Instructions for Using the Sympa List Manager
Here you will find answers to the following questions:
SYMPA instructions for a regular user
For contacting the list service, please refer to the following SYMPA user interface web address:
http://lists.ut.ee/wws
As most of the activities in SYMPA web interface require password, the first step to be taken there is asking for a password to be sent to your e-mail address for using SYMPA.
NB! The password is not the same as the one given to you with the user ID for the University's computer network.
In order to get yourself a SYMPA password, please press the "Saatke mulle parool" (Send me a password) button at the end of the page, after which you will be sent a password to an e-mail address you provide. Enter this together with an e-mail address on the web interface, so that SYMPA can identify you.
Using the buttons situated in the upper corner of SYMPA web interface and in the search column situated a little bit lower enables you to browse the available public lists. You can also search for a specific list (write the name of the list to the search column without the @lists.ut.ee ending) and read a short overview of each of them. In case the lists are public, you can also subscribe to those ones.
The lists you have subscribed yourself to usually allow viewing the list of other subscribers (unless the list owner has banned it). The web interface also enables you to send e-mails to lists without actually opening your Mailbox. Please note that in case you have no right of writing to a certain list (list is closed and you are not a member), the SYMPA web interface will send the letter, but an error message will be sent to your e-mail address.
When browsing the lists you have subscribed to and clicking on one of them, a list of settings will be opened under "Listi liikme võimalused" (List member options) button. The options include whether you wish to receive e-mails (mail) or not (nomail) and also, whether you wish to receive all the letters once a week (digest) or only the name of a sender and a topic (notice).
In case the owner of the list allows it, the documents can be share by using the "Jagatud veeb" (Shared web). If changing a catalogue is not restricted to list members, they can copy the shared documents to web by themselves. The author of the document can set the access rights for both reading and changing of the shared files. That means he/she will decide whether the changes can be made only by the author, by list members or by all others.
You can unsubscribe from a list by pressing the "Eemalda ennast listist" (Unsubscribe from the list) button.
Instructions for the list owner
In case you have just subscribed to a list, please check whether the settings of the list cater to your needs. Otherwise you may have to re-adjust them. To do this, please log in to SYMPA with your password and find the list you want.
Pressing the "Listi haldamine" (List management) button opens a row of buttons, which will be displayed to web owners only (provided they have authenticated themselves in the web interface). Then click on the "Muuda listi seadeid" (Change list settings) button. A long list of settings will be opened. You will find information about the most important ones below.
List topic: this should shortly answer the questions about why this list was created and for whom it is meant.
Who can see the list: if you do not want the people who are not relevant to the list to see the names in SYMPA web interface, please choose "varjatava listi liikmed" (members of the hidden list).
Who can see information about the list: again certifies people who can see the list description.
Who can join the list: a reasonable choice would be: "Lubatud igaühele, listi omanikult küsitakse luba" (Accessible by all, list owner will be asked for permission). In this case a subscriber can apply and the list owner will receive a notice on his/her e-mail address together with instructions.
Who can add list members: a reasonable choice would allow only the owner of the list.
Owner: includes the e-mail address and the name of the owner, also the status (normal or privileged). By default, the owner is privileged and the normal status can be used in cases where a list has several owners at the same time. This gives somewhat less rights for managing a list.
Who can send e-mails to the list: if non-members should not be able to send e-mails to the list, choose "ainult listi liikmetele" (list members only). This will also keep away spam. "Modereeritud, lubatud ainult listi liikmetele" (Moderated, list members only) is an option similar to previous one, except here the e-mails will be moderated - a moderator will be notified of an e-mail sent to list and he/she will be asked for an approval for allowing it to be posted. Before approval has been granted, the e-mail will not reach the list. "Kinnine, modereeritud mitte listi liikmetele" (Closed, moderated for non-list members) means that the e-mails sent by members will be directly sent to the list, all others will need a moderator approval. "Avatud kõigile" (Open for all) means accepting all the e-mails immediately. Unless really urgent, this option is not recommended!
Moderators: a person given the list moderator rights. A moderator only needs to be assigned in case the previous point is set accordingly.
Summarising frequency: determines the days on which summaries will be forwarded to subscribers who are using the “digest" method for receiving messages.
Subscription profile: sets the receiving method by default. Generally a mail method is used, meaning that all the messages are sent to a subscriber's e-mail address. Displaying option refers to whether subscriber's e-mail address will be seen on the subscriber's list (noconceal) or not (conceal).
Reply to: determines the recipient of a replied letter. By default, reply is sent to list, but this can be changed to be sent only to the author of the letter or to some other e-mail address.
Subject marking: a.k.a. acronym. This is used for marking the Subject line in an e-mail with a certain abbreviation related to a list, so that the recipient can filter the e-mail from others. An acronym will automatically be added to the beginning of every Subject line of a sent e-mail.
Maximum size of an e-mail: allowed size in bytes (5 MB by default). This limits sending large attachments to a list. For making bigger files available to list subscribers, it is recommended to share these files in SYMPA web interface.
Who can view list members: using the "private" option is highly recommended. This means that the list will only be seen by list members themselves. When using the "kõik näevad liikmeid" (members shown to everyone) option, it is easy to pin out subscribers' e-mail addresses for posting spam.
Shared documents: these settings determine the access rights for using the shared web - who can view and who can edit (add/delete) documents.
List status: by default it is set to "open". "In case the Closed" option is chosen, it means that no-one can become a member of a list and no-one can post messages to it. This option can only be reasonable if the list is not being used anymore. "Pending" is an option in between the first two, but you will probably not need to use that one.
After you have finished with changing the list settings, please press the "Uuenda" (Refresh) button in the end of the page, after which the changes will be saved. Important: using the Back button or closing the browser window means that the changes will not take effect!
Managing the list members
Next to "Muuda listi seadeid" (Changing list settings) button you will see another one called "Liikmed" (Members). Here you can see the members list and also the cells for adding or finding members from a list.
You can easily change the name, e-mail address and the way of receiving letters by clicking on an e-mail address in the member list. You can also remove someone from list. By using the additional "quiet” option this person will not be notified of removal (which otherwise would be the case).
The "Vead" (Errors) button displays a list of e-mail addresses from which error messages have been received. Here you can read these messages and annul the errors or, if needed, to remove an e-mail address from the list. NB! In case there are no errors, this page will not be displayed.
In case your list can be moderated, a list of letters either to be sent to the list or to be declined will be opened under the "Modereerimine" (Moderating) button. Otherwise this page will also not be displayed.
The "Kohandamine" (Adjusting) button provides you with a possibility to adjust different texts that are automatically sent to subscribers; (header) and (footer); the list web page in SYMPA web interface and list description.
Shared web configuration:
You will see a button named "Jagatud veeb" (Shared web) on the left-hand menu, under which you can create new catalogues, copy documents to these, view the content of existing catalogues and delete documents and catalogues. The list owner can set separate access rights for reading and changing the documents for every single catalogue. This means that he/she will decide whether the changes can be made only by the author, by list members or by all others. The list owner will have access to whole shared web without any limitations.
Please refer to http://lists.ut.ee/ for additional information about questions regarding list services.
When experiencing list related problems, please write to: listmaster [ät] lists [dot] ut [dot] ee.