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Subscriber Preferences and Options

bcpost: boston college's mailing list service

Subscriber preferences

  • The preferences page allows you to change preferences related to your account in BCPost.
  • Choices you make will transfer to all lists that you are subscribed to with that particular email address.
  • Preferences are different for BC email address login and non-BC email address login.
  1. Access http://listserv.bc.edu and log in to the BCPost mailing list service.

  2. Click on the Preferences link in the User Information menu (right side of the screen).
    User Info Bar
    Figure 1.

Basic Settings

Email Address
The email address you used to log in will display and cannot be edited.

Name
Using this field, you can enter your actual name or enter how you would like to be identified to other list members. Click the Update button after entering a name.

Login Valid For
This setting determines how long you can remain idle when using the Web interface and not be automatically logged out by the system.

Generally you can leave this set to "session," which means you will stay logged in as long as you have your web browser open or until you click the logout link from the User Information section.

If you share a computer, we suggest you consider selecting a shorter time frame.

Click the Update button after you make a change to the Login Valid For setting.

Change Your BCPost Password

Only available to users that are logged in with a non-BC email address.

When you create an account, a password is sent to the email address you specified. This password is alpha-numeric. You may want to change it to something more memorable.

  1. Enter a new password in the New Password field (see Figure 2).
  2. Enter it again in the Verify New Password field (see Figure 2).
  3. Click the Submit button.

preferences

Figure 2.

Subscription options

The subscription options page allows you to change settings related to a particular list. Each list that you subscribe to must be customized individually.

  1. Access http://listserv.bc.edu and log in to the BCPost mailing list service.

    All of the lists you subscribe to will display in the Your Lists menu (see Figure 3) (right side of the screen).

    your lists
    Figure 3.

  2. Click on the link for the list you would like to customize. You will then go to that list's home page.

  3. From the List Operations menu (see Figure 4), select Subscriber Options.

    List Operations
    Figure 4.

subscription options
Figure 5.

The Subscriber Options window (see Figure 5) will open and will display the following information:

About your subscriptions

In this section, you'll be able to view basic information about your subscription to this list, including: when you subscribed to the list and the last time you updated any settings.

Subscription Settings:

Reception Mode

The reception mode you pick determines how (and if) you receive messages sent to this list. You can only select one reception mode, but each mode can be different for each list you're on.

Standard
Standard is the default mode where you'll receive every message that is sent to the list when it is sent.

  • This option is also used to cancel and to reset the no email or digest mode settings.

Text only
If you select this reception mode, you will receive all messages in plain-text, This means you will not receive any HTML-only messages sent to the list. You will not be able to view graphics or other images that may be imbedded in a message.

Digest
If you select this reception mode, instead of receiving individual email messages from the list, you will periodically receive batched messages.

This digest compiles a group of messages from the list over a span of time, joins them together into one email using the multipart/digest MIME message format, which most modern mail clients support, and sends it to you on a regular basis. This makes it easier to skim the messages that people have posted and cuts down on the amount of individual emails you'll receive throughout the day but you will still see all posts sent to the list.

  • The sending interval for these digests is defined by the list owner.

Digest - plain text format
Similar to the digest MIME format option. The subscriber will periodically receive batched messages in a digest. With this reception mode the digest is sent in a plain text format, with all attachments stripped out. This mode is useful if your email software doesn't display multipart/digest MIME format messages.

The sending interval for these digests is defined by the list owner.

Digest - message subject line only
If you select this reception mode, instead of receiving individual email messages from the list, you will periodically receive an index of message. This mode is very close to the digest reception mode but the subscriber only receives a list of message headers, not the messages themselves. You can then login to BCPost and view the messages in the Message Archive section.

The sending interval for the message index is defined by the list owner.

No email - read on Web (useful for vacations)
This mode is useful if you do not want to receive mail from the list, but want to retain the ability to post to the list, view list archives, etc. This is also useful for those who want to use the mailing list in more of a "web forum" fashion, where all reading and posting to the list is done via the web interface.

If you are going to be away from email (on vacation, etc.), it is a good idea to temporarily change your reception mode to no mail.

Visibility to Other Subscribers

Some lists are set up so that any subscriber may view the list of subscribers. If you do not want to appear on that list then you should set your visibility to "concealed" using this drop-down menu. If you would like for other subscribers to see you in the list then set your visibility to "listed in the review page." This will not affect the list owners' ability to see you — your subscription is always visible to them.