Some mailing list advice

Hey team, I know a few of you have been sending messages to a large set of mailing lists lately. I wanted to share a few hints that I’ve picked up over the years. I’m not really sure where else to document this.

  • Limit the number of lists you post to at once. Some lists are configured to moderate posts that go to 10+ recipients.
  • Don’t bcc lists. This often leads to messages getting held for moderation or outright rejected.
  • Post via Hyperkitty for lists you’re not subscribed to. I think messages posted via Hyperkitty will skip moderation for some lists. That may not be the case (particularly if a list is set to moderate all posts, like devel-announce).
  • Check to make sure your message got through. If your message was held for moderation, check the archives (for public lists) after a little while to see if it got approved. You won’t be notified. If’s been a day and it still hasn’t gone through, try to find someone who can approve it for you. The moderators vary per-list and aren’t easily discoverable, so you might need to ask around a bit.
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Hyperkitty allows you to post to lists to which you are not subscribed. Otherwise, lists are usually configured so that such posts are held for moderation — or sometimes rejected or just discarded.

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