1. What is Mailman?
2. Why is Majordomo being replaced?
3. What features does Mailman provide?
4. When will Majordomo be replaced?
5. What do I need to do to prepare for the migration?
6. I am a Majordomo list owner.  When will my list(s) be migrated to Mailman?
7. I am a Majordomo list owner.  What will happen when my list(s) is migrated?
8. I am a Majordomo list owner.  Is there anything I need to do once my list(s) is migrated?
9. Why are the Majordomo list names and email addresses being changed?
10. What will happen if a user sends email to the old Majordomo email address once a list has been migrated to Mailman?
11. How will subscribers know about the new mailing list email address?
12. Will there be any training sessions on how to use Mailman?

1. What is Mailman?
Mailman is software that allows organizations to create and manage mailing lists.  Mailing lists can be used as a means of communicating with a group of people via email.  It is very similar to the Majordomo software that we currently use on campus for creating and managing lists.  However, it has some additional features not available in Majordomo.  Mailman will be replacing Majordomo as the mailing list software used on campus.

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2. Why is Majordomo being replaced?
There has been some demand from our users to replace Majordomo with something more user friendly.  Majordomo requires the use of certain commands embedded in an email message in order to subscribe to, unsubscribe from, and manage lists.  Mailman provides a web-based interface to perform these same functions.  You do not have to remember any commands.  Users can go to a web page to see the list of public mailing lists and easily subscribe to and unsubscribe from them.  List administrators also have a web site for their mailing list where they can easily approve subscriptions, unsubscriptions and perform other administrative tasks related to their list.

In addition to having an easier interface, there have been problems with Majordomo properly handling email sent to a list that has invalid email addresses subscribed to it.  Notifications, called bounces, are sent out to the entire list about these invalid email addresses, confusing users.  Mailman correctly handles these notifications. They are not sent to the entire list. Instead, they are sent just to the list owner.

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3. What features does Mailman provide?
Mailman has all of the same features that Majordomo has, plus more.  Here is a summary:

1. General mailing list functionality including subscriptions and unsubscriptions (with list owner approval if needed), posting to a list (also with list owner approval if needed), public and private lists, and the ability to see who is subscribed to the list. 
2. A web-based interface to easily subscribe to, unsubscribe from, and manage lists.
3. Notifications of invalid email addresses subscribed to a list are sent to the list owner.
4. List owners can assign certain list adminstrator tasks to a different person through the use of a separate password.
5. List owners can delete their list when they no longer need it.
6. List owners can subscribe and unsubscribe users individually or collectively by importing a file of email addresses to subscribe or unsubscribe.
7. List owners can customize welcome and goodbye messages that will automatically be sent when people subscribe or unsubscribe from their list.
8. List owners have the ability to easily change subscription, unsubscripiton, and email posting policies.

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4. When will Majordomo be replaced?
A pilot project will be conducted during the fall 2007 semester where a small subset of Majordomo lists will be converted to Mailman.  List administrators and subscribers of those lists will use Mailman for the rest of the fall 2007 semester and provide feedback to CTS.  Based on the feedback, a full conversion from Majordomo to Mailman will take place in the Spring 2008 semester.

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5. What do I need to do to prepare for the migration?
As a general user subscribed to a SUNY Oswego mailing list, you should be aware of the following:

1. The email address used to send email to the list will change.  We are asking that list owners communicate this change after it has been migrated to Mailman.
2. You will still be subscribed to any lists that you are currently subscribed to after migration.  You will not have to resubscribe yourself to any lists. 
3. You can become familiar with the Mailman web site at http://ls.oswego.edu/.

As a list owner, you should be aware of the following:

1. If you are currently using Majordomo for class-related activity, we encourage you to explore the new ANGEL learning management system.  ANGEL allows faculty to manage some aspects of their classes online including posting documents such as powerpoint presentations, posting assignments, creating assignment drop boxes, and discussions.  All SUNY Oswego courses have been automatically loaded into ANGEL and all students have been automatically enrolled in the appropriate online ANGEL courses.  To log on to ANGEL, go to http://oswego.sln.suny.edu/ and login with your SUNY Oswego email address and password.
2. Currently, Majordomo lists either have a "-l" or "-list" suffix.  There has been confusion with users subscribed to a list with the "-l" suffix.  It is not always clear to users whether it is a dash then the lowercase letter L or a dash then the number one (it is the former rather than latter).  We will no longer be offering to create lists with a "-l" suffix and all lists that currently have that suffix will be renamed with a "-list" suffix.  For example, if your list is currently called bugsbunny-l, it will be renamed to bugsbunny-list.  Lists that already have a "-list" suffix will not be affected by this change.
3. The email address currently associated with your Majordomo mailing list ends in @oswego.edu, i.e. bugsbunny-list@oswego.edu.  In order to use the web-based interface of Mailman, the ending part of the email address will end with @ls.oswego.edu.  So, to send email to bugsbunny-list, you would send it to bugsbunny-list@ls.oswego.edu.   
4. With Mailman, there will be a web page, http://ls.oswego.edu/, where users from anywhere in the world can see and try to subscribe themselves to SUNY Oswego public mailing lists.  You may want to consider whether you want your list to be public or private and review your current subscription policy for your list.
5. You can become familiar with the Mailman web site at http://ls.oswego.edu/.  This is the general users site.  When your list is migrated to Mailman, there will also be an administrative web site for your list.

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6. I am a Majordomo list owner.  When will my list(s) be migrated to Mailman?
If you are a Majordomo list owner and are part of the pilot project, your list will be migrated in the fall 2007 semester.  CTS will communicate with you ahead of time on exact dates.  Based on feedback from the pilot, it is hoped that all remaining Majordomo lists will be migrated in the Spring 2008 semester.  CTS will communicate with each list owner ahead of time.

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7. I am a Majordomo list owner.  What will happen when my list(s) is migrated?
The following steps will be taken when your list is migrated to Mailman:

1. As mentioned above, CTS will communicate with each list owner ahead of time to let you know when your list will be migrated. 
2. All the current Majordomo users subscribed to your list(s) will automatically be subscribed to your Mailman list.
3. All the current Majordomo configurations will automatically be configured in your Mailman list.  This includes whether your list is advertised (public or private), the subscription and unsubscription policies, posting policies (who is authorized to send email to the list without list owner approval), who is allowed to view people subscribed to the list, and any descriptions set up for the list.
4. If your list has a "-l" suffix, it will be renamed to "-list" (refer to "What do I need to do to prepare for the migration?").
5. Once your list is migrated to Mailman, the old Majordomo list will be deleted and the old email address associated with it will no longer work.
6. You will then be notified that your list has been migrated.

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8. I am a Majordomo list owner.  Is there anything I need to do once my list(s) is migrated?
There are a few things you should do once your list has been migrated to Mailman.

1. Go to the Mailman list owners administration web page for each of your lists and make sure all of your subscribers were automatically subscribed to your Mailman list. The administrative web site for you list is of the form: http://ls.oswego.edu/admin/listname.  Replace "listname" in that address with the name of your list.  For example, if your list was called bugsbunny-list, you would go to http://ls.oswego.edu/admin/bugsbunny-list.  After you login to your list, the first page you will see includes a listing of the subscribers of your list.
2. Also on the Mailman list owners administration web page, review your mailing list configuration settings to make sure they were migrated correctly.  You should review your subscription policy, posting policy, list description, and advertising options.  These options are available from the "Privacy" and "General Options"  links near the top of the page.  See the "FAQs for List Owners" document for checking specific options.
3. If appropriate, send a message to your list announcing where future emails to the list should be posted to.  All lists will end with @ls.oswego.edu and in some cases, some lists may have been renamed with a "-list" suffix (refer to "What do I need to do to prepare for the migration?").  You should let your subscribers know this.  We have included a sample message in the question "How will subscribers know about the new mailing list email address?"
4. Become familiar with the Mailman web-based interface.  Instructions for performing some administrative tasks are included in the "FAQs for List Owners" page.
5. Update any web pages, online forms, or publications that reference your list address with the new email address.

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9. Why are the Majordomo list names and email addresses being changed?

The ending part of the email addresses are being changed from @oswego.edu to @ls.oswego.edu in order to use the web-based interface of Mailman and also to separate mailing list addresses from SUNY Oswego faculty, staff, and student email addresses.  Separating user addresses from list addresses will reduce confusion some users have had while doing searches using SUNY Oswego's People Search and doing searches within certain email readers like Thunderbird and Communications Express.  Because mailing lists and users email addresses end the same way, sometimes people don't know if they are sending email to a person or a mailing list. 

Currently, Majordomo lists either have a "-l" or "-list" suffix.  There has been confusion with users subscribed to a list with the "-l" suffix.  It is not always clear to users whether it is a dash then the lowercase letter L or a dash then the number one (it is the former rather than latter).  We will no longer be offering to create lists with a "-l" suffix and all lists that currently have that suffix will be renamed with a "-list" suffix.  For example, if your list is currently called bugsbunny-l, it will be renamed to bugsbunny-list.  Lists that already have a "-list" suffix will not be affected by this change.

The combination of these two changes will provide users with an easy-to-use web-based interface and allow our users to easily tell whether their email is going to a list or a person.

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10. What will happen if a user sends email to the old Majordomo email address once a list has been migrated to Mailman?
The email will not be delivered.  A notification message will be sent back to the user saying that the email address does not exist.

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11. How will subscribers know about the new mailing list email address?
Once a mailing list has been migrated, we are asking that mailing list owners, if appropriate, send a message out to the list letting subscribers know about the new email address.  A sample message is below:

"Hello.

This list, hosted by SUNY Oswego, is now managed under new mailing list software, called Mailman. 

You should be aware that, because of this change, this mailing list has a new email address.  You should now send email to the following address for this list:  <insert new email address>. Or, you may simply reply to any future emails that get sent to the list.  When you reply to a future email, it will automatically go to the correct email address of the list. 

If you have any questions, please consult the following web site for some frequently asked questions: http://www.oswego.edu/cts/lists. 

<insert mailing list owner signature>"

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12. Will there be any training sessions on how to use Mailman?
Yes.  As part of the conversion process, we will be offering Mailman workshops.  CTS will be working with the pilot users individually during the fall 2007 semester.  We plan on having Mailman workshops in the Spring 2008 semester if full conversion takes place then.  These will be offered as part of our CTS Workshops and will be posted on our workshops web site.

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