Have you decided to renew an e-list you own? If so, follow the steps below to complete its migration to the new e-list platform, Simplelists by the Tuesday, June 30, 2026 deadline.

To ease the migration, CIT has cloned your original Lyris e-list to Simplelists for you. The operation of the original will not be affected in any way by the existence or operation of the clone. The clone and the original work independently - changing one does not change the other - and both can be used simultaneously without interfering with each other, allowing a gradual transition.

The clone has been configured to operate as similarly as possible to the original. However, some settings from the original may not have transferred, and other settings we have configured differently to prevent the clone from being misused prior to you having time to work through this checklist. For example, by forcing moderation and disabling self-subscription.

Use the checklist below to guide your careful review of the clone's configuration and adjust it as needed. As appropriate, we will direct you the relevant parts of our Simplelists documentation. As we go, we will point out differences between Simplelists and Lyris.

Step 1: Log in to Simplelists

Log in to Simplelists with CUWebLogin.

Step 2: Select Your E-List

Navigate to the e-list you want to work with using the E-list Account dropdown in the upper right corner of the window, then selecting manage lists from the menu on the left side of the screen.

We have created two test e-lists for you with different configurations so you can explore and compare before you make any changes to your cloned e-list (note the 's' in 'lists'):

To view the two e-lists simultaneously, log in to Simplelists two separate times using two separate private/incognito windows.

Step 3: Configure Admins

Who administers your e-list?. 

Administration in Simplelists is different from Lyris: 

• Roles in Simplelists are different - being an admin does not give permission to post or receive posts
• Exchange Group Accounts (EGAs) and Cornell Optional Email Aliases (COEAs) can’t be admins.
• Simplelists uses CUWeblogin - you won't need a separate password.

• Add the people you expect to help you administer the e-list as admins.
  • Do not add an address that only needs to post, but not administer.
  • To review who is an admin on your original Lyris e-list, in Lyris:
    • Select Members from the menu on the left.
    • Select View Members.
    • From the menu above the members list, select Show: list administrators.
• You should add at least one Simplelists admin who can cover for you when you are not available. It cannot be an EGA.
• Consider adding your local IT support staff so they can more easily help you administer your e-list.
• You can also add your non-owner list-admin colleagues as admins to your test lists so they can gain familiarity with Simplelists.

Step 4: Configure Posters

Who is allowed to post to your e-list? 

Simplelists implements posting controls differently from Lyris:

• Roles in Simplelists are different - to post, an address must be listed in the Posting restrictions: Posting permissions section Allow specific email addresses to post to the list - being an admin has no effect on posting.
• the nomail setting (posting but not receiving) is implemented differently.
• Simplelists has features Lyris does not have, particularly related to interaction of posting controls with moderation.

While we've configured your clone to behave as similarly to the original as possible, we may have misunderstood your intent, or made mistakes. We have not attempted to copy over more advanced Lyris features, such as banned members, though Simplelists has similar capabilities.

Announcement Style

• In Lyris: only administrators can post
• To set in Simplelists: enable only Allow specific email addresses to post to the list
  • We copied the Lyris admins to this setting, one per line
    • See above for how to see who your Lyris admins are
  • Make sure every address listed is an address you want to allow to post
    • Remove any address that should not be allowed to post
    • Add any address that should be allowed to post
      • include your own address if you should be allowed
      • include any EGA addresses that should be allowed
    • Be sure to click update if you make any changes
  • Listing addresses in this section does not cause them to get email from the e-list
  • Lyris e-list posting addresses were changed to Simplelists posting addresses by replacing the text after the @ with lists.cornell.edu
    • E.G. mylist-L@cornell.edu ⇒ mylist-L@lists.cornell.edu
    • E.G. mylist-L@list.cornell.edu ⇒ mylist-L@lists.cornell.edu
  • If the e-list in question had its name changed recently (the part before the @), then you will need to reflect that change when you share the posting address
  • If we detected any Lyris e-lists that posted to this list, we added the Simplelists version of their address here as well. Though this is not strictly necessary, it does not hurt, and it protects against a parent e-list having its Header-From address rewritten due to DMARC. If this becomes an issue, you should add all the parents of the parents all the way up. We have not done so.

Discussion Style

• In Lyris: only members (which includes administrators) can post
• To set in Simplelists: enable only Allow members of specific lists to post to this list and select the appropriate lists.
  • If you are to post, then add yourself as a member; being an admin does not allow you to post
  • If your Lyris e-list had nomail members, we copied them to the Allow specific email addresses to post to the list section as described above in the Announcement Style section, because that is the only way to allow posting to a Simplelists e-list without getting postings from that Simplelists e-list. We rewrote any Lyris posting addresses to Simplelists address as described above as well.
    • To view the nomail members on your original Lyris e-list, in Lyris:
      • Select Members from the menu on the left
      • Select View Members
      • In the upper-right of the window select Find Members, then the Kind tab
      • Select Membership kind: nomail:receive no mail from this mailing list, then Go
        • We copied only the members with Status of normal because they are the only ones actively on the Lyris e-list
  • Be sure to click update if you make any changes

Open-posting Style

• In Lyris: any address in the world my post
• To set in Simplelists: enable only Allow anyone to send messages, including non-list members
  • Just as in Lyris, this setting risks channeling lots of spam to your members
  • If you used advanced posting controls in Lyris, you can configure similar controls in Simplelists. Ask for our assistance if needed.
  • Evaluate if moderation is beneficial.

Step 5: Configure Moderation

Is human moderation required? 

Moderation in Simplelists is different from Lyris:

• Simplelists' moderation options are more complex than Lyris'
• Simplelists does not have per-member moderation bypass
• Simplelists does not have number moderation

To configure moderation, go to List Settings and select the Posting restrictions tab. Scroll down to the Message rejections drop-down.

Option: Unmoderated (Lyris style) - you probably want this

• Reject all messages that are not allowed with posting permissions
  • this allows all postings that are permitted to go through without human moderation
  • and rejects all other messages

Option: Moderated (Lyris style) - initially set to this for safety

• Hold all messages for approval, reject those that are not from a sender that is allowed to post
  • this holds for moderation all postings that are permitted 
  • and rejects all other messages

Be sure to click Update if you make any changes.

Step 6: Configure Membership

Who receives from your e-list? 

To receive email from a Simplelists e-list, an address must be a member. If the e-list is a discussion style e-list then being a member also allows that address to post to the e-list.

In Simplelists:

• Admins are not members, so they do not receive the e-list email
• There is only mail membership, no mimedigest, digest, index, or nomail
• The nomail setting can be achieved via posting control (see above)
• Bulk import/update is better (see docs)
• Has firstname and surname fields - Lyris had only fullname

We copied to your Simplelists clone all the members of your Lyris original e-list. We hope this means you can just start using the clone without fussing with the membership. We strongly recommend that you check your list for accuracy. 

By "all," we mean all the members whose membership status was normal and whose membership kind was not nomail. We copied the email address and the fullname. The fullname was imported to the Simplelists surname field as it wasn't possible to accurately split.

• The copy was done 1:40pm May 11, 2026, for e-lists originally on the main Lyris server
• We have not yet copied the members from the bulk or alternate Lyris servers

The date and time are important because as members join and leave the Lyris version, they are not synchronized to the Simplelists version. To assess membership changes in your Lyris e-list:

• Select Members, then View Members from the menu on the left, and sort the list by Joined date
• Turn on a daily detailed subscription report.
  • Select Utilities from the menu on the left. 
  • Mouseover List Settings, then select Basic Information.
  • Select the Reports tab, then Daily: send a detailed report every day
  • Click Save
• This should catch all the additions, but will miss any removals done by a Lyris admin directly in the Lyris web interface.

In Lyris there are many other statuses than normal, but such members are not really members, they are either on their way out of being a member or on their way in. If those other types of members are important to you, be sure to examine them in Lyris or export them to a CSV file:

• Select Members, then View Members from the menu on the left.
• From the menu above the Email column, select Show: all members all types
• Select the Excel icon in the upper-right of the window, above Create New Member

Note that index and digest-style members were converted to regular members and will get each message as it’s posted. Members preferring a Digest-style receipt of the list can make Outlook rules on their end to file all email from the e-list to a folder.

Step 7: Configure Joining

How will people join your e-list? Should they be able to initiate subscription?

Joining an e-list in Simplelists is different from Lyris in several ways:

• In Simplelists you can only subscribe to a list via the web - it's not possible via email
• A list of all e-lists you can subscribe to is publicly available for Simplelists
• There is a standard per-e-list URL for self-subscribing
  • https://lists.cornell.edu/YOUR-LIST-NAME-L/subscribe/
• A confirmation email is always sent to the joining address with a URL to click to confirm or cancel subscription
• Admins can not see pending confirmation
• Some subscription settings can prevent people from leaving. When configuring subscription settings, do not prevent members from unsubscribing unless all members are legally obligated to be subscribed, for example as part of their employment. 

Step 8: Set a Welcome Message

Differences from Lyris include:

• The only way to disable the welcome message is to delete it
• The only way to test your welcome message is to add an address you can receive at as a member
• There's no formatting control

Developing a welcome message on Simplelists can produce surprises when people are actively joining the e-list, because it is always live. Doing the development of your welcome message on a test e-list avoids that disruption. A prototype welcome message is available, and has been installed into your '02-L' test e-list.

Step 9: Use Simplelists

You can now start using your Simplelists clone. Try posting to it.

To use the Simplelists clone of your e-list, address your postings to the Simplelists posting address:

• your-list-L@lists.cornell.edu    (note the "s" in "lists")

Don't worry if you accidentally send to the original Lyris e-list. Until you've completed your attestation, both the old and the new list will work. However, you do want to make a habit of using the Simplelists clone so that the Lyris original can be shutdown.

To verify that the Simplelists clone is reaching everyone correctly, you can, if appropriate:

• Send an email from the Simplelists clone saying:
  • This email comes to you via the new Simplelists version of our e-list.
• Then send an email via the Lyris original saying:
  • This comes to you via the old Lyris version of our e-list. A short while ago you should have gotten a message that said it came via the new Simplelists version. If you did not get that message, let me know so I can fix it. Otherwise, you will no longer be on this e-list.

Step 10: Notify Members of New Posting Address

The new posting address is similar to

• your-list-L@lists.cornell.edu    (note the "s" in "lists")

Be sure to tell all the people who post to your e-list that the posting address is changing. If you use the RENEW A option in the attestation (see below), then posting to the old Lyris address will bounce back to the poster with a "we've moved" reminder of the new posting address.

Step 11: Update Your Documentation

Be sure to update any documentation your team uses about how to join, use, or leave your e-list.

If you allow self-subscription, advertise this address:

• https://lists.cornell.edu/YOUR-LIST-NAME-L/subscribe/

Remind posters to post to:

• YOUR-LIST-NAME-L@lists.cornell.edu

You may want to link to some of the Simplelists documentation.

Step 12: Complete Your Attestation

Commit to using the Simplelists clone, thereby renewing your e-list for the 2026-2027, and attesting that the Lyris original may be shutdown.

1. Follow the link at the top of your TDX Workflow Step Assignment email that says I am ready to attest that my Lyris e-list can be disabled Workflow Step. 
2. Select a button that indicates your decision in that ticket. 

Because you followed this checklist you are probably intending to renew your e-list. For that, the best choice is RENEW A. If you know for sure that you don't want the standard "we've moved" notifications, choose RENEW B.

After you submit your attestation, it may take a day or two for it to take effect because CIT is implementing your choice manually. When your choice is implemented you will receive a follow-up email stating the process is complete.

As a reminder, there are four choices available in your TDX Workflow Step ticket:

RENEW A: I’ve switched; please activate the standard notification.

• This renews your e-list for the coming year.
• This choice involves the least amount of extra work for you.
• You attest that you are fully operating on the CIT provided Simplelists clone of your e-list, and that you want any posting to the old Lyris email address to bounce to the poster with a reminder of the correct new posting address (through August 3, 2026).

RENEW B: I’ve switched; no notification, delete the Lyris e-list now.

• This renews your e-list for the coming year.
• You attest that you are fully operating on the CIT provided Simplelists clone of your e-list, and that you want any posting to the old Lyris email address to bounce to the poster with no additional information, as if the e-list is gone.

SHUTDOWN A: Remove it; please keep my custom notification active.

• Use this option if you renamed or re-implemented your e-list elsewhere.
• This shuts down the original e-list. it will no longer exist in any CIT e-List Service.
• This is based on the name of the e-list; if you renamed the e-list, the new e-list won't be affected.
• You attest that you will not be using the CIT provide Simplelists clone of your e-list, that you want it deleted now, and that you want any posting to the old Lyris email address to bounce to the poster with the custom message you installed on the Lyris e-list (through August 3, 2026).

SHUTDOWN B: Remove it; no notification, delete everything now.

• Use this option if you want to shut down the e-list entirely.
• This shuts down the original e-list. it will no longer exist in any CIT e-List Service.
• This is based on the name of the e-list; if you renamed the e-list, the new e-list won't be affected.
• You attest that you will not be using the CIT provide Simplelists clone of your e-list, that you want it deleted now, and that you want any posting to the old Lyris email address to bounce to the poster with no additional information, as if the e-list is gone.