How to Create a Mailing for Students in Your Class(es)

Alternatives:  In the Faculty Web Interface (the Web program that allows you to turn in your students' grades on the Web), there is a function that allows you to send an email to everyone in the class.  However, that program uses only the email addresses that exist for your students in Student Records (the records maintained in the university's record system); your students can change that address, but they're not very good at keeping those records up to date (click here for instructions on how to do this; students can get these instructions here).  Also, you are the only person who can send a message in this way; your students cannot use that system to send a message to each other.  

If you have a group of fewer than 5-6 persons, it is usually easier to create a group right in your own mail program.

When people receive mail from a majordomo list, the names of the other members of the group will not appear in the "TO" line of their email message (this message comes to you through a majordomo list).

STEP ONE:

Using a Web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer, go this URL and fill out the form that you will see there (note that there is an underscore character between "Major" and "domo" in the address above ("Major_domo"):

http://www.uidaho.edu/csrv/hpteam/Major_domo/request.htm
(You can just click on this address to be taken to this page.)

If you would like your messages to be archived to a Web site, be sure to click the button for this option.  If your list is archived, anyone will be able to access the site at this address: 

http://www.uidaho.edu/list-archives/NameofList

where "NameofList," of course, is the actual name of your list.  This can be very useful to keep track of discussion threads, but it also keeps the list from being closed to others.

After a few days, you will get a couple of email messages back giving you information about your new list. The important information is the name of the list and the password (often the name of the list won't be quite what you requested because of certain naming conventions that the ITS people have to follow in setting up your list--one convention, for example, is that all letters in the name are in lower case).  For example, if you were teaching English 102-08, a good name for the list would be eng102-08.

You don't have to read through all those instructions (which are very detailed) in order to get started using your list. You can just give the commands that I list below.

STEP TWO:

Send one email message to majordomo@uidaho.edu changing the password:

passwd NameofList oldpassword newpassword
(Don't type "NameofList," "oldpassword," or "newpassword," of course; type the actual names and passwords to make this command work.  Note the spelling of "passwd," however; that cannot be "password.")

There should be nothing else in the message except this one line.

The majordomo program will respond by sending you a message back confirming your request.

STEP THREE (optional):
(I have had trouble getting this step to work correctly)

The info text is the text that each new subscriber will receive when they get signed up for the list. In that that text, you can explain what the purpose of the list is. To create an info text, send another email message to majordomo@uidaho.edu setting up the info text :

newinfo NameofList password
[text of new info]

To check your results, send a message to majordomo@uidaho.edu like this:

info NameofList

The majordomo program will answer you, telling you the results of your commands.

STEP FOUR:

To subscribe each person to the list, send another email message to majordomo@uidaho.edu that adds each of your students to the list:

approve password subscribe NameofList emailaddress@uidaho.edu
approve password subscribe NameofList emailaddress@uidaho.edu
approve password subscribe NameofList emailaddress@uidaho.edu
etc.

The majordomo program will respond by sending you two messages for each new subscriber to your list. If you get an email address wrong, these messages will tell you the problem.

To check your results, send a message like this:

who NameofList

The majordomo program will answer you with an email message consisting of all the email addresses of the subscribers.

You can combine commands in one message, like this:

who NameofList
info NameofList

The majordomo program will send you back a message telling you the results of your commands.

To remove a subscriber from the list, use this command:

approve password unsubscribe NameofList emailaddress@uidaho.edu

STEP FIVE:

At the end of the semester, request that your list be deleted.  Otherwise, it just stays out there and prevents someone the next semester from creating a list with that name.  (For example, if you were teaching English 102-08 and had a list named eng102-08, the person who teaches Section 8 of English 102 the following semester wouldn't be able to use that name.)  You can request that a list be deleted by sending an email message to hpteam@uidaho.edu.