> I own the law school mailing list, and wanted to implement renewals on the
> list. Obviously, as a school list, there are calendar considerations. I used
> this line:
>
> *  Renewal=         09/30,04/15
>
> Figuring that these were safe "in class" dates. What I didn't count on was
> the string of renewal confirmations that flowed out immediately thereafter.
 
The RENEW keyword can be a problem.  Setting specific dates is very risky.
I believe the manual does recommend not using specific dates, but it's
been a while since I checked that part of it.  We also have the problem of
students setting their accounts nomail at the end of the semester then
forgetting to unsub, or just flat not doing anything, but those are easy
to take care of as the mail consistently bounces so you just delete. A
better scheme, too late for you now, might be to set 6 monthly or maybe
yearly.  That assumes your system has the capacity, which needn't be too
great (we carried over 1,500 antique, invalid subs for years and never
noticed any difference in operation nor speed thereof, even after I
cleared out the deadwood, but we did have a more realistic subscriber
list).  Periods (months, years) are a lot safer for this than specific
dates.
 
> Also, how can I undo this mess? Will:
> QUIET CONFIRM LAWSCH-L FOR *.*
> work?
 
A  quiet confirm listname for *@*
                               ^
should work, but keep in mind that that will reset the counter for all
subscriptions, effectively obviating the RENEW keyword.  If you are going
to use RENEW it would be best to forget about *@* for SET commands and
such as you will be resetting the counter for all subscriptions, and the
RENEW keyword goes by that counter (coded date of last activity).
 
Douglas
       Douglas Winship   Hays County, Texas  [log in to unmask]
                    Secondary AUTOCAT Listowner
                              MEDLAB-L