When you create a new list at FreeLists we welcome you to your new list with an email titled “Your FreeLists Mailing List.” This message contains all the material you need to get started with your list. From time to time admins report losing this message, or it's possible they never received it as it might get caught by SPAM filters. Whatever the reason, since this welcome message is an important resource we've included it here in template form for your reference. Replace any instances of YOURLISTNAMEHERE with your actual list [short]name, of course.

Welcome to the FreeLists community!

Your FreeLists mailing list is ready for use. Please read this document carefully and keep it for future reference.

All functions of your list can be controlled through the web by logging in at https://www.freelists.org/login.html To take full advantage of all FreeLists features, please login and take a look around. Many special features that may appeal to your subscribers are not turned on by default. Please send a test message to your list to make sure things are functioning correctly.

Some important starter info:

- To post on your mailing list, simply send email to YOURLISTNAMEHERE@freelists.org.

- Subscribers can join your list by sending email to YOURLISTNAMEHERE[email protected] with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by visiting your list page at https://www.freelists.org/list/''YOURLISTNAMEHERE''.

- Do not unsubscribe from your own list – doing so will render you unable to make configuration changes and perform other administrative tasks.

- Full documentation of the online administration system is available at https://www.freelists.org/help/. We encourage you to get the most out of the web interfaces, and we encourage subscribers to do the same. Please let your list members know about the advantages of exploring the List Management Login. As an administrator, you can configure site preferences through the FreeLists Portal Administrator, and list preferences through the administrative portion of the List Management Login. See https://www.freelists.org/login.html for more information.

- View your list's information at https://www.freelists.org/list/YOURLISTNAMEHERE

- Online, searchable archives of your list are available at https://www.freelists.org/archive/YOURLISTNAMEHERE. Each list's archive is automatically updated as new messages come in.

- There's a FAQ at https://www.freelists.org/wiki/the_faq that answers a lot of common questions.

- There are some general guidlines to configuring your list at https://www.freelists.org/help/recommended-config.html

- We understand that you'll probably want to send some test messages to your new list to try out the features before putting the list into production. These messages will appear in the archives, so we've provided a feature that allows you to remove specific messages at will. Just log in to the Portal Settings Login and go to “Archive Settings.”

If you have any questions or comments, at any point, please feel free to contact us by visiting https://www.freelists.org/contact.html or by emailing [email protected].

– The FreeLists Team