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<H3><A NAME="SECTION002212000000000000000">
2.1.2 Reply-To header munging</A>
</H3>
<P>
This section controls what happens to the <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span>
headers of messages posted through your list.
<P>
Beware! <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> munging is considered a religious issue
and the policies you set here can ignite some of the most heated
off-topic flame wars on your mailing lists. We'll try to stay as
agnostic as possible, but our biases may still peak through.
<P>
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> is a header that is commonly used to redirect
replies to messages. Exactly what happens when your uses reply to
such a message depends on the mail readers your users use, and what
functions they provide. Usually, there is both a ``reply to sender''
button and a ``reply to all'' button. If people use these buttons
correctly, you will probably never need to munge
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span>, so the default values should be fine.
<P>
Since an informed decision is always best, here are links to two
articles that discuss the opposing viewpoints in great detail:
<P>
<UL>
<LI><a class="ulink" href="http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html"
>Reply-To Munging Considered
Harmful</a>
</LI>
<LI><a class="ulink" href="http://www.metasystema.org/essays/reply-to-useful.mhtml"
>Reply-To Munging Considered
Useful</a>
<P>
</LI>
</UL>
<P>
The three options in this section work together to provide enough
flexibility to do whatever <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> munging you might
(misguidingly :) feel you need to do.
<P>
<DL>
<DT><STRONG>first_strip_reply_to</STRONG></DT>
<DD>This variable controls whether any <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header
already present in the posted message should get removed before
any other munging occurs. Stripping this header will be done
regardless of whether or not Mailman will add its own
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header to the message.
<P>
If this option is set to <em>No</em>, then any existing
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header will be retained in the posted
message. If Mailman adds its own header, it will contain
addresses which are the union of the original header and the
Mailman added addresses. The mail standards specify that a
message may only have one <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header, but that
that header may contain multiple addresses.
<P>
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>reply_goes_to_list</STRONG></DT>
<DD>This variable controls whether Mailman will add its own
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header, and if so, what the value of that
header will be (not counting original header stripping - see
above).
<P>
When you set this variable to <em>Poster</em>, no additional
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header will be added by Mailman. This
setting is strongly recommended.
<P>
When you set this variable to <em>This list</em>, a
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header pointing back to your list's posting
address will be added.
<P>
When you set this variable to <em>Explicit address</em>, the value
of the variable <code>reply_to_address</code> (see below) will be
added. Note that this is one situation where
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> munging may have a legitimate purpose. Say
you have two lists at your site, an announce list and a discussion
list. The announce list might allow postings only from a small
number of approved users; the general list membership probably
can't post to this list. But you want to allow comments on
announcements to be posted to the general discussion list by any
list member. In this case, you can set the <span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span>
header for the announce list to point to the discussion list's
posting address.
<P>
</DD>
<DT><STRONG>reply_to_address</STRONG></DT>
<DD>This is the address that will be added in the
<span class="mailheader">Reply-To:</span> header if <code>reply_goes_to_list</code> is set
to <em>Explicit address</em>.
<P>
</DD>
</DL>
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.1, documentation updated on December 13, 2004.</span>
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