BFMAIL distribution has been replaced with a newer technology called Listserv which is better at handling email from the various mail clients in use today.
Listserv replaces BFMAIL only as a way to handle mailing lists,
distribute and archive messages. It is not intended as a replacement of our BFMAIL
codes which are also used in our database to indicate the membership of each active BaBarian.
The Listserv lists distributing messages to the community (members, speaker's bureau,
pubboard, etc, ...) are in fact automatically populated using the BFMAIL codes stored in
the Meetings database.
It is possible to add members to the list through the web interface and listserv will store and use these
additions from a temporary table in its own space. Any messages to the list will include
these new members until the cronjob runs again. When the cronjob runs it will only use the
members listed in the database; the temporary table is wiped clean. To make these additions permanent you
must add the new members to the Meetings database. For more information please contact
Nitssia Harrison .
The list of BFMAIL lists migrated to Listserv is here. This list was
based on usage within the last 3 years, starting from year 2012.
All the BFMAIL codes are stored in the BaBar database, if a distribution list needs to be
migrated to Listserv it can be done any time by requesting a new Listserv list (see below).
Below is a table of commonly used commands that you send as email to Listserv. We will use "blatz" as the example code and chee@slac.stanford.edu as the subscriber's email address. When sending out a message make sure the sender email address matches the subscribed email address. For example, chee@slac.stanford.edu can send to blatz but chee@gmail.com cannot because chee@gmail.com is not subcribed to blatz.
| Task | bfmail@slac.stanford.edu | listserv@slac.stanford.edu | Comments |
| Post a message to blatz |
distribution: blatz | blatz@slac.stanford.edu | In Listserv, send mail as you normally would except you send to the listname <mailcode>@slac.stanford.edu. In BFmail use special keywords in the body of the message. |
| Subscribe to a list |
subscribe blatz chee@slac.stanford.edu | subscribe blatz Charlotte Hee subscribe blatz | Listserv automatically associates the sender's email address with the Listserv name when the person's name is not specified. In the second example, chee@slac.stanford.edu will be the email address used. |
| Unsubscribe from a list |
unsubscribe blatz chee@slac.stanford.edu | signoff blatz | Users can unsubscribe themselves from a list but only list owners can unsubscribe any member |
| Bulk unsubscribe from a list |
quiet delete blatz *@* | List owners can unsubscribe whole lists of members with one command | |
| Get online help | help | help | Returns the online user guide |
| Get a list of all listnames | list | lists | Returns the names of all the lists |
| Get the members of a list | who blatz | review blatz [ noheader ] | noheader prevents listserv from sending back the email headers and just sends the list of members |
For detailed information about Listserv refer to the links below:
| Slac Listserv Info |
| Listserv Commands |
| Request a new list |