The ListServer is an automated process in VPOP3 which manages mailing lists. People can send commands to the ListServer to perform various functions remotely.

Whether these commands are allowed, and exactly how they work depends on the particular mailing list's settings.

These commands can be sent in the message subject. If these are used, then the remainder of the message content is ignored

(Can be abbreviated to sub)

Send a subject of subscribe listname. For example

Subject: subscribe offers-list

n.b. Use the list name, not the email address of the list

This adds the sender email address to the specified mailing list. This only works if the list supports subscriptions. If the list verifies subscriptions, then a message will be sent back to the original sender to confirm the subscription.

(Can be abbreviated to uns)

Send a subject of unsubscribe listname. For example

Subject: unsubscribe offers-list

n.b. Use the list name, not the email address of the list

You can use * as the listname, to unsubscribe from all lists managed by this ListServer.

This removes the sender email address from the specified mailing list. If the list verifies unsubscriptions, then a message will be sent back to the original sender to confirm the unsubscription.

If the subject is not one of the commands above, then the ListServer will process the message body as a list of commands - one command per line. The commands are as below:

(Can be abbreviated to sub)

Send subscribe listname. For example

subscribe offers-list

n.b. Use the list name, not the email address of the list

This adds the sender email address to the specified mailing list. This only works if the list supports subscriptions. If the list verifies subscriptions, then a message will be sent back to the original sender to confirm the subscription.

(Can be abbreviated to uns)

Use unsubscribe listname. For example

unsubscribe offers-list

or unsubscribe listname emailaddress to unsubscribe an alternate email address, for example

unsubscribe offers-list me@company.com

n.b. Use the list name, not the email address of the list

You can use * as the listname, to unsubscribe from all lists managed by this ListServer.

This removes the sender email address from the specified mailing list. If the list verifies unsubscriptions, then a message will be sent back to the original sender to confirm the unsubscription.

Use users listname. For example

users offers-list

n.b. Use the list name, not the email address of the list

This returns a list of the email addresses of the current list members. This command is usually not available, but can be enabled in the mailing list settings.

Use which.

This returns a list of the mailing lists on this ListServer which you are a member of.

Use lists.

This returns a list of public mailing lists which the ListServer supports.

Use nomail listname, for example:

nomail offers-list

or use nomail listname yyyy-mm-dd, for example:

nomail offers-list 2015-02-28

This turns off sending messages to your email address, without unsubscribing you totally. The second variant will automatically re-enable sending messages to your email address on the specified date. This command can be useful if you are going on holiday.

You can use * instead of the list name, to make it act on all mailing lists on this ListServer.

Use mail listname, for example:

mail offers-list

This turns on sending messages to your email address. This is used after the NoMail command above.

You can use * instead of the list name, to make it act on all mailing lists on this ListServer.

Use quiet

The ListServer does not send back an email response.

Use help.

The ListServer sends back a list of commands which are possible.

Use quit.

The ListServer does not process any more commands in this message. This is useful if a signature is added to your message when you send it, and you do not want to receive any error messages if the ListServer cannot recognise commands.

Use stop.

An alias for the quit command.