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diff --git a/admin/www/mailman-member.txt b/admin/www/mailman-member.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9d73f137..00000000 --- a/admin/www/mailman-member.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1297 +0,0 @@ - #GNU Mailman - List Member Manual Contents About this document... - About this document... - - Previous Page Up One Level Next Page GNU Mailman - List Member Manual - _________________________________________________________________ - -GNU Mailman - List Member Manual - - Terri Oda - - terri(at)zone12.com - - Release 2.1 - December 13, 2004 - - Front Matter - - Abstract: - - This document describes the list member interface for GNU Mailman 2.1. - It contains instructions for subscribing, unsubscribing, viewing the - archives, editing user options, getting password reminders, and other - subscriber-level tasks. It also answers some common questions of - interest to Mailman list members. - -Contents - - * - + 1 Introduction - o 1.1 Acknowledgements - o 1.2 What is a mailing list? - o 1.3 GNU Mailman - + 2 Translating from our examples to real lists - + 3 Mailman's interfaces - o 3.1 The web interface - o 3.2 The email interface - + 4 I need to talk to a human! - + 5 Subscribing and unsubscribing - o 5.1 How do I join a list? (subscribe) - o 5.2 How do I leave a list? (unsubscribe) - + 6 Passwords - o 6.1 How do I get my password? - o 6.2 How do I change my password? - o 6.3 How do I turn password reminders on or off? - (reminders option) - + 7 Changing mail delivery - o 7.1 How do I turn mail delivery on or off? (delivery - option) - o 7.2 How can I avoid getting duplicate messages? - (duplicates option) - o 7.3 How do I change my subscription address? - o 7.4 How do I stop or start getting copies of my own - posts? (myposts option) - o 7.5 How can I get Mailman to tell me when my post has - been received by the list? (ack option) - o 7.6 I don't seem to be getting mail from the lists. What - should I do? - + 8 Digests - o 8.1 How can I start or stop getting the list posts - grouped into one big email? (digest option) - o 8.2 What are MIME and Plain Text Digests? How do I - change which one I get? (digest option) - + 9 Mailing list topics - o 9.1 How do I make sure that my post has the right topic? - o 9.2 How do I subscribe to all or only some topics on a - list? - o 9.3 How do I get or avoid getting messages with no topic - set? - + 10 Setting other options - o 10.1 Change Globally? Set Globally? What does that mean? - o 10.2 How do I change my name as Mailman knows it? - o 10.3 How do I set my preferred language? - o 10.4 How do I avoid having my name appear on the - subscribers list? (the hide option) - + 11 Other common questions - o 11.1 How do I view the list archives? - o 11.2 What does Mailman do to help protect me from - unsolicited bulk email (spam)? - + 1 Email commands quick reference - + 2 Member options quick reference - - 1 Introduction - - This document is intended to help the members of a Mailman 2.1 mailing - list learn to use the features available to them. It covers the use of - the web and email interfaces for subscribing and unsubscribing, - changing member options, getting password reminders and other - subscriber-level tasks. It also answers some common questions of - interest to Mailman list members. - - Information for list and site administrators is provided in other - documents. - - This document need not be read in order. If you are simply looking for - an answer to a specific question, jump to the appropriate place and - references to other sections will be provided if necessary or - potentially helpful. - - Note: For the purposes of this document, we assume that the reader is - familiar with common terms related to email (eg: Subject line, body of - the message) and web sites (eg: drop-down box, button) or can look - them up. We also assume that the reader can already use his or her - email program and web browser well enough that instructions such as - "send email to this address" or "visit this web page" or "fill in the - form provided" are clear. If you are not familiar with these actions, - you may want to consult other documentation to learn how to do these - things with your particular setup. - -1.1 Acknowledgements - - Sections of this document have been borrowed from the List - Administrator Manual found in Mailman CVS, which was written by Barry - A. Warsaw, and from the in-line help for Mailman 2.1. - - The rest of this manual has been written by Terri Oda. Terri has been - maintaining mailing lists since the year she attained voting age in - Canada, although the two are not related. She currently oversees the - mailing lists at Linuxchix.org, as well as several smaller servers. In - the world outside of list administration, Terri is doing work with an - artificial life spam detector, and is actually more of a programmer - than technical writer. - - Proofreading thanks go to Margaret McCarthy and Jason Walton. - -1.2 What is a mailing list? - - A mailing list is simply a list of addresses to which the same - information is being sent. If you were a magazine publisher, you would - have a list of the mailing addresses of all the subscribers to the - magazine. In the case of an electronic mailing list, we use a list of - email addresses from people interested in hearing about or discussing - a given topic. - - Two common types of email mailing lists are announcement lists and - discussion lists. - - Announcement lists are are used so that one person or group can send - announcements to a group of people, much like a magazine publisher's - mailing list is used to send out magazines. For example, a band may - use a mailing list to let their fan base know about their upcoming - concerts. - - A discussion list is used to allow a group of people to discuss topics - amongst themselves, with everyone able to send mail to the list and - have it distributed to everyone in the group. This discussion may also - be moderated, so only selected posts are sent on to the group as a - whole, or only certain people are allowed to send to the group. For - example, a group of model plane enthusiasts might use a mailing list - to share tips about model construction and flying. - - Some common terms: - * A "post" typically denotes a message sent to a mailing list. - (Think of posting a message on a bulletin board.) - * People who are part of an electronic mailing list are usually - called the list's "members" or "subscribers." - * "List administrators" are the people in charge of maintaining that - one list. Lists may have one or more administrators. - * A list may also have people in charge of reading posts and - deciding if they should be sent on to all subscribers. These - people are called list moderators. - * Often more than one electronic mailing list will be run using the - same piece of software. The person who maintains the software - which runs the lists is called the "site administrator." Often the - site administrator also administrates individual lists. - -1.3 GNU Mailman - - GNU Mailman is software that lets you manage electronic mailing lists. - It supports a wide range of mailing list types, such as general - discussion lists and announce-only lists. Mailman has extensive - features which make it good for list subscribers, such as easy - subscription and unsubscription, privacy options, and the ability to - temporarily stop getting posts from the list. The list member features - are covered in this document. - - Mailman also has many features which make it attractive to list and - site administrators. These features are covered in the list and site - administrator manuals. - - 2 Translating from our examples to real lists - - Often, it's easier to simply give an example than explain exactly how - to find the address for your specific list. As such, we'll frequently - give examples for a fictional list called LISTNAME@DOMAIN whose list - information page can be found at - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME. - - Neither of these are real addresses, but they show the form of a - typical list address. The capital letters used for the list-specific - parts of each address should make it easier to see what should be - changed for each list. Although specific list configurations may be - different, you will probably be able to just replace the words given - in capital letters with the appropriate values for a real list: - - LISTNAME - The name of your list. - - DOMAIN - The name of the mail server which handles that list. - - WEBSERVER - The name of the web server which handles the list web - interface. This may be the same as DOMAIN, and often refers to - the same machine, but does not have to be identical. - - As a real-life example, if you are interested in the mailman-users - list, you'd make the following substitutions: LISTNAME=mailman-users, - DOMAIN=python.org, WEBSERVER=mail.python.org. As such, for the - mailman-users@python.org mailing list, the list information page can - be found at the URL - http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-users. (These, unlike - most of the examples given in this document, are real addresses.) - - Most lists will have this information stored in the List-*: headers. - Many mail programs will hide these by default, so you may have to - choose to view full headers before you can see these informational - headers. - - 3 Mailman's interfaces - - Mailman has two different interfaces for the list subscriber: the web - interface and the email interface. Most discussion list subscribers - use the email interface, since this includes the email address you use - to send mail to all the subscribers of that list. - - The interface you use for changing options is largely a matter of - preference, since most (but not all) of the options which can be - changed from the web interface can also be changed by email. Usually - it is easier to use the web interface for changing options, since the - web interface provides instructions as you go, but there are times - when people may prefer the email interface, so both are provided. - -3.1 The web interface - - The web interface of Mailman is its selling point for many - administrators, since it makes it much easier for subscribers and - administrators to see which options are available, and what these - options do. - - Every mailing list is also accessible by a number of web pages. Note - that the exact URLs are configurable by the site administrator, so - they may be different than what's described below. We'll describe the - most common configuration, but check with your site administrator or - hosting service for details. - - List information (listinfo) page - - + Usually found at http://WEBSERVER/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME - (for example, - http://lists.example.com/mailman/listinfo/mylist) - + The listinfo page is the starting point for the subscriber - interface. As one would assume from the name it's given, it - contains information about the LISTNAME list. Usually all the - other subscriber pages can be accessed from this point, so - you really only need to know this one address. - - Member options page - - + Usually found at - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/options/LISTNAME/EMAIL (For example, - http://lists.example.com/mailman/options/mylist/kathy@here.co - m) - + This page can also be accessed by going to the listinfo page - and entering your email address into the box beside the - button marked "Unsubscribe or Edit Options" (this is near the - bottom of the page). - + The member options page allows you to log in/out and change - your list settings, as well as unsubscribe or get a copy of - your password mailed to you. - + To log in to your member options page: If you are not already - logged in, there will be a box near the top for you to enter - your password. (If you do not know your password, see - Section 6.1 for more information on getting your password.) - Enter your password in the box and press the button. - + Once you are logged in, you will be able to view and change - all your list settings. - - List Archives - - + Usually found at http://WEBSERVER/pipermail/LISTNAME if the - list is publicly archived, and - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/private/LISTNAME if the list is - privately archives. (For example, - http://lists.example.com/pipermail/mylist or - http://lists.example.com/mailman/private/mylist) - + The list archive pages have copies of the posts sent to the - mailing list, usually grouped by month. In each monthly - group, the posts are usually indexed by author, date, thread, - and subject. - + Note: Pipermail is the name of the default archiver that - comes with Mailman. Other archive programs are available. - + If the archive is private, you will need to supply your - subscribed email address and your password to log in. (See - Section 6.1 for more information on getting your password.) - -3.2 The email interface - - Every mailing list has a set of email addresses to which messages can - be sent. There's always one address for posting messages to the list, - one address to which bounces are sent, and addresses for processing - email commands. For a fictional mailing list called - mylist@example.com, you'd find these addresses: - - * mylist@example.com - this is the email address people should use - for new postings to the list. - * mylist-join@example.com - by sending a message to this address, a - new member can request subscription to the list. Both the Subject: - header and body of such a message are ignored. Note that - mylist-subscribe@example.com is an alias for the -join address. - * mylist-leave@example.com - by sending a message to this address, a - member can request unsubscription from the list. As with the -join - address, the Subject: header and body of the message is ignored. - Note that mylist-unsubscribe@example.com is an alias for the - -leave address. - * mylist-owner@example.com - This address reaches the list owner and - list moderators directly. This is the address you use if you need - to contact the person or people in charge. - * mylist-request@example.com - This address reaches a mail robot - which processes email commands that can be used to set member - subscription options, as well as process other commands. A list of - members' email commands is provided in Appendix A. - * mylist-bounces@example.com - This address receives bounces from - members whose addresses have become either temporarily or - permanently inactive. The -bounces address is also a mail robot - that processes bounces and automatically disables or removes - members as configured in the bounce processing settings. Any - bounce messages that are either unrecognized, or do not seem to - contain member addresses, are forwarded to the list - administrators. - * mylist-confirm@example.com - This address is another email robot, - which processes confirmation messages for subscription and - unsubscription requests. - - There's also an -admin address which also reaches the list - administrators, but this address only exists for compatibility with - older versions of Mailman. - - For changing options, we use the LISTNAME-request address (for - example, mylist-request@example.com). - - Commands can appear in the subject line or the body of the message. - Each command should be on a separate line. If your mail program - automatically appends a signature to your messages, you may want to - put the word "end" (without the quotes) on a separate line after your - other commands. The end command tells Mailman not to process the email - after that point. - - The most important command is probably the "help" command, since it - makes Mailman return a message full of useful information about the - email commands and directions to the web interface. - - Quick references to the subscriber commands have been provided in - Appendices A and B. (These have been slightly adapted from the output - of the help command.) - - 4 I need to talk to a human! - - If you have any trouble with any of these commands, you can always - reach the person or people in charge of a list by using the list - administrator email address. The list administrators can help you - figure out how to do something, subscribe/unsubscribe you, or change - your settings if you are unable to change them yourself for some - reason. Please remember that many mailing list administrators are - volunteers who are donating their spare time to run the list, and they - may be very busy people. - - This list administrator email address is in the form - LISTNAME-owner@DOMAIN, where LISTNAME is the name of the list (eg: - mailman-users) and DOMAIN is the name of the server (eg: python.org). - This email address, along with the email addresses of specific - administrators, is given on the bottom of the list information pages. - See Section 3.1 for more information on finding the list information - page for your list - - 5 Subscribing and unsubscribing - - Since subscribing (joining) and unsubscribing (leaving) lists are - often the only things a list member needs to know, these can both be - done without requiring you to know a password. - -5.1 How do I join a list? (subscribe) - - There are two common ways you can subscribe to a Mailman mailing list. - - Using the web interface: - 1. Go to the list information page for the list you want to join. - (This will probably be something like - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME) - 2. Look for the section marked "Subscribing to LISTNAME" and fill in - the boxes. You can fill in the following: - + You must enter your email address. - + You may choose to supply your real name. - + You may choose a password. If you do not choose one, Mailman - will generate one for you. - Warning: Do NOT use a valuable password, since this password - may be mailed to you in plain text. - + If the list supports more than one language, you may be able - to choose your preferred language. Note: This setting does - not affect posts to the list, only pre-prepared Mailman texts - such as your member options page. - 3. Press the subscribe button. A new page should appear telling you - that your request has been sent. - - Using the email interface: - 1. Open a mail program which sends mail from the address you want to - subscribe. - 2. Send a mail to the list subscription address, which will be in the - form LISTNAME-join@DOMAIN. The subject and body of the message - will be ignored, so it doesn't matter what you put there. - - After following one of these sets of instructions (you don't need to - do both!), there are a few possible outcomes depending upon the - settings for that list. - * You may receive an email message asking for confirmation that you - really want to be subscribed to the list. This is to prevent - anyone from subscribing you to lists without your permission. - Follow the instructions given in the message to confirm your wish - to be subscribed. - * A moderator may also need to confirm your subscription if you are - subscribing to a limited list. - * Or you may have to wait for a moderator and follow the - instructions in the confirmation mail. - - Once this is done, you will likely receive another message welcoming - you to the list. This message contains some useful information - including your list password and some quick links for changing your - options, so you may want to save it for later reference. - - Note: Subscribing can be done in other ways as well. See Appendix A - for more advanced email subscribing commands. - -5.2 How do I leave a list? (unsubscribe) - - Don't want to be on a list any more? If you're just going on vacation - or are too busy to read mails and want to temporarily turn them off, - you may want to stop mail delivery rather than unsubscribing. This - means you keep your password and other settings so you can, for - example, still have access to private list archives. If this is what - you'd prefer, see Section 7.1 for instructions on disabling mail - delivery temporarily. - - If you actually want to leave the list, there are two common ways you - can unsubscribe from a Mailman mailing list. - - Using the web interface: - 1. Go to the list information page for the list you want to leave. - (This will probably be something like - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME) - 2. Look for the section marked "LISTNAME subscribers" (usually found - near the bottom of the page). - 3. There should be a button marked "Unsubscribe or Edit Options." - Enter your email address in the box beside this button and press - the button. - 4. You should be brought to a new page which has an "Unsubscribe" - button. Press it to unsubscribe and follow the instructions given. - - Using the email interface: - 1. Open a mail program which sends mail from the address you want to - unsubscribe. - 2. Send a mail to the list unsubscribe address, which will be of the - form LISTNAME-leave@DOMAIN. The subject and body of this message - will be ignored, so it doesn't matter what you put there. - - After following one of these sets of instructions (you don't need to - do both!), you will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the - instructions given in that mail to complete the unsubscription. This - is to stop people from unsubscribing you without your permission. In - addition, a moderator may need to approve your unsubscription. - - If you do not receive this confirmation mail with instructions, make - sure that you typed your email address correctly (if you were using - the web interface to unsubscribe) and that the address you tried to - unsubscribe is, indeed, actually subscribed to that list. For security - reasons, Mailman generates the same member options page regardless of - whether the address entered is subscribed or not. This means that - people cannot use this part of the web interface to find out if - someone is subscribed to the list, but it also means that it's hard to - tell if you just made a typo. - - Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will will probably - receive another message confirming your unsubscription from the list, - and at that point you should stop receiving messages. - - If you wish to skip the confirmation process (for example, you might - be unsubscribing an address which no longer works), it is possible to - bypass it by using your password instead and either logging in to your - options page using it (See Section 3.1), or sending it with your email - commands to LISTNAME-request (See Appendix A for advanced email - unsubscription commands). See Section 6.1 for more information on - getting your password. - - 6 Passwords - - Your password was either set by you or generated by Mailman when you - subscribed. You probably got a copy of it in a welcome message sent - when you joined the list, and you may also receive a reminder of it - every month. It is used to verify your identity to Mailman so that - only the holder of the password (you!) and the administrators can view - and change your settings. - - Warning: Do NOT use a valuable password for Mailman, since it can be - sent in plain text to you. - -6.1 How do I get my password? - - If you've forgotten your password and haven't saved the welcome - message or any reminder messages, you can always get a reminder - through the web interface: - - 1. Go to the list information page for the list from which you wish - to get your password (This will probably be something like - http://WEBSERVER/mailman/listinfo/LISTNAME) - 2. Look for the section marked "LISTNAME subscribers" (this section - is usually found near the bottom of the page). - 3. There should be a button marked "Unsubscribe or Edit Options." - Enter your email address in the box beside this button and press - the button. - 4. You should be brought to a new page which has an "Password - Reminder" section. Press the "Remind" button to have your password - emailed to you. - - If you do not receive the password reminder email after doing this, - make sure that you typed your email address correctly and that the - address you used is, indeed, actually subscribed to that list. For - security reasons, Mailman generates the same member options page - regardless of whether the address entered is subscribed or not. This - means that people cannot use this part of the web interface to find - out if someone is subscribed to the list, but it also means that it's - hard to tell if you just made a typo. - - You can also get a reminder using the email interface, - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command password - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - If you are not sending mail from your subscribed address, you can - also specify this address by sending the command password address= - $<$ ADDRESS $>$ . - -6.2 How do I change my password? - - Warning: Do NOT use a valuable password, since this password may be - mailed to you in plain text. - - From the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for - instructions on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the password changing boxes on the right-hand side of the - page and enter your new password in the appropriate boxes, then - press the button marked "Change My Password." - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - From the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command password - $<$ OLDPASSWORD $>$ $<$ NEWPASSWORD $>$ . - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - If you are not sending mail from your membership address, you can - also specify this address with address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ after $<$ - NEWPASSWORD $>$ . - For example, if kathy@here.com wanted to change her mylist - password from zirc to miko, but she was sending mail from her work - address kathy@work.com, she could send a message to - mylist-request@example.com with the subject set to - password zirc miko address=kathy@here.com. - -6.3 How do I turn password reminders on or off? (reminders option) - - If you don't wish to the reminder email including your password every - month, you can disable it from the member options page. (You can - always get the password mailed out when you actually want it. See - Section 6.1 for instructions.) - - Using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for - instructions on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Get password reminder email for this - list?" and change the value accordingly. - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - Using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set reminders on or set reminders off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "on" to receive reminders, and "off" to stop receiving - reminders. - - 7 Changing mail delivery - -7.1 How do I turn mail delivery on or off? (delivery option) - - You may wish to temporarily stop getting messages from the list - without having to unsubscribe. If you disable mail delivery, you will - no longer receive messages, but will still be a subscriber and will - retain your password and other settings. - - This can be handy in a many different cases. For example, you could be - going on vacation or need a break from the list because you're too - busy to read any extra mail. Many mailing lists also allow only - subscribers to post to the list, so if you commonly send mail from - more than one address (eg, one address for at home and another for - when you're travelling), you may want to have more than one subscribed - account, but have only one of them actually receive mail. You can also - use this as a way to read private archives even on a list which may be - too busy for you to have sent directly to your mailbox. All you need - to do is subscribe, disable mail delivery, and use your password and - email to log in to the archives. - - To disable/enable mail delivery using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your options page. (See Section 3.1 for instructions.) - 2. Go down to the section marked "Mail delivery" and select - "Disabled" to stop receiving mail, and "Enabled" to start - receiving mail. - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - To disable/enable mail delivery using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set delivery off or set delivery on. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "off" to stop receiving posts, and "on" to start - receiving them again. - -7.2 How can I avoid getting duplicate messages? (duplicates option) - - Mailman can't completely stop you from getting duplicate messages, but - it can help. One common reason people get multiple copies of a mail is - that the sender has used a "group reply" function to send mail to both - the list and some number of individuals. If you want to avoid getting - these messages, Mailman can be set to check and see if you are in the - To: or CC: lines of the message. If your address appears there, then - Mailman can be told not to deliver another copy to you. - - To turn this on or off using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the section marked "Avoid - duplicate copies of messages?" and change the value accordingly. - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - To turn this on or off using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set duplicates on or set duplicates off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "on" to receive list copies of messages already sent to - you, set it to "off" to avoid receiving these duplicates. - -7.3 How do I change my subscription address? - - To change your subscription address, - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. In the section marked "Changing your LISTNAME membership - information," enter your new address. - 3. If you wish to change your address for all subscriptions using the - old address, select the "Change globally" box. If you have - subscriptions under another address or for lists on a different - domain, these will have to be done separately. See Section 10.1 - for more information about changing settings globally. - - There is no special way to do this from the email interface, but you - can subscribe and unsubscribe for more or less the same effect. (See - Sections 5.1 and 5.2 for more information on subscribing and - unsubscribing.) - -7.4 How do I stop or start getting copies of my own posts? (myposts option) - - By default in Mailman, you get a copy of every post you send to the - list. Some people like this since it lets them know when the post has - gone through and means they have a copy of their own words with the - rest of a discussion, but others don't want to bother downloading - copies of their own posts. - - Note: This option has no effect if you are receiving digests. - - You may also want to see Section 7.5, which discusses acknowledgement - emails for posts sent to the list. - - To set this using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Receive your own posts to the list?" - Set it to "Yes" to receive copies of your own posts, and "No" to - avoid receiving them. - - To set this using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set myposts on or set myposts off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "on" to receive copies of your own posts, and "off" to - avoid receiving them. - -7.5 How can I get Mailman to tell me when my post has been received by the -list? (ack option) - - On most lists, you will simply receive a copy of your mail when it has - gone through the list software, but if this is disabled (See - Section 7.4), your list mail delivery is disabled (See Section 7.1), - you are not subscribed to that topic (See Section 9.2) or you simply - want an extra acknowledgement from the system, this option may be - useful to you. - - Note: If you are not subscribed to the list, this option cannot be - used. You must either check the archives yourself (if the list has - public archives), ask someone who is subscribed to the list, or - subscribe to use this option. - - To set this using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Receive acknowledgement mail when you - send mail to the list?" Set it to "Yes" to receive a mail letting - you know your post has been received, and "No" to avoid receiving - such an acknowledgement. - - To set this using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command set ack on - or set ack off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "on" if you wish to receive mail letting you know your - post has been received, and "off" to avoid receiving such an - acknowledgement. - -7.6 I don't seem to be getting mail from the lists. What should I do? - - There are a few common reasons for this: - * No one has sent any mail to the list(s) you're on for a little - while. - To check if this is the case, try visiting the archives of the - list (assuming that the list has archives). If the list has no - archives, you may have to ask another subscriber. (See Section 3.1 - for help in finding the list archives.) - Note: Generally, it is considered impolite to send test messages - to the entire list. If you feel a need to test that the list is - working and for some reason you cannot simply compose a regular - message to the list, it is less disruptive to send a help message - to the list request address (LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN) to see if - that works, or to contact the list administrator - (LISTNAME-owner@DOMAIN) to ask if the list is working. - * You were bouncing mail and have had mail delivery (temporarily) - disabled by the list software. - If your mail provider "bounces" too many messages (that is, it - tells Mailman that the message could not be delivered) Mailman - eventually stops trying to send you mail. This feature allows - Mailman to gracefully handle addresses which no longer exist (for - example, the subscriber has found a new internet service provider - and forgot to unsubscribe the old address), as well as addresses - which are temporarily out-of-service (for example, the subscriber - has used up all of the allotted space for his or her email - account, or the subscriber's mail provider is experiencing - difficulties). - Even if you are unaware of any difficulties with your mail - provider, it is a good idea to check this. Some popular webmail - providers and internet servers are not as reliable as one might - assume, nor is the internet as a whole. You may want to also send - yourself a test message from another account or ask a friend to - send you a test message to make sure your subscribed address is - working. - To check if this may be the reason you are not receiving messages, - log in to the your options page (See Section 3.1 for more details - on how to do this) and look at your options. There should be one - marked "Mail Delivery" - if it is set to "Disabled," set it to - "Enabled" to start receiving mail again. (For more instructions on - disabling or enabling mail delivery, see Section 7.1.) - Note: Even if you have not been disabled at the time you check, - you could be bouncing messages and not have reached the threshold - for your subscription to be disabled. You may need to check again. - * There is a delay or break in the networks between you and the list - server. - No matter what many of us would like, the internet is not 100% - reliable, nor is it always fast. Sometimes, messages simply take a - long time to get to you. Try to be patient, especially if the - server is far (in terms of networks, not geography, although often - one implies the other) from your internet service provider. - To check if this might be causing your problem, you can try - pinging the list server or tracing the route between you and it. - (Instructions on how to do this varies from platform to platform, - so you may want to use a search engine to find those appropriate - for you.) - * The Mailman installation on the list server is not functioning or - not functioning properly. - To test if this is a case, try visiting the list's web interface - and try sending a message to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the - command "help" (without the quotes) in the Subject:. If neither of - these works after a reasonable length of time, this may be the - problem. You may wish to contact either the list or site - administrator(s). - - 8 Digests - -8.1 How can I start or stop getting the list posts grouped into one big email? -(digest option) - - Groups of posts are called "digests" in Mailman. Rather than get - messages one at a time, you can get messages grouped together. On a - moderately busy list, this typically means you get one email per day, - although it may be more or less frequent depending upon the list. - - You may also want to look at Section 8.2 which discusses MIME and - plain text digests. - - To turn digest mode on or off using the web interface, - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Set Digest Mode." - Set it to "On" to receive messages bundled together in digests. - Set it to "Off" to receive posts separately. - - To turn digest mode on or off using the email interface, - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set digest plain or set digest mime or set digest off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "off" if you wish to receive individual posts - separately, and to "plain" or "mime" to receive posts grouped into - one large mail. See Section 8.2 for more information on plain - versus MIME digests. - -8.2 What are MIME and Plain Text Digests? How do I change which one I get? -(digest option) - - MIME is short for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. It is used to - send things by email which are not necessarily simple plain text. (For - example, MIME would be used if you were sending a picture of your dog - to a friend.) - - A MIME digest has each message as an attachment inside the message, - along with a summary table of contents. - - A plain text digest is a simpler form of digest, which should be - readable even in mail readers which don't support MIME. The messages - are simply put one after the other into one large text message. - - Most modern mail programs do support MIME, so you only need to choose - plain text digests if you are having trouble reading the MIME ones. - - Note: This option has no effect if you are not receiving mail bunched - as digests. (See Section 8.1 for more information on receiving mail as - digests.) - - To set your digest type using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Get MIME or Plain Text Digests?." - Set it to "MIME" to receive digests in MIME format, or "Plain - text" to receive digests in plain text format. - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - To set your digest type using the email interface, - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set digest plain or set digest mime. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "plain" to get posts bundled into a plain text digest, - or "mime" to get posts bundled together into a MIME digest. - - 9 Mailing list topics - - Some lists are set up so that different topics are handled by Mailman. - For example, the courses list on Linuxchix.org is a discussion list - for courses being run by linuxchix members, and often there are - several courses being run at the same time. (eg: Networking for - beginners, C programming, LaTeX document mark up.) Each of the courses - being run is a separate topic on the list so that people can choose - only to receive the course they want to take. - - These topics must be configured by the list administrator, but it is - the responsibility of each poster to make sure that their post is put - with the correct topic. Usually, this means adding a tag of some type - to the subject line (eg: [Networking] What type of cables do I need?) - or making sure the Keywords: line has the right information. (By - default, you can put a Keywords: section in the beginning of the body - of your message, but this can be configured by your list - administrator.) Note that these tags are case-insensitive. - -9.1 How do I make sure that my post has the right topic? - - When a list administrator defines a topic, he or she sets three - things: - * a topic name - * a regular expression (regexp) - * a description - - You can view this information by logging in to your member options - page. (See Section 3.1 for more details on how to do this.) and - clicking on the "details" link for any topic that interests you. - - To post on a given topic, you need to make sure that the Keywords: or - Subject: headers in a message match the regular expression for that - topic. Regular expressions can actually be fairly complex, so you may - want to just ask the list administrator if you don't know how to make - heads or tails of the expression given. - - Most Mailman topic expressions will be fairly simple regular - expressions, so in this document we will simply give you some common - examples. Regular expressions are a bit too complex to teach in a few - lines here, so if you really want to understand how the regular - expressions work, you should find a tutorial or reference elsewhere. - (For example, DevShed has a decent tutorial at - http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/Administration/RegExp/) - - Here are some examples of possible regular expressions and matching - lines: - - Regular expression Matching lines - zuff Keywords: zuff - zuff Keywords: ZUFF - zuff Keywords: Zuff - zuff Keywords: amaryllis, zuff, applesauce - zuff Subject: [zuff] Do you have the right stuff for zuff? - zuff Subject: Do you have the right stuff for zuff? - zuff Subject: What is zuff? - \[zuff\] Keywords: [zuff] - \[zuff\] Subject: [zuff] Do you have the right stuff? - \[zuff\] Subject: Online zuff tutorials (was Re: [zuff] What is zuff?) - - A few notes: - * The matching is case-insensitive, so if zuff matches, so will - ZUFF, zuFF, and any other variations in capitalization. - * Some characters have special meaning in a regular expression, so - to match those characters specifically, they must be "escaped" - with a backslash (\). As you can see in the above example, [ and ] - are such characters. (Others include ".", "?", and "*"). The - backslash is also used for other things (I wasn't kidding about - regular expressions being complex: consult other documentation for - details about other uses of the backslash character), but this is - the most likely use in a topic expression. - -9.2 How do I subscribe to all or only some topics on a list? - - If topics have been set up by your mailing list administrator, you can - choose to subscribe to only part of a list by selecting the topics you - want to receive. - - If you wish to get all messages sent to the list, make sure you are - not subscribed to any topics. - - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Which topic categories would you like - to subscribe to?" - If any topics are defined, you can select those you wish. If you - do not select any topics of interest, you will receive all posts - sent to the list. - - You probably also want to look at Section 9.3 which discusses changing - your settings for messages where no topic is set. - -9.3 How do I get or avoid getting messages with no topic set? - - If you wish to get all messages sent to the list, make sure you are - not subscribed to any specific topic. (See Section 9.2.) - - If you are only subscribed to some topics, you can either choose to - either receive or not receive messages with no topic set, much the way - you can choose to subscribe only to certain topics. - - To change this setting, - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. Look for the section marked "Do you want to receive message that - do not match any topic filter?" - If you wish to receive messages with no topic set, select "Yes." - If you do not wish to receive such messages, choose "No." - - This setting has no effect if you are not subscribed to any topics. - - 10 Setting other options - -10.1 Change Globally? Set Globally? What does that mean? - - For some of the options given in your member options page, there is a - tick-box which says "Change Globally" or "Set Globally." This means - that if you change this option, you can also have the change made for - all your other list subscriptions with the same address to lists on - the same domain. This can be handy if, for example, you want to make - sure all your passwords are the same, or you are going on vacation and - want to turn off mail delivery from all the lists. - -10.2 How do I change my name as Mailman knows it? - - To change your subscription name, - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for more - details on how to do this.) - 2. In the section marked "Changing your LISTNAME membership - information," enter your new name in the appropriate box. - - This can also be changed for multiple lists at the same time if you - are subscribed to more than one list on the same domain. See - Section 10.1 for information about changing settings globally. - - Note: You do not need to have a subscription name set. - -10.3 How do I set my preferred language? - - Mailman is available with many different languages. (For a complete - listing see http://mailman.sourceforge.net/i18n.html.) This means - that, if your list has other languages enabled, you may be able to - have the web interface, etc. in a language of your choice. - - Note: This does NOT necessarily mean that all the posts sent to the - list will be in the language you selected. Only the pre-prepared texts - presented by Mailman will be affected by this setting. Posts are in - whatever language the poster uses. - - Your preferred language is set when you subscribe (see Section5.1), - and can be changed later if the list supports more than one language. - - To change your preferred language in Mailman, - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for - instructions on how to do this.) - 2. Go to the section marked "What language do you prefer?" and choose - the appropriate language from the drop-down list. If there is no - drop-down list of languages, the list you are on probably only - supports one language. - - If your list does not support the language you would prefer to use, - you may contact the list administrator (LISTNAME-owner@DOMAIN) to see - if it can be added, but remember that this may mean some work that the - list and/or site administrator(s) do not have time or the ability to - do. - - If your language of choice is not available because no translation - exists for Mailman, please consider volunteering your time as a - translator. For more information you may want to consult the - mailman-i18n mailing list at - http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/mailman-i18n. (i18n is a - common short-hand for "internationalization" because the word starts - with an i, ends with an n, and has 18 letters in between. If you - mumble a bit, i18n even sounds a bit like "internationalization.") - -10.4 How do I avoid having my name appear on the subscribers list? (the hide -option) - - If you do not want to have your email address show up on the - subscriber list for any reason, you can opt to have it concealed. - - Common reasons for doing this include avoiding unsolicited bulk email - (spam). By default, the subscribers list is obscured to hinder spam - harvesters, but if you feel this is insufficient it's easy enough to - remove address from the subscriber list given in the information pages - or by email request. (Note that this does not conceal your address - from the list administrators.) You may wish to see Section 11.2 for - more information on what Mailman can do to help avoid spam. - - To change this setting using the web interface: - 1. Log in to your member options page. (See Section 3.1 for - instructions on how to do this.) - 2. Go to the section marked "Conceal yourself from subscriber list?" - and choose "Yes" to hide your name from the list, or "No" to allow - your name to appear on the list. - - To change this setting using the email interface: - 1. Send a mail to LISTNAME-request@DOMAIN with the command - set hide on or set hide off. - Commands can appear in either the body or the subject of the - message. (See Section 3.2 for more information about sending mail - commands.) - 2. Set it to "on" to conceal your email address from the membership - list, or "off" to stop concealing your address. - - 11 Other common questions - -11.1 How do I view the list archives? - - If the list has archives, they can be viewed by going to a web page - address. This address usually linked from the list information page - and can be found in the List-Archive: of every list message unless - your list administrator has disabled these headers. (Many mail - programs hide the List-Archive: mail header, so you may have to tell - your mail program to allow you to view full headers before you will be - able to see it.) - - Public archives usually have addresses of the form - http://WEBSERVER/pipermail/LISTNAME/ and private archives usually have - addresses of the form http://WEBSERVER/mailman/private/LISTNAME. - - See Section 3.1 for more information on finding the addresses of a - list. - -11.2 What does Mailman do to help protect me from unsolicited bulk email -(spam)? - - A technical list's archives may include answers to a range of - different questions. Often, the people who have posted these answers - would be happy to help someone who doesn't quite understand the - answer, and don't mind giving their address out for that purpose. But - although it would be wonderful if everyone could contact each other - easily, we also want to make sure that the list and list archives are - not abused by people who send spam. - - To make a range of options available to list administrators, Mailman - allows a variety of configurations to help protect email addresses. - Many of these settings are optional to the list administrator, so your - particular list may be set up in many ways. List administrators must - walk a fine line between protecting subscribers and making it - difficult for people to get in touch. - - * Subscriber lists - + The list administrator can choose to have the subscriber list - public, viewable only to list members, or viewable only to - list administrators. - + The subscriber list is shown with the addresses obscured to - make it difficult for spam harvesters to collect your - address. - + You can choose to have your address hidden from the - subscriber list. (See Section 10.4 for more information.) - + Note: The entire subscriber list is always available to the - list administrators. - * List archives - + The list administrator can choose for the archives to be - public, viewable only to members (private), or completely - unavailable. - + The HTML archives which are created by Pipermail (the - archiving program which comes default with Mailman) contain - only obscured addresses. Other archiving programs are - available and can do different levels of obfuscation to make - addresses less readable. - + If you wish to be more sure, you can set the mail header - X-no-archive: and Mailman will not archive your posts. - Warning: This does not stop other members from quoting your - posts, possibly even including your email address. - * Limited posting to the lists - + The list administrator can choose who can post to the list. - Most lists are either moderated (a moderator or administrator - reviews each posting), set so only subscribers may post to - the list, or allow anyone to post to the list. - + By allowing only subscribers to post to a list, Mailman often - blocks all spam and some viruses from being sent through the - list. As such, this is a fairly common setting used by list - administrators. - * Anonymous lists - + Lists can also be made fully anonymous: all identifying - information about the sender is stripped from the header - before the message is sent on. - + This is not typically used for anti-spam measures (it has - other uses), but it could be used in that way if desired. - - Of course, many address-obscuring methods can be circumvented by - determined people, so be aware that the protections used may not be - enough. - - 1 Email commands quick reference - - * confirm $<$ CONFIRMATION-STRING $>$ - + Confirm an action. The confirmation-string is required and - should be supplied within a mailback confirmation notice. - * end - + Stop processing commands. Use this if your mail program - automatically adds a signature file. - * help - + Receive a copy of the help message. - * info - + Get information about this mailing list. - * lists - + See a list of the public mailing lists on this GNU Mailman - server. - * password [ $<$ OLDPASSWORD $>$ $<$ NEWPASSWORD $>$ ] [address= $<$ - ADDRESS $>$ ] - + Retrieve or change your password. With no arguments, this - returns your current password. With arguments $<$ OLDPASSWORD - $>$ and $<$ NEWPASSWORD $>$ you can change your password. - * set ... - + Set or view your membership options. - Use `set help' (without the quotes) to get a more detailed - list of the options you can change. This list is also given - in Appendix B. - Use `set show' (without the quotes) to view your current - option settings. - * subscribe [ $<$ PASSWORD $>$ ] [digest|nodigest] [address= $<$ - ADDRESS $>$ ] - + Subscribe to this mailing list. Your password must be given - to unsubscribe or change your options, but if you omit the - password, one will be generated for you. You may be - periodically reminded of your password. - The next argument may be either: `nodigest' or `digest' (no - quotes!). If you wish to subscribe an address other than the - address you sent this request from, you may specify `address= - $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ' (no brackets around the email address, and - no quotes!) - * unsubscribe [ $<$ PASSWORD $>$ ] [address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ] - + Unsubscribe from the mailing list. If given, your password - must match your current password. If omitted, a confirmation - email will be sent to the unsubscribing address. If you wish - to unsubscribe an address other than the address you sent - this request from, you may specify `address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ - ' (no brackets around the email address, and no quotes!) - * who [ $<$ PASSWORD $>$ ] [address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ] - + See everyone who is on this mailing list. The roster is - limited to list members only, and you must supply your - membership password to retrieve it. If you're posting from an - address other than your membership address, specify your - membership address with `address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ' (no - brackets around the email address, and no quotes!) - - 2 Member options quick reference - - * set help - + Show this detailed help. - * set show [address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ] - + View your current option settings. If you're posting from an - address other than your membership address, specify your - membership address with `address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ' (no - brackets around the email address, and no quotes!). - * set authenticate $<$ PASSWORD $>$ [address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ] - + To set any of your options, you must include this command - first, along with your membership password. If you're posting - from an address other than your membership address, specify - your membership address with `address= $<$ ADDRESS $>$ ' (no - brackets around the email address, and no quotes!). - * set ack on - set ack off - + When the `ack' option is turned on, you will receive an - acknowledgement message whenever you post a message to the - list. - * set digest plain - set digest mime - set digest off - + When the `digest' option is turned off, you will receive - postings immediately when they are posted. Use `set digest - plain' if instead you want to receive postings bundled into a - plain text digest (i.e. RFC 1153 digest). Use `set digest - mime' if instead you want to receive postings bundled - together into a MIME digest. - * set delivery on - set delivery off - + Turn delivery on or off. This does not unsubscribe you, but - instead tells Mailman not to deliver messages to you for now. - This is useful if you're going on vacation. Be sure to use - `set delivery on' when you return from vacation! - * set myposts on - set myposts off - + Use `set myposts off' to avoid receiving copies of messages - you post to the list. This has no effect if you're receiving - digests. - * set hide on - set hide off - + Use `set hide on' to conceal your email address when people - request the membership list. - * set duplicates on - set duplicates off - + Use `set duplicates off' if you want Mailman not to send you - messages if your address is explicitly mentioned in the To: - or Cc: fields of the message. This can reduce the number of - duplicate postings you will receive. - * set reminders on - set reminders off - + Use `set reminders off' if you want to disable the monthly - password reminder for this mailing list. - - About this document ... - - GNU Mailman - List Member Manual, December 13, 2004, Release 2.1 - - This document was generated using the LaTeX2HTML translator. - - LaTeX2HTML is Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, Nikos Drakos, - Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds, and Copyright © - 1997, 1998, Ross Moore, Mathematics Department, Macquarie University, - Sydney. - - The application of LaTeX2HTML to the Python documentation has been - heavily tailored by Fred L. Drake, Jr. Original navigation icons were - contributed by Christopher Petrilli. - _________________________________________________________________ - - Previous Page Up One Level Next Page GNU Mailman - List Member Manual - _________________________________________________________________ - - Release 2.1, documentation updated on December 13, 2004. |