Overview

You want to know if there is a way in the LM GUI or via query where you can see all of your Lists that have Security set to Open for New Subscribers. 

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Solution

Unfortunately, there is no interface or query that will show all of the Lists that have Security set to Open for New Subscribers. However, you can use the following steps to check each of your Lists individually.

1. Log on to LM as an Administrator or List Admin
   
   
2. Navigate to Utilities > List Settings > New Subscriber Policy, Security tab
   • Security: Can be set to one of the following:
     • Open: Anyone can join (no approval needed)
     • Private: The administrator must approve new members
     • Password: New members need to know the password to join
     • Closed: Only an administrator can add new membersSee the Security Settings section below for additional details on these settings.
   • Password: If the list Security (above) is set to Password, this field defines the password required for new members to join the mailing list.
   • Allow Joining by Email: This setting determines whether subscription requests by email will be accepted. By default, members can join a mailing list using the ListManager web interface or by sending a "subscribe" email command to ListManager.

     If you want to require people to join using the ListManager web interface, you can change this setting so those requests to join by email are rejected. Note that disallowing joining by email may disable some web-based subscription methods that depend on email to submit a request to join.

Security Settings

You can change the Security status of a mailing list at any time. For instance, you can start out as an Open mailing list (so that anyone can join) and then become a Private mailing list (so that new members must be approved by a List Administrator).

Open

An Open mailing list allows anyone who finds this mailing list can join, either by email or by using the web interface. After joining (and possibly confirming the membership), this person will have full member status.

Private

A Private mailing list prevents anyone from finding the mailing list from joining immediately. When they attempt to join, (either by email or using the web interface) a List Administrator will have to approve their request to join before the person becomes a member. List Administrators who have their settings defined to receive Admin Mail will receive an email notice when a person requests to join a Private mailing list. When the list admin receives a request to join a private list and the request was done by email, the notification email message that ListManager sends out also includes the original requestor's email message, which can be helpful in determining if the person should be allowed onto the list.

If the admin changes the potential member's status from Needs Approval to Normal through the web interface (not via email), the new member will not receive a Hello message unless the status is changed to Needs Hello.

Password

A Password protected mailing list allows anyone who finds this mailing list can join (either by email or using the ListManager web interface) and will be automatically approved only if they know the password. If they do not know the password, they will be automatically rejected. The password is defined in a field further down this page. For subscription requests that arrive via email, the password is entered at the end of the subscription request, as in:
subscribe jazz-discuss open-sesame

Closed

A Closed mailing list is one in which non-members are not able to apply for membership. If a request for membership arrives by email, it will be automatically denied. On the ListManager web interface, the Subscribe button will not be a choice. New members to a Closed mailing list must be added by the List Administrator.

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