Most people come to this page when they tried to use the commands listed in our Customize Your List Settings article and got an error message that reads something like this:

No password was specified after the email address (pw=password). You must specify your password before you can change your email address.

The problem is that some people have an e-list password. All list administrators have one, and (depending on how you’ve used lists) some users do as well.

Try sending the command again, but use this syntax for the Subject of the message:

set listname option pw=mylistpassword

where

• listname is the name of the list for which you are setting your options.
• option is the keyword described on our Customize Your List Settings page.
• mylistpassword is the password you use as a Lyris administrator on this or any other list you administer from the email address you are using. (Some users may also have a Lyris password.)

For example: set specialconditions-L digest pw=AZ54by40 

Important:

• This format only applies to people who are administrators on at least one list (and not necessarily the list you’re trying to work with here) or who have set a password for other reasons.
• You must send this message from the email address where you receive the e-list’s messages.
• The settings you specify will be changed only for the e-list you specify, not for all your lists.

Explanation for the Password Being Required

Many people are members of multiple lists. Some people are also administrators of some of those lists. The blurred line between members and administrators for these people can cause the SET command to fail. If Lyris knows that a particular email address has a password, it requires that password to execute this command, even though you aren’t trying to be an administrator when you use it.

The fix is to include your Lyris password even when you are acting as an ordinary member.