Mailing List Creation: Does it Matter Who Does It?

[tikvah]

I have a Sonic.net account (several of them actually, plus Fusion) and have created many mailing lists with Mailman at Sonic.

My synagogue is also a Sonic member. I've offered to create some small mailing lists for a couple committees.

My question is, does it matter if I create them while logged into my account or in to theirs? Will it make any difference? If I do it through mine and my account goes away at some point, will the mailing lists still exist? (They will of course have moderators from the synagogue in addition to me.)

Thanks!

[drew.phillips]

If it's for them, it's probably better to add it from their account so it will show up on invoices as a service so they may be more aware that they have ultimate control over it. Really, whatever works best for you and them is acceptable though. I've just seen too many times a business having a 3rd party managing something for them and then forget who manages it or how to retain control over it when management is largely out of their control.

If an account goes away (all services cancelled) then this includes the mailing list. It will be removed like any other service so any messages to the list will start to bounce with "no such user" messages. Of course if this happened another account could then create a new list with the same address, but all history and members will be removed and it will be like starting over.

If an account has a list, at the very least don't cancel it completely and switch to the email only plan so you can keep the list(s) on your account active.

[tikvah]

Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

I also am on the board of a nonprofit that I got signed up with Sonic. I can't remember if I started our mailing lists from the org's account or mine. If I did the latter, is there a way to switch it without losing the archives, settings, members, etc?

[drew.phillips]

We can certainly do it as not a lot is involved with making that change. It just involves transferring the service from one account to another, as well as changing the listman owner from the old account to the new.

If you want to do that at any point, email [email protected] to open the ticket. It'll be escalated to an "ops-req" so system operations can make the necessary changes as tech support doesn't have the ability to modify list configurations at this level.

[digitalbitstream]

Far too often, I've seen a system or service set up by a well meaning volunteer who (in the normal course of things) moves on. The organization is then stuck with an account they can't manage or control.

Without question: set up organization accounts in the name of the organization.

[tikvah]

Yes, I agree with you. But that wasn't my question.

I was not sure if the mailing list was associated with the account that was logged in during its creation or if it was its own entity, tethered to owners and moderators that owners can change at will.

For example, Yahoogroups and Googlegroups have mailing lists that anyone with an account can create. The creator can then appoint anyone else with an account as moderator or owner. If the creator leaves, it makes no difference at all, as long as somebody owns it.

Now that this question has been answered, I know that Sonic lists (perhaps all Mailman lists, I don't know) are different. They are associated with the account of the creator. If the creator leaves, the list goes away, even if the creator has appointed other moderators/administrators (there does not appear to be a way to change the owner, which is likely the point).

I will note that I am not seeing a place on the admin page for the lists about who the owner/creator is. How can I find that out?