Overview

The USF LISTSERV is industry-standard list management software that allows you to maintain email lists used for your department, college, project, or any other activity requiring email communication. You can add and remove subscribers, and maintain the list and settings to best meet your needs.

Table of Content

Disallowed uses for LISTSERV Communications
How do I use it?

Disallowed uses for LISTSERV Communications

Unsolicited mass mailings or messages that violate the CAN-SPAM Act.
Posting sensitive data such as Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or Protected Health Information (PHI).
Non-University commercial or advertising purposes.
Purposes which violate University policies, local ordinances, or state or federal laws.
Posting obscene or otherwise offensive material (e.g., messages with sexual, discriminatory, racial, or derogatory connotations).
Posting copyrighted materials, trade secrets, proprietary financial information, or similar materials without appropriate prior authorization from the owner of such information.
Adversely affecting or jeopardizing the University services or those of its members.
Forgery, or attempted forgery, of the "From:" line in an e-mail message. Masking the identity of an account and/or electronic identification address is prohibited.
"For-profit" and/or supporting a "for-profit" organization.

Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in disciplinary action including, but not limited to, the removal of your ability to send messages through LISTSERV.

How do I use it?

Getting an Account

To maintain the lists through the web browser, you will need a Listserv account. This is a separate account from your NetID credentials. You should use your primary USF email address here.

Note: the address used for this account will also be the address listed as an owner on your list to be able to maintain it.

Visit http://listserv.usf.edu
Select Log In on the right under Options.
Select get a new LISTSERV password.

If resetting, select Change Password instead.
Enter your USF email address, your desired password, and click Register Password.
You will receive an email confirming the registration. Follow the instructions in the email to finish your registration.

Subscribing

To subscribe to any open list, open your Email then start a new message. Send the email to listserv@listserv.usf.edu. In the body of the message, type: sub %listname%, replacing %listname% with the list you are subscribing to. For example, sub usftalk. If the list is not currently set to allow self-subscribing, you will receive a denial message and should reach out to the list owner.

Sending

To send a message, start composing a new email. In the To field, type your list address (example: usftalk@listserv.usf.edu), and fill out the message normally. Once you click send, your message will distribute to the list.

Please note that this action is not reversible - once your message is sent it will be distributed.

Member management

There are two ways to maintain list membership, email and web browser. Instructions for both are below.

Email Method

Start a new blank email message.
Ensure that you are sending as Plain Text. For Outlook, select the Format Text tab then select Plain text.
In the To: field type listserv@listserv.usf.edu
In the body of the email paste the following, ensuring that you replace LISTNAME with your specific listname.
To Add Subscribers:
ADD LISTNAME dd=ddname import
//ddname dd *
Paste the list of email addresses here
/*
To Delete Subscribers:
QUIET DELETE LISTNAME dd=ddname
//ddname dd *
Paste the list of email addresses here
/*
Replace "Paste the list of email..." with your new subscribers, ensuring that each email address and name combination is on its own line. Example is below.
ADD TESTLIST dd=ddname import
//ddname dd *
testuser1@usf.edu (Rocky Bull)
testuser2@usf.edu (Joe Test)
/*

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Web Browser

Visit http://listserv.usf.edu
Click Log In on the right-hand side.
Enter your USF email address and password. If you do not have a listserv account yet, refer to the instructions Getting an Account.
Click List Management from the top banner, and select List Dashboard.
In the Show Lists field, type your list name, and click Search.
Your list will display below the search area. Select View under the Subscribers column.
To add a single subscriber, enter their email address and name into the Add subscriber field and click Add Subscriber.
To bulk add subscribers, select List Management then Subscriber Management from the top. Note: Make sure the top says "Subscriber Management (LISTNAME)".
From the Subscriber Management page, select Bulk Operations. Be sure to read what each option does very carefully before proceeding. Read further for assistance on formatting your text file for bulk upload.

Bulk uploading subscribers list

Open 'Notepad' on your computer. If you are using a Mac, open TextEdit.
In your document, type each subscriber on a new line.

Email addresses are required, but names are optional. Example:
rockybull@usf.edu Rocky Bull
rockybull@health.usf.edu
Save the document as a text (.txt) document in a location you will remember.
Under the Bulk Operations tab (step 8 above), and click Choose File.
Browse to your file, select it, and click Open then click Import.

If adding subscribers worked, you will receive a message similar to the one below.
ADD: no error, 100 recipients added, no entry changed, no duplicates, none forwarded

If there is an error, the status message will display the error, and the address that caused the error.

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If you are unable to solve your issue with this knowledge base article, please contact the USF IT Service Desk by using Chat at itchat.usf.edu, calling (813) 974-HELP (4357) or emailing help@usf.edu.

If you find any errors or omissions in any knowledge base article, please contact and inform the USF IT Service Desk by calling (813) 974-HELP (4357) or emailing help@usf.edu.

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