Title: How do I create and manage moderated lists?

Question: I want to set up a list where any message that is sent has to be 
approved before it goes out to everyone.  How can I do that, and how do I 
maintain this list?

Answer:

Mailman has the ability to allow moderation of messages sent.  Moderation 
is not a list-wide setting, but rather a per-user setting.  This means that 
you can choose who can send messages directly to the list, and who has to 
wait for approval.  If you prefer to have all messages moderated, there are 
ways you can easily do this.

Go to your list's administration pages at

	https://lists.prairienet.org/mailman/admin/listname

(where "listname" is replaced with the actual name of your list) and log
in with your listowner password.

Lists can be moderated by both owners and moderators.  The difference
between an owner and a moderator is that an owner has access to all the
administrative functions of a list, whereas a moderator only has the
ability to approve or reject messages.  To add owners or moderators, go to
the "General Options" section, and look for the "owner" and "moderator"  
fields.  Enter the information as necessary. 

You will also need to assign separate password to the moderator(s). The
password can be set by going to the "Passwords" category.

If you decide that you would like members to have their messages moderated 
by default, go to "Privacy Options," then "Sender Filters."  Locate the 
"default_member_moderation" option, and click "Yes."

You will notice that on this same screen, there is a section that allows 
you to specify what is to be done with mail sent from non-members.  The 
first four fields will allow you to decide what is to be done with mail 
from specific non-members.  The last two options will allow you to decide 
what is to be done with mail from non-members, by default.  This is only 
for non-members for whom no specific action has been set.

The "generic_nonmember_action" setting gives you four options: Accept,
Hold, Reject, Discard.  "Accept" means no moderation.  "Hold" will submit
the message for moderation.  "Reject" and "Discard" will both prevent the
message from reaching the list, but "Reject" will send a notification to
the sender, whereas "Discard" will not.  When you have finished making
changes on this page, click the button at the bottom that reads "Submit
Your Changes."

Now that you have specified what is to be done with mail from both 
moderated members and non-members, your list should be ready for use.

If you have existing members that you would like to make moderated, go to 
"Membership Management."  This will bring you to a screen that lists all 
the members of your list.  The "mod" option allows you to specify whether a 
member's postings are moderated or not.  If you have a lot of unmoderated 
members, and would like to make them moderated, you can do this under 
"Additional Member Tasks" by selecting "Off" to set everybody to 
unmoderated, or "On" to make everybody moderated.

To manage a moderated list, you should go to your list's administration
pages, then click on the link in the upper right: "Tend to pending
moderator requests." If you are a list moderator, you can access the
pending moderator requests by going directly to:

	https://lists.prairienet.org/mailman/admindb/listname

where "listname" is replaced with the actual name of your list.

Update: 02/2004 by Mailman Admin
Date: 07/2002   Author: D. Wong