Help:Mailing lists

Every Wikia has the option of maintaining a mailing list. For older wikis, a mailing list was created by default when a wiki was created; for newer ones a list can be created on request.

See the list info page for a list of all Wikia mailing lists, and options to subscribe.

There is also a Central mailing list for Wikia as a whole, which all users are encouraged to join. This list is used for making project-wide announcements, for communication between staff and community, and for asking for help on a wiki problem from the wider Wikia community.

Alternative means of communication include user talk pages, and the Wikia IRC channel.



How do Wikia mailing lists work?
All mailing lists are publicly readable but you need to subscribe to be able to post to the lists. Posts from non-subscribers may be delayed or accidentally discarded, as they need to be approved by a list administrator to prevent spam.

Archives of posts to any list can be found at http://lists.wikia.com/pipermail/*-l/ (e.g. http://lists.wikia.com/pipermail/wikia-l/)

Information on any list can be found at http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/listinfo/*-l (e.g. http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/listinfo/wikia-l)

* Replace the asterisk with the name of the wiki.



How do I administrate my mailing list?
The default mailing list admin is the founder of each wiki, although founders can appoint others to serve as list admins. Their primary responsibility is helping people get subscribed to, or unsubscribed from, the list (not everyone is comfortable with the tricky web interface). Note that subscription requests must be distinguished from spam, which should be deleted. DO NOT send spammers any messages, like "You need to subscribe" because this will increase the amount of spam you receive.

Other tasks include cross-posting messages that pertain to other lists and gently suggesting that contributors keep on topic and/or avoid flaming each other.

List admins can change specific options on their mailing list and edit the moderation queue. The admin interface is reachable by using the link http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/admin/*-l where * is the name of the wiki (e.g. http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/admin/perl-l). Not all changes are permitted. You can not, for example, mark users email addresses as public if they have chosen to remain private, and you can not prevent the lists being publicly readable.

See Mailing list administration for more details.