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Create Distribution Lists

As an Administrator, you can create an unlimited number of distribution lists for your organization.  Distribution lists are not "mailing lists" of people outside of your organization; they are meant to help you organize your addresses into groups and send messages to everyone who is a member of that group.  For instance, you can create a distribution list called "Sales," and add all of your sales staff to that distribution list.  When you send a message to "Sales," it is delivered to every mailbox that is a member of the "Sales" distribution list.

Like mailboxes and contacts, distribution lists appear in your Global Address List (GAL). The following represents an account GAL with mailboxes, contacts, and distribution lists. Note the differences in how each displays in the GAL.

  1. Log into the Control Panel, and access Exchange | Distribution Lists from the left-side navigation or main menu links.

    All distribution lists currently defined for this account are listed under the Display Name column.

     

    • To create a new distribution list click the [Add New Distribution List] button.
    • To edit previously created distribution lists, click the hyper-link defining the distribution list under the Display Name column in order to access the distribution list's details screen and edit accordingly.

  2. The Add New Distribution List screen allows you to define the distribution list.
    • The Alias is a quick/shortened name that can be quickly typed by other users when addressing an email to this distribution list.
    • The Display name is the full name of the distribution list, as it would appear in the GAL.
  3. Type an email address prefix for the distribution list in the E-mail address input box and select the appropriate domain from the drop-down menu if you have multiple domains associated with your account.

    Define the nature of email delivery for this distribution list in the Security section:

    • Everyone: Allows senders from the Internet to send email to this distribution list email address.  This is the least secure option allowing anyone to send email to this address.
    • Organization: Allows only senders from within your organization (account) to send email to this distribution list email address.
    • Members: Allows only members of the distribution list itself to send email to this distribution list email address. This is the most restrictive security option.

      NOTE: Apptix cautions customers on accepting the default of "Everyone" if you are using common distribution list email addresses, such as "Sales," "Marketing," or "Info," etc. These are common email addresses that may susceptible to email spammers.

      Finally, select whether this distribution list should appear in your GAL by clicking the checkbox next to Show in address book.  If this checkbox is unchecked, the distribution list is still valid but will NOT be displayed in the Global Address List (GAL).

  4. Click the [Submit] button to finalize your creation of the distribution list.

    The system shows you that the new distribution list is being created.

  5. You may continue to work within this Control Panel, or you may click the Refresh link in the right corner to see the status of the new distribution list change to Ready.

    Note that, at this time, you can continue to create additional distribution lists, import a file to create multiple distribution lists, and delete or edit previously created distribution lists.

  6. To add multiple members—mailboxes and/or contacts—to a distribution list, access Exchange | Distribution Lists from the left-side navigation or main menu links (sample screen above).
    • Optionally, you can assign a member to distribution list(s) from the individual mailbox/contact (which takes a while). 

    Select one of the pre-defined distribution list(s) from under the Display name column.

  7. Click any of the tabs across the top to access details associated with the distribution list. These tabs enable you to add mailboxes and/or contacts as “Members” to the distribution list, adjust security settings, and also change the email address(es) as needed to manage the distribution list.

  8. Click the Members tab to add mailboxes and/or contacts as members to this distribution list.

    A list of currently defined members (if any) displays.

  9. To add members to this list, click the [Add New Member] button.

    The Add Distribution List Member screen displays.

  10. Select the member(s) to be added to the distribution list by clicking the checkbox in front of each member.

    When finished with your selection of distribution list members, click the [Submit] button.

    The example below shows a mailbox plus two (2) contacts as the members of the distribution list.

    NOTE: A distribution List may contain a single member, or multiple members—mailboxes, contacts and/or email-enabled Public Folders—as long as the members have valid email addresses.

     

    The distribution list updates to show “Adding” in the Status column to indicate that the changes are being made.

    You can continue working in this Control Panel, or you can click the Refresh link in the top right corner to see when new members are listed as "Ready" in the Status column.

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