Majordomo: Administration of e-mail lists at the university

The Majordomo software is used for the administration of e-mail lists at the university. The software forwards the e-mails to the subscribers of the list in question and receives the joining and leaving commands sent to the server as well as other commands related to the administration of the list.

The Majordomo software can be used
  • with the browser-based MajorCool user interface
  • by sending commands to Majordomo by e-mail.

A new mailing list can be ordered by using the Request mailing list form.

You cannot change the administrator password or the administrator using a Majorcool connection. Please ask the Helpdesk to implement the change.

    MajorCool interface

    In addition to the Majordomo software, the university offers the browser interface MajorCool to facilitate the use of lists. This interface sends the administration commands to the software on behalf of the user. This facilitates the administration of the list as errors are easy to make when using e-mail commands.

    The address of MajorCool is https://majordomo.helsinki.fi/. Using the interface requires a username to an IT department system plus the name and administration password of the list.

    A reply message is sent to the administrator's address for all actions carried out in the MajorCool interface. Please note that not all administration operations, such as changing the e-mail list password, can be performed in the MajorCool interface.  If you need to change the administration password or administrator, please contact the Helpdesk.

      Administration by e-mail

      Majordomo cannot read messages in HTML. Check from the e-mail program settings that the message is sent as plain text.

      The Majordomo software can also be controlled by sending commands as e-mails. The e-mail address of Majordomo is majordomo@helsinki.fi.

      The command is entered in the text section of the e-mail. The list server cannot process the subject field of an e-mail. Majordomo tries to interpret all text in the e-mails, such as your possible signature, as commands, so please check the e-mail before sending it.

      You can send several commands in the same message, one command per row. If the command is longer than one row, you can break it with a backslash (\), e.g.

      subscribe reallylong-listname \
      even-longer.emailaddress@helsinki.fi
      

      NOTE: The following should be observed in the use of footers: Footers may not display correctly nowadays as a result of different character encodings and message structures, and using them is therefore not recommended. You should avoid using Scandinavian characters and other special characters as a minimum.

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