Administrator FAQ
From Dgroups
General
Where can I get information / training materials on facilitating/administering Dgroups workspaces?
There are numerous resources on this topic:
- Dgroups Administrators Training Manual: A training manual developed using the Itrain methodology to help administrators plan, configure, and manage Dgroups. Download the manual in any of the following formats: Open Office MS Word PDF.
This training manual should be moved to a wiki.
- Building Electronic Communities and Networks, an IMARK e-learning module From FAO
- Resources for Online Communities and Collaboration from Itrain Online
Can I disable/archive a Dgroup who's discussion is now terminated (without deleting the Dgroup and mailing list)?
The Dgroups Support Team is currently working on this feature.
Lyris List Manager
What is the Lyris List Manager?
Lyris is the application which both manages Dgroups mailing lists and controls their behaviour and settings. Dgroups provides an interface to the information and functionality contained within Lyris. Lyris does provide additional mailing list functionality which is accessible to Dgroups administrators.
How do I login to the Lyris interface?
- Login to your workspace.
- Click on 'Options' which you will see in the 'Recent Messages' header on the main page.
- In the new window, your password should be already entered. Click on 'Click here to enter listname'.
- All administration functions are available from clicking on 'List Admin'.
I'm experiencing problems approving new members to join my private list, what am I doing wrong?
Approving new members requires an email to be sent to lyris AT dgroups.org. There are 3 things to check to ensure your approval message is correct:
- 2 lines are required in the body of your message:
login (enter your password here)
member approve 12345 678910 1112131
where "(enter your password here)" should be replaced with your password, and the numbers following "member approve" are the numbers identifying the requesting users.
Example (body of message):
login apple123
member approve 12345 678910 1112131
- If the line starting with "member approve" wraps down to the next line, then either each new line should be prefixed by "member approve" or the end of each line contains "\".
Example (body of message) - NOT CORRECT:
login apple123
member approve 221206 221423 221738 221899 221936 222025 222029 222031 222033 222036 222038 222040 222068 222075 222081 222083 222088 222091 222109 222115 222117 222177 222180 222186 222779 222969 223045
Example (body of message) - CORRECT:
login apple123
member approve 221206 221423 221738 221899 221936 222025 222029 \
222031 222033 222036 222038 222040 222068 222075 222081 222083 \
222088 222091 222109 222115 222117 222177 222180 222186 222779 \
222969 223045
Example (body of message) - CORRECT:
login apple123
member approve 221206 221423 221738 221899 221936 222025 222029
member approve 222031 222033 222036 222038 222040 222068 222075
member approve 222081 222083 222088 222091 222109 222115 222117
member approve 222177 222180 222186 222779 222969 223045
- Messages should be sent as plain text, and not HTML format.
If your message does not follow this format, you will receive a response with the text "The following lines in your email message did not appear to be Lyris ListManager commands and were skipped:".
Welcome Message
Can I edit the 'Welcome Message'?
It is not possible to edit the standard 'Welcome Message' when participants are added to the workspace through the Dgroups interface. However, there are 2 alternative suggestions to customize your own 'Welcome Message':
- Once all participants are added to your workspace, as the administrator, send a message to the Dgroups list with the information you want them to know which you felt was missing from the standard 'Welcome Message'. This message will therefore be received by all participants. This is a good practice to follow regardless of whether you feel something is missing from the 'Welcome Message'.
- Create a custom message in Lyris. Add new participants through the Lyris interface and specify that they are sent the new custom message.
How to Create a Custom Message in Lyris:
1. Login to the Lyris interface.
2. Click on 'List Admin'.
3. Click on 'Documents'.
4. Click on 'Create Document'.
5. Fill in the required information:
- Name: Assign it an identifying name.
- Language
- Type: 'HELLO: Welcome message user receives when joining a list'
- Title: this will be the email subject
- Body: When changing the message from the regular 'Welcome Message', we suggest you use the current 'Welcome Message' as your starting point from which to edit. Contained in this generic template are a few key pieces of information which new members should be aware of. Copy and paste the template below in the Body field for editing:
|
Hello, The following details were submitted to Dgroups (www.dgroups.org) as part of a new user registration for an online community: User Name: $subst('Recip.FullName') This may have been done by you, or by $subst('list.admin') administrator of $subst('list.name'). You may visit this community here: $subst('list.urllist') You may send messages to this community by addressing your email to: $subst('email.list') You can use your new password to enter this community. Please save this message as a reminder of your password. Welcome to Dgroups. The Dgroups Administrator PS: If this is not correct, or if you do not wish to be part of this community, then you may unsubscribe by sending a message to: unsubscribe-$subst('list.name')@dgroups.org Please note Dgroups filters out all potentially harmful attachments. Dgroups is a joint initiative of Bellanet, DFID, Hivos, ICA, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and World Bank. Note: All values in the form of '$subst..' will be replaced by Lyris with their actual values. Please do not change these values. |
- Append SMTP Header: It is safe to ignore this.
6. Click 'Save'.
A 'Welcome Message' has not been received by a particpant, what could be the reason for this?
1. It could be that a 'Welcome Message' was not sent to the participant:
- If the participant had been added through the Dgroups interface (through the 'Add Participant' function), then it is possible that 'Send welcome message' could have been set to 'No' (although note that that is not the default).
- If the participant had been added through the Lyris interface (through the 'Create One Member' or 'Create Many Members' functions), then 'Send Hello Message' could have been set to 'do not send hello document' (this is the default).
2. If it is certain that a 'Welcome Message' was specified to be sent: Occasionally, the email server used by the recipient of the message experiences problems, so the message will not get delivered. Welcome messages are only sent one time, so in case of message delivery problem, it will not try again (this is unlike the case for delivery failure of mailing list messages).
Workspace Participants
How do I add new participants to my workspace?
This is explained from the Administration Help Training Manual. Look for the section entitled 'Managing Users' under 'Administration Features of Dgroups'.
I would like to add many participants at once to a workspace. How can this be done?
This can be achieved through the Lyris interface.
- Login to the Lyris interface.
- Click on 'List Admin'.
- Click on 'Members'.
- Click on 'Create Many Members'.
- Supply the information:
- Email: For this field, follow the directions given.
- Password: The safest choice is to type 'random' which will generate a random password for each new member.
A note about passwords: If the member you are adding is already a Dgroups user (and hence has one password for all Dgroups), this randomly generated password will be different from their Dgroups password. For the first time they login to this Dgroup, they will need to use the randomly generated password. For all times after that, they can use their usual Dgroups password. Please notify your users of this situation.
- Send Hello Message: 'GenericHello' (so that users receive their subscription details including their password)
You do not need to change any other values.
How do I delete participants from my workspace?
This is explained from the Administration Help Training Manual. Look for the section entitled 'Managing Users' under 'Administration Features of Dgroups'.
Is it possible for me to change a participant's profile information without knowing their password?
No, only profile 'owners' can edit their profiles.
Is there a limit to the number of participants which Dgroups can handle?
No, you can assume there is no limit.
Workpace Messages
How do I delete messages previously sent to a list (so that they are not viewable in the list messages archive)?
- Login to the Lyris interface.
- Click 'Read Messages'.
- Select the messages you wish to delete, then click 'Delete Selected Messages'.
Is it possible to edit a message (so that it will appear differently in the archives) after it has been sent?
No, it is not possible to edit the body nor the subject of the message so that it appears differently in the archives after it has been sent. It is possible to delete a message however.
How do I prevent "out of office" messages from arriving to the list?
A filter on the global server level is applied to all messages of all lists containing typical "out of office" message keywords. This filter prevents these messages from being sent to Dgroups lists. The keywords in the global filter are the following:
- AutoReply
- Autoreply
- autoreply
If you have any suggestions to add to this list, please send them to zqu AT bellanet.org.
If you would like to create a filter which will apply to only your list, then follow the steps below. Note that by creating a new filter, it will be applied in addition to the filter on the global server level. Before creating your own filter, it is important to be cautious when choosing words/phrases which will prevent a message from being delivered to a list, in order to reduce the possibility of legitimate messages not arriving to the list.
Follow these steps to create your own filter:
1. Login to the Lyris interface.
2. Click on 'List Admin'.
3. Click on 'Action Phrases'.
4. Click on 'Create Phrase'.
5. Supply the information:
- Phrase: These are the word(s)/phrase(s) which will prevent the message containing them to be sent to your list. For this field, follow the directions given. Note that there should only be one word/phrase per line. No additional syntax should be included for phrases, such as surrounding the phrase by quotations.
- Response: nothing.
- Rule: phrase appears in the message body or subject (normally, this is the best choice)
You do not need to change any other values, but if you would like to be notified of when the filter is triggered, then supply your email address in the Notify field.
6. Click 'Save'.
What is the default maximum size of a message which can be sent to a list?
500kb
Can the maximum allowed message size (including the attachment) be changed for my list?
Yes. It is not recommended that this value be changed to be higher in order to prevent large attachments from reaching your list. Downloading large attachments may be problematic for some participants in low bandwidtch situations. To change this value, follow these steps:
- Login to the Lyris interface.
- Click on 'List Admin'.
- Click on 'List Info'.
- In the section 'Limits', change the value in 'Message size limit'.
- Click 'Save Mailing List'.
Can I change my list settings so that when participants "Reply" to a message, the reply only goes to the sender of the message and not the list?
Yes, by default message replies go to the list address. To change this to the sender of the message:
- Login to the Lyris interface.
- Click on 'List Admin'.
- Click on 'List Info'.
- In the section 'Email Headers', change the value in the 'Reply To' field to 'author' (by default, it is blank).
- Click 'Save Mailing List'.
Can I enforce that no document attachments are sent to participants (they can only be uploaded in the Dgroup)?
No, it is not possible to restrict message attachments. These can be restricted by changing the maximum message size to something which is relatively small to prevent a message with an attachment from being distributed on the list.
List subscribers are receiving the same message several times, how do I stop this?
Ask your Dgroup creator to urgently contact Dgroups Technical Support.
A message was sent to a list, but 1 or more subscribers did not receive it, what do I do?
As an administrator, the best you can do is simply learn who is receiving the message and who is not and view other diagnostic information provided to you by Lyris. To view this information:
- Login to the Lyris interface.
- Click on 'List Admin'.
- Click on 'Outgoing Mail'.
- In the top-left drop-down box, choose '<listname>: all postings', then click 'Show' at the far right.
- Use the radio button selection to choose the message you wish to check and click 'View Selected Message' at the bottom left.
When viewing a message, there are a few key parts of information to check:
In Message Information, view the details in 'Transaction Report'. Scroll through to look for 'Delivery Statistics':
Example:
Fri, 28 Jul 2006 03:51:12 - Successfully sent to 759 out of 786 remaining recipients (96%) in 22 minutes and 49 seconds. Delivery statistics: * 759 successfully sent (96%) * 14 members with transient problems (1%) * 13 currently unreachable (1%)
This gives you details of those who have received the message vs. those who have not.
To know who has received the message and who has not, view the 'Recipient Information' section:
- Who has received the message: Members Successfully Sent To
- Who has not received the message: Members Currently Unreachable and Members With Transient Problems
Unreachable means that Lyris cannot connect with the mail server of the member.
Transient means that Lyris has connected with the mail server of the member, but there was a failure during the connection.
Workspace Parameters
Where do I go to edit my workspace parameters (title, description, access rights, etc.)?
- If you are not already logged in, login to Dgroups.
- Click 'MyGroups' in the left side menu.
- Click your Dgroup name under the listing of groups in 'MyGroups'. If you are an administrator of the group, you will now see a listing of workspace parameters you can edit.
What do the workspace parameters mean?
This is explained from the Administration Help Training Manual. Look for the section entitled 'Setting up your discussion using Dgroups'. This explains the process to create Dgroups, but does explain the meaning of each workspace parameter.
Calendar
Why can't I edit or delete calendar entries from workspace participants?
Unfortunately, only those who originally entered the calendar entry can edit or delete the entry.
