NIH Listserv Upgrade Offers Users New Features and Enhancements

Did a Listserv email notify you about this article (Interface 246 is available online)? Do you subscribe to NIH Listserv lists for newsletters like Interface Online, updates on NIH research, or links to others at NIH with similar interests (international graduate student groups, environmental groups, etc.)? Whether you are a subscriber or a list owner, this spring you may notice some changes and improvements in your Listserv experience.

On April 2, 2010, CIT upgraded NIH Listserv to a new version of the software, which opens up several new features and enhancements for Web Interface users and list owners of the 4,805 Listserv lists at NIH.

About the Listserv

The NIH Listserv facility is an email-based server that allows users to create, manage, and control electronic "mailing lists" on a network. Listserv manages list subscriptions, maintains archives of posted messages, optimizes mass mail delivery, and so forth. Listserv allows any networked user to subscribe to lists, receive list postings, query the Listserv, set up a new list, access list archives, etc. The NIH Listserv facility is run by the NIH Central Email Service.

New feature highlights

The new version retains all current functionality of the NIH Listserv, including all custom applications, while offering users major improvements, such as the implementation of Unicode text standard and a plain text digest format, and an overall more efficient, user-friendly interface for their communication needs.

Many of the new features in Listserv 16.0 not only make it easier to subscribe to lists, but also enable users to create attractive, streamlined HTML newsletters with less effort and need for technical knowhow. As a user, you will now be able to:

•	Easily clear a command using the new option available from the LISTSERV Command Interface.
•	Subscribe to digests via RSS feed in addition to or instead of email.
•	Chose from more options in the Message Posting Interface when composing a message.
•	Create professional-looking HTML newsletters with or without HTML coding experience.
•	Enter a profile for sending newsletters using the built-in HTML newsletter template system.
•	Decide whether you want recently visited pages of the Web Interface to be cached in your browser, via a newly added option on the General tab of your personal preferences.
•	Confirm deletion of a message via the message deletion screen, which now displays any messages to be deleted.

Several changes have been made to the List Archives:

•	Searching can now be performed across all subscribed lists.
•	Viewing of archives has been enhanced: a Java hovering feature displays the content of each individual message in your browser so that you do not waste time opening each message unless it is a message of interest to you.

New features for List owners include:

•	A pre-defined Newsletter template for Announcement Listserv owners that can be customized and used regularly/periodically to send email to subscribers.
•	The ability for list owners to remove any potentially offensive messages from their list archives. Please employ this function cautiously. Once the message has been removed, it cannot be restored.
•	An HTML Mail Template Gallery that allows the list owner or the site administrator to select a template style for the list or the site as a whole.
•	Numerous enhancements to the List and Subscriber Management Interface.
•	List reports, subscriber reports, and server usage reports can now be downloaded as CSV files.

For more information

For more information about the new version of NIH Listserv, contact the NIH IT Service Desk online at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov or by phone at the following numbers: 301-496-4357 (6-HELP) (local), 866-319-4357 (toll free), or 301-496-8294 (TTY).

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