The following content is adapted from the Dada Mail Manual. The Dada Mail Manual is available through the purchase of Pro Dada.

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Create a New List

Create a New List

In Dada Mail, a Mailing List is the top-level thingy that you work with. It is comprised of your list of subscribers, the archive of sent messages and also things like the settings and preferences for working with that subscription list and even things like schedules for mail sending, clickthrough logs, etc.

Creating a new list is pretty easy to do in Dada Mail. The form to create a new list can be accessed either by clicking the, "Administation" link at the bottom of the default page of Dada Mail, or by visiting a URL that looks like this:

http://example.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/admin

(If you have not created a new list for Dada Mail yet, you'll be asked to create a new list, shortly after agreeing to the terms of the license and entering your Dada Mail Root Password.)

On that specific screen, there are two forms. The first form is to log into a list that already exists. The second form is the one under the header, "Create a New Mailing List". That's the one we want to use. Enter your Dada Mail Root Password and click the button labeled, "Create a New List..."

Required Fields

To create a new list, you need to fill out the necessary fields on the, Create a New List screen. They are:

List Name

Your List's Name is what's used to identify one list from another in your Dada Mail install. List Names don't have to be unique, but we suggest that you make them different from one another for your own convenience. Keep them short and simple, like,

Joe's List

and not thoroughly descriptive, such as,

Ken's List for the Support of the West Virginian Audubon Society, Ninth Chapter, Sixth District

Descriptions like that can be added later in the, Description text area.

List short name

The List short name is the other field used by Dada Mail itself to identify one list from another. Unlike the List Name, it is required that this field be unique from all your other lists. Dada Mail uses the List short name internally when storing your subscribers, creating new files and basically relating data to itself.

This field cannot be changed later.

Because the field cannot be changed, be careful when selecting a List short name. A bad List short name on a live list would be something like, test, for various reasons.

The List short name is also a little more strict on what it can be: make it 8 characters or less, made up of letters and numbers and you'll be fine. The List short name is basically used internally, so it's beauty isn't absolutely critical.

One place you'll see the List short name though, is in the subscripton/unsubscription confirmation URL's Dada Mail sends out when a subscriber requests a subscription.

Password

The password for your list is used to log into your list's adminsitration control panel. The various guidelines to passwords in general should be followed for your List Password as well.

One note about some of the peculiarities of Dada Mail:

In Dada Mail, there's the main password, called the, Dada Mail Root Password. It's sort of like a skeleton key, where it opens everything, including being able to log into any List's Administration Control Panel. It can also access items in each List Control Panel that may not even be accessible when you log into your list using the List Password, which is what we're setting up in this field.

Because of this, make sure to always set your List Password to something different that your Dada Mail Root Password. If you set your List Password to be the same as your Dada Mail Root Password, attempting to log into your list with this password will have this password lose it's, "magic" of being the Dada Mail Root Password, for that particular list, in your List Control Panel. I know. It's a little confusing.

List Owner

The List Owner is a very important concept in Dada Mail. Dada Mail basically works like a servant on behalf of the List Owner. Most all email messages sent using Dada Mail, including subscription and unsubscription requests will look as if they are coming from the email address you set up as the List Owner.

This is not the email address you'll use to send messages to Dada Mail to be broadcasted to your list.

Some things you'll want to make sure to double-check when setting your List Owner:

Description

The Descripton of your list is basically the place to let your potential subscribers know what your list is all about. This is the place to be flowerly and verbose.

Some things you may want to include in your List's Description include:

Privacy Policy

Setting a good Privacy Policy for your list is incredibly important, for the simple reason that you're using someone elses personal information and storing that personal information. You must make a simple, clear and complete privacy policy on exactly what you're going to use this information for. If you have a site-wide privacy policy, add a link to it, in the Dada Mail privacy policy

Generally, you'll want to tell your subscribers that the information that they provide will *only* be used for your mailing list and won't be bought, sold, traded for rum sailing out of the West Indies on tall ships, etc.

It's also vitally important that you do not do anything that you said you wouldn't do in your privacy policy. Doing so will destroy all trust from your subscribers in your mailing list.

Physical Address

The Physical Address is needed for legal purposes. In the US at least, mailing lists are required to be associated with a physical address. Just make sure it is correct and current.

 

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