The characteristic that distinguishes Members Mailing Lists from other mailing lists is that subscribers are selected by a configurable query. This has many implications. Once the list has been created, subscriber information is maintained automatically, and updated in response to changes in Kavi Members or Kavi® Mailing List Manager.

Because most subscriber information is maintained automatically, Members Mailing Lists function as private, administrator-only lists that are hidden from users. Administrators manage Moderator, Allow and Deny Subscribers Lists and can switch subscriptions from Regular to Digest, but cannot remove these subscribers. Web archives are generally non-existent.

There is one default Members Mailing List created by default and this is the 'members' list, which is designed to distribute announcements to all account holders. Your organization may edit the 'members' list query to select a narrow set of users based on User Type or may add any number of custom Members Mailing Lists to serve different audiences and uses. Since query criteria is configurable, it is possible to distribute highly targeted messages or selectively populate private discussion groups. Queries can use time-dependent data such as Last Login Date or membership date ranges, so your organization can use Members Mailing Lists to send timely email to members or member representatives independent of regular Scheduled Email. Time-based queries that use date ranges can be used indefinitely without editing the query, but to use queries off-set from a specific calendar date, reset the month or year in the date fields whenever you are ready to post a message to the list.

The query design is familiar to those who have used the Report Builder, except that all the fields are fixed, which means that a value has to be specified for each field and the database performs a query against that value depending on which operator is used. Operators can select or filter out users or companies based on the specified value of each field. Since you have to email people rather than companies, when you set criteria that retrieves companies, you are actually selecting users who belong to that company.

Like most searches, the query only retrieves users who meet all the criteria. For example, a query with two Fixed Fields, where the first Fixed Field is 'Company Type', using the 'Is' Operator and a Value of 'Sponsor'; and the second Fixed Field is 'Contact Type', using the 'Is' Operator and a Value of 'Primary Contact'; would populate the subscriber list with the email addresses of Primary Contacts for all Sponsor companies.

Figure 32.1. Query Criteria and Subscriber Selection

User accounts in the Kavi Members database are represented as colored shapes. There is a red square, a blue circle and a blue square. As each query criteria is applied, different shapes are filtered out of the selected set. In the first row the Fixed Field is 'Color', the Operator is 'Is Not' and the Value is 'Red', so any Red shapes are filtered out. In the second row the Fixed Field is 'Shape', the Operator is 'Is' and the Value is 'Square'. So only squares are selected. The blue square is the only colored shape that meets all the query criteria, so it is selected.

A Members Mailing List query populates the Regular Subscriber List with the primary email address of the selected subscribers, and populates the Posters Subscriber List with whatever secondary, third or fourth email addresses are on file for these selected subscribers. The query doesn't populate the Moderator, Digest, Allow or Deny Subscriber Lists (although the 'listmoderator' alias is always subscribed as a default Moderator when Members Mailing Lists are created). These kinds of subscribers are added manually by administrators through the Kavi Mailing List Manager Edit Mailing List Subscribers tool. Moderator and Deny subscribers can also be added through Edit a Mailing List. It is possible to assign cross-poster privileges to other mailing lists. If the List Type supports this, the Edit Cross-Posters button is displayed on Mailing List Home.

Members Mailing Lists are added through Kavi Members, but you have to finish configuring your lists through Kavi Mailing List Manager tools. Once added, the mailing list query can be edited at any time to fine-tune or update the selection criteria for the subscriber list through Kavi Members Edit a Members Mailing List. Otherwise these lists are managed through Kavi Mailing List Manager tools that allow you to set moderators, add users to the deny list, view logs and generate reports, etc. These tools are all available through Mailing List Home.

A Members Mailing List is added in Kavi Members, then you finish configuring the list in Kavi Mailing List Manager.

When you want to edit the description or redefine the query for a Members Mailing List, return to Manage Mailing Lists and click the Manage link for the list you want to edit. You'll be taken to Manage a Members Mailing List where you can click the 'Edit' link to go to the Edit a Members Mailing List tool. Edit the query as desired and the next time a message is posted to the mailing list your revised query will be used to select subscribers.

Click here to visit the Kavi Members Members Mailing Lists tool.

If you want to edit other list-level settings or troubleshoot the list, use Kavi Mailing List Manager tools.

You can select from an extensive set of user and company fields. Company fields are actually used to retrieve users from companies that meet the selection criteria. The query assumes that the criteria is in an 'Add' relationship, so it only retrieves users who meet all of the criteria. There is no performance penalty for selecting a lot of fields, as long as you have a clear understanding of the way that the criteria interact. If your query is complex, be sure your description provides a good explanation of what kinds of subscribers are selected. You can add more of this kind of information to the list's Policy and Usage Statement.

Here are some examples of how Members Mailing Lists can be used.