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Question: I would like to limit who can post to my list. Is it possible to allow some domains but not others to post to my list?

Answer:

You can specify what happens to messages from non-members that come from specific domains. To do this, log on with your UW NetID and password to your list's administration page at

https://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/admin/listname
where "listname" is replaced with the actual name of your list.

Select the "Privacy Options" link in the Configuration Categories at the top of the page. This will expose four subsections of Privacy Options: Subscription rules, Sender filters, Recipient filters and Spam filters. Select the "Sender filters" link.

To automatically accept non-member posts from a given domain, enter the following text in the "accept these nonmembers" setting:

^.*domain
where "domain" is replaced with the domain you want to accept. For example, if you want to automatically accept all messages from UW email addresses, you would enter "washington.edu" as your domain.

You can do similar things with the "hold these nonmembers," "reject these nonmembers" and "discard these nonmembers" settings. For example, if your list receives lots of spam from the xyz.com domain, enter "^.*xyz.com" in the "discard these nonmembers" setting. Messages from any address ending in xyz.com will then be automatically discarded.

Of course, depending on what you are trying to accomplish, you also need to make sure the "generic nonmember action" setting is set correctly. This setting specifies what happens to messages from non-members that do not fit any of the sender filters.

Don't forget to click on the "Submit your changes" button at the bottom of the screen when finished.

Date: 12/2005 Author: R. Skiver Thompson