Create List Group

LISTSERV Maestro List Groups combine several Subscriber Lists so that these lists can share:

• Profile Fields: Defining a profile fields for the list group means that this field is automatically available for all lists in the group. Subscribers who edit their list profiles will (usually) always also see and (usually) be able to edit the values of profile fields that are shared via the list group. The field input types Hidden and Read Only are also available for shared profile fields, which is why a shared field may not be visible or not be editable for a subscriber, exactly as a list-specific profile field would be. The EMAIL field is by definition always a shared field of the list group and is available for all lists.

• Unique Subscriber Accounts: Each subscriber of a list in a list group is associated with exactly one record that is stored on list group level. This record (stored in the LISTSERV Maestro system database) carries not only the values of the shared profile fields and in particular the subscriber's email address, but also additional important system information such as for example the secure hash of the subscription password.

  In other words: A LISTSERV Maestro list group acts very similar to a login area with "members only" access.

For marketing messages sent with mail jobs, a list group offers the additional benefit of being able to send to multiple lists at once, depending on choices that you make in the recipients wizard.

On this screen (which is tailored to the special case of creating a list group) you define the name of the group. As usual, the name of the list group must not conflict with the names of other list groups (or standalone lists). You can easily change the name of the list group later.

A very important setting is the choice of First List in Group: Since list groups must always contain at least one list, picking a value here is mandatory. You can choose from the currently existing Standalone Lists in your subscriber warehouse. Lists that are already contained in a list group are not shown.

(If you later want to have additional lists in the group, you do this by first selecting the list group from the subscriber lists tree and then selecting New In List Group Subscriber List from the menu.)

After having selected the first list in the group, LISTSERV Maestro shows an overview of the selected list's profile fields. You can now decide if you want to Move the field to the group level or if you want to Keep the field in the list. This gives you an easy method to define the initial collection of shared profile fields in your group. Note: LISTSERV Maestro will physically move any data associated with fields for which you pick the Move choice to the list group's database table. This procedure is performed automatically when you click the [OK] button but may take some time, depending on the volume of data that must be moved.