
- What options are there for leaving/unsubscribing to a list?
- What is and how does moderation work?
Keywords:join subscribe list