Subscribing to Google Groups by Email

Maybe this has been documented somewhere, but at least, I cannot find it on Google's own support pages. So here goes:

Google Groups have become a major mailing list hub. Unfortunately, Google tries to coerce people into using their web interface, which is something I object to for a number of reasons (it's ok to have it as a fall-back, but not as a primary interface). Now, Google Groups can be subscribed to using standard email, and here is how. As an example, I'll use the GitLab mailing list.

1. Figure out the list address:

   1. The group is at (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/gitlabhq/). In that group, select a random posting, then use the button on the right of the "Sign in to reply" button to open a drop-down menu. Select "Show original".

   2. Locate the "To: " line (maybe another line - see below). For this group, it should read

      To: gitlabhq@googlegroups.com

2. Subscribe to this group:

   1. Use your email program to send an email to this address:

      gitlabhq+subscribe@googlegroups.com

   2. You will get a confirmation email with a token in the subject line. Reply to it.

   3. You "should" get a welcome message, and be done.

I write "should", as sometimes, Google simply drops the email, and there is no way to figure out, why. Therefore, I tend to use email addresses which I already used in conjunction with Google - they work best.

HTH, and hopefully, Google will get their act together, one day.