Configuring the Mailman List to Never Hold Anything for Moderator Approval

Mailman is a popular mailing list management software used to manage and distribute email to a large group of recipients. By default, Mailman may hold messages for moderator approval under certain conditions, such as when a message is sent by a non-member or exceeds size limits. To configure your Mailman list so that nothing is ever held for moderator approval, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log in to the Mailman Administrative Interface

1. Access the Mailman Admin Page:

Open your web browser and navigate to the Mailman administrative interface. This is typically something like http://yourdomain.com/mailman/admin/listname, where listname is the name of your mailing list.

2. Enter Your Admin Credentials:

Enter your list administrator password and click Let me in... to access the Mailman admin interface.

Step 2: Navigate to the Privacy Options

1. Access the Privacy Options:

In the Mailman admin interface, look for the Privacy options... link in the main menu.

2. Select Sender Filters:

Under Privacy options..., click on the Sender filters category. This section allows you to configure how Mailman handles messages from different types of senders.

Step 3: Configure the Sender Filters

1. Adjust Member and Non-Member Filters:

In the Sender filters section, you will see two primary areas: accept_these_nonmembers and generic_nonmember_action.

Accept These Non-Members:

If you want to allow certain non-members to post without moderation, list their email addresses here. Otherwise, leave it blank.

Generic Non-Member Action:

Set the generic_nonmember_action to Accept. This setting allows emails from non-members to be automatically accepted without moderation.

1. Bypass Moderation for Members:

Ensure that members of the mailing list are not held for moderation by ensuring that there are no restrictions in the accept_these_nonmembers and generic_nonmember_action settings for members.

Step 4: Disable Message Hold for Moderation

1. Configure Additional Moderation Settings:

Scroll down to the moderated settings. Here you can set the moderation bit for each member.

Set All Users to Unmoderated:

If members are listed as moderated, change their status to unmoderated by selecting No in the moderation bit settings for each member.

1. Automatic Discard for Other Reasons:

Under the automatic_discard options (which may be found in other sections like Content filtering or Spam filters), set policies to discard messages that would typically be held for reasons such as too large attachments or messages with too many recipients. This ensures that such messages are not held for moderation but discarded outright.

Step 5: Save Your Changes

1. Save Settings:

After adjusting the settings, scroll down and click the Submit Your Changes button to save the new configurations.

Step 6: Test the Configuration

1. Send a Test Email:

Send a test email from both a member and non-member address to the mailing list to ensure that messages are not held for moderator approval.

Verify Results:

Check if the emails are posted directly to the list without being held for moderation. If any issues arise, revisit the settings to ensure everything is correctly configured.

Step 7: Monitor the List Activity

Regularly Review:

- Monitor the mailing list activity over time to ensure that the configuration is working as intended and that no messages are being held unexpectedly.