On my LISTSERV list, why do subscribers get a message saying they're not subscribed?

Some subscribers to your LISTSERV list, while trying to make certain administrative changes (such as unsubscribing or changing to digest format) may receive a message from LISTSERV saying they're not subscribed. The two main strategies for diagnosing this problem are:

• Use the SCAN command to search for a certain pattern anywhere in the subscriber list. To use SCAN, send the following line in the body (not the subject) of a message addressed to your LISTSERV server: SCAN listname search-text

  Replace listname with the name of your LISTSERV list, and search-text with the string that you want to find. For example, SCAN MYLIST-L word might return:

  > scan MYLIST-L word Bob Wordsmith <wordsmith@gmail.com> Jane Johnson <wordpro@example.org> SCAN: 2 matches.

  The SCAN command is not case sensitive, so searching on WORD instead of word will return the same results. Also, when you use SCAN, start with a simple search and add additional search terms only when needed. For example, the above search on word returned only two matches, so there's no need to restrict the search any further.

  You may not get results if you search for the hostname that appeared in the user's problem report. It is possible that the user is subscribed under a different hostname. However, searching on a substring of that hostname may be helpful. For instance, if a user sends you a problem report from the host SUN5.EXAMPLE.COM, it may be useful to search for simply EXAMPLE.COM .

• Check for multiple user addresses. Users may have problems with a LISTSERV list if they use more than one email address to communicate with the list.

  For example, if a user sends you a problem report from WORD@OFFICE3.EXAMPLE.COM, and you search your list and find that the user is subscribed as WORD@OFFICE1.EXAMPLE.COM, the user is receiving error messages because LISTSERV has no way of knowing that both addresses refer to the same person. In this case, you can solve the problem in one of two ways:

  • Tell the user to use only the email address used when subscribing to the list.
  • Change the user's subscription address to the most recent email address used to send mail to you. Then, tell the user to use only that email address for managing the subscription.

    Note: This issue could arise if a user's workstation is reconfigured in some way, possibly without the user's knowing that a problem resulted. In this case, use the second solution listed above.

Note: For Indiana University LISTSERV mailing lists, send all commands to the appropriate address for your list:

Never send commands to the address of the mailing list (e.g., to  listname@indiana.edu ). Send only messages intended for members of the list to the list's address.

Comments/Questions/Corrections