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Smart List Mailing List Software
On this page:
How do I set up a new
mailing list?
Smart List FAQ
How do I set up a new mailing list?
1. Go to your Mail Manager
(http://yourdomain.com/menu)
2. Create a list in Mail Manager
by clicking on New List.
3. Add the name of the list.
You'll get a message giving you instructions.
4. Click edit list.
5. Enter the maintainer,
password, and max # e-mails archived.
The maintainer is the e-mail of the
person in charge of the list.
The password is the list password.
Max # e-mails archived is the number of
the most recent "back-issues" to be saved, and sent when
someone requests the most recent e-mails sent to your mailing list.
From the Mail Manager, you have access
to Mailing List Manager, also called Xcommand (from the name of the
program in UNIX). This is a mailing list administration program.
Smart List - FAQ
Further Information about Smart
List:
Where can I find more SmartList information?
General
How do I make the list Open/Closed?
How do I change the admin password for my list?
How can I restrict who can post to my list?
How can I make my list moderated?
How do I enable 'auto help'?
Can I add comments to the addresses in the dist
file?
How can I change the messages that smartlist sends
to people?
How can I add "[listname]" to all of the
mailing list messages for easy filtering?
How can I add a short message file to the top of all
of the mailing list messages?
How can I add a short message file to the bottom of
all of the mailing list messages?
How can I keep the automatically added messages from
multiplying
when people quote them all the time?
How can I add a custom header to all of the mailing
list messages?
How can I remove some headers from all of the
mailing list messages?
How can I remove all of the X- headers from all of
the mailing list messages?
Is there a smartlist mailing list?
Is there an easy way to remove duplicates from the
dist file?
Is there an archive of the mailing list?
Subscribing/Unsubscribing
How do people subscribe/unsubscribe to the list?
How can I restrict who can subscribe to my list?
How can I automatically subscribe people who post to
the list?
How can I automatically send files to new
subscribers?
How can I prevent certain people from automatic
unsubscription?
How can I disable automatic unsubscription?
How can I tell smartlist to notify me when someone
subscribes/unsubscribes?
Digests
How do I turn a non-digest list into a digest?
How often do digests get sent out?
Can I force a digest to be sent every day, even if
it is small?
How can I add a message to the beginning of every
digest?
Archive Servers
How does someone access the archive server?
How can I restrict who can access the archive
server?
Where can I find more SmartList information?
SmartList Utilities and Patches - send email to alan.stebbens@software.com
with the subject "send smartlist library".
What does "uncomment" mean?
To uncomment a line in the file, remove the hashmark (#) from the
front of the line (if there are more than one, be sure and remove them
all), and change the value if necessary. For example, the moderate
section in the standard distribution looks like this:
#moderated_flag
##moderated_flag= yes # uncomment this to make the list
# moderated (you must create a
# `moderators' file for this to work)
# set moderator_PASSWORD to get
# stricter checking
To turn your list into a moderated
list, remove the two hash marks from the line that says "moderated_flag
= yes", so the section now looks like this:
#moderated_flag
moderated_flag= yes # uncomment this to make the list
# moderated (you must create a
# `moderators' file for this to work)
# set moderator_PASSWORD to get
# stricter checking
How do I make replies go to the list instead of to
the sender?
In the rc.custom file, uncomment the line:
reply_to = $listaddr
and set it to something like this:
reply_to = "Reply-To: $listaddr"
Although for various reasons this is discouraged, many people want it
this way anyway (For more information on why this is discouraged, see http://www.unicom.com/pw/reply-to-harmful.html).
How do I make the list Open/Closed?
To make the list closed subscription (i.e. the maintainer has to
approve subscriptions), uncomment the auto_subscribe line in rc.custom,
and set it to read:
auto_subscribe = no
To make the list closed unsubscription, do the same thing with the
auto_unsubscribe line.
How do I change the admin password for my list?
The password is stored in the rc.custom file.
How can I restrict who can post to my list?
You can restrict submissions to people on the accept-list (the
`accept'-file). Mail from anyone else will be passed on to the
maintainer instead of being submitted. To enable this you have to
uncomment the appropriate "foreign_submit" line in rc.custom.
By default the accept file is hardlinked to the dist file (i.e. if
submissions are restricted, only subscribers can do so). If you want
to allow only an even more select group, delink the accept file and
edit it to taste. If you'd like to have both the dynamic accept file
and a static one, create a new file "accept2", it will be
searched in addition to the regular accept file.
If, in addition to notifying the maintainer you want an automated
reply to be generated to the submitter which was not in the accept
file, then you can accomplish this by simply creating an accept.txt
file. Its contents will (like the contents of the help.txt file) be
returned to the submitter.
How can I make my list moderated?
First create a file named "moderators", it should
contain the fully qualified mail addresses of all the moderators for
this list (i.e. just local usernames are not sufficient, at least
include an @host or host! ). Then uncomment the appropriate "moderated_flag"
line in rc.custom.
From then on all mail that does not contain an "Approved:
the_address_of_one_of_the_moderators" field is forwarded to all
the moderators.
One of the moderators should then resend the mail to the list after
adding an "Approved: his_own_address" field to the header
(and possible editing the contents of the mail). It will be no problem
if several moderators resubmit the same submission concurrently, since
the mailinglist will filter out duplicates anyway (i.e. only the first
one will go out and be archived).
How do I enable 'auto help'?
By uncommenting the appropriate "auto_help" line in the
rc.custom file the list will respond to every undecipherable request
message as if it requested help. Messages that will still get through
to the maintainer are those:
- that seem to come from a daemon.
- which look like a reply.
Can I add comments to the addresses in the dist
file?
Yes, as long as the comments are one of the format:
Some sample entries:
(the preferred format):
joe@some.where
joe@some.where (some comment)
joe@some.where (some comment) (some more comments)
Depreciated, but allowed:
<joe@some.where>
<joe@some.where> some comment
<joe@some.where> (some comment)
Not allowed:
(some comment) joe@some.where
some comment <joe@some.where>
The email address must be the first
thing on the line, and must be separated from the comments by a space.
How can I change the messages that smartlist sends
to people?
The messages that smartlist sends out are in the ~slist/listname
directory, and can be edited using any available file editor. The
files that it sends and their uses are:
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help.txt
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Sent as a response to a help
command, or if anything smartlist doesnt understand is sent to
the listname-request address.
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subscribe.txt
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Sent to new subscribers.
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unsubscribe.txt
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Sent to someone who just
unsubscribed.
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archive.txt
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A description of how to use the
archive server, and the commands it understands.
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How can I add
"[listname]" to all of the mailing list messages for easy
filtering?
In your rc.custom file, uncomment the line that reads
"RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_10 = rc.local.s10", and make a file called
"rc.local.s10" in your list directory, in that file put
this:
---- Cut Here ----
SUBJ=`formail -zx Subject:` # extract the subject
:0fw
* ! ^Subject:.*\[listname\]
* ! ^Subject:.Re: *
| formail -I "Subject: [listname] $SUBJ"
---- End Here ----
Be sure to replace "[listname]"
with what you would like to be at the beginning of the subject line.
(Posted to SmartList@Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.DE by Leigh Wolenczak
).
How can I add a short message file to the top of
all of the mailing list messages?
Uncomment the line "RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_20 = rc.local.s20" from
your rc.custom file, and add the following to your rc.local.s20 file:
#
# Adding a disclaimer in front of every mail:
#
:0 fhw
| cat - header.txt
You will also need to create a file
called header.txt, which contains the text to add to the message (this
file can be empty though, so you can create the files, but only fill
them in when you need to add something.)
How can I add a short message file to the bottom
of all of the mailing list messages?
Uncomment the line "RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_20 = rc.local.s20" from
your rc.custom file, and add the following to your rc.local.s20 file:
#
# Appending a disclaimer to every outgoing mail:
#
:0 fbw
| cat - footer.txt
You will also need to create a file
called footer.txt, which contains the text to add to the message (this
file can be empty though, so you can create the files, but only fill
them in when you need to add something.)
How can I keep the automatically added messages
from multiplying when people quote them all the time?
A small refinement here: if you add something like this:
#
# Appending a disclaimer to every outgoing mail:
#
:0 fbBw
* ! to unsubscribe
| cat - footer.txt
then (assuming that the phrase "to
unsubscribe" appears in your footer.txt file), the footer won't
be repeated if some bozo list member quotes an entire message without
trimming the footer. (Answer submitted by Doug Landauer.)
How can I add a custom header to all of the
mailing list messages?
Uncomment the line "RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_20 = rc.local.s20" from
your rc.custom file, and add the following to your rc.local.s20 file:
#
# Adding some custom headers (although it will work, this is not
# needed for Reply-To related headers, see the reply_to variable in
# rc.custom):
#
:0 fhw
| formail -i "X-Subliminal-Message: SmartList is great" \
-I "X-Mailer: procmail, which is great too :-)"
How can I remove some headers from all of the
mailing list messages?
Uncomment the line "RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_20 = rc.local.s20" from
your rc.custom file, and add the following to your rc.local.s20 file:
#
# To get rid of some headers:
#
:0 fhw
| formail -I X-Mailing-List: -I X-Mailer:
How can I remove all of the X- headers from all of
the mailing list messages?
Uncomment the line "RC_LOCAL_SUBMIT_20 = rc.local.s20" from
your rc.custom file, and add the following to your rc.local.s20 file:
#
# To get rid of all X- fields:
#
:0 fhw
| formail -I X-
Is there a smartlist mailing list?
Yes, to subscribe send a message to smartlist-request@Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.DE
with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message. There
is also a digested version of the mailing list, which can be
subscribed to by sending a message to smartlist-d-request@Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.DE,
with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message.
Is there an easy way to remove duplicates from the
dist file?
This script was contributed to the SmartList mailing list by mark
david mcCreary, you can run this from your list directory (where the
dist file is located), and it will remove the duplicates and sort the
entries that appear below the "(Only addresses below this line
can be automatically removed)" line.
#! /bin/sh
:
#
# rc.dedup.list
#
# mdm 11/5/97 borrow code from David W. Tamkin, with additional
# suggestions from Martin Konold and Hal Wine
#
#
# This script will sort and remove duplicates from a Smartlist
# distribution file. Smartlist dist files contain a comment line
# that looks like this
#
# (Only addresses below this line can be automatically removed)
#
# Addresses above and including this line will not be sorted.
#
lockfile=lockfile # /usr/bin/lockfile
cat=cat # /bin/cat
rm=rm # /bin/rm
sed=sed # /bin/sed
# create lock file to discourage smartlist running a job
$lockfile -10 -l3600 -r11 -s30 rc.lock
$sed -e "1,/(Only addresses below this line can be automatically
removed)/{
;w slabove.$$
;d;
}
" dist | sort -fu -o slbelow.$$
$cat sl?????.$$ > dist
$rm -f sl?????.$$
$rm -rf rc.lock
Is there an archive of the mailing list?
Yes, at http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~casterln/smartlist-arc/maillist.html
How do people subscribe/unsubscribe to the
list?
By sending a message to the listname-request address with the
message 'susbscribe' or 'unsubscribe' in the body of the mail, if the
list is open they will be added to it, if it is a closed list the
request will be forwarded to the list maintainer.
How can I restrict who can subscribe to my list?
There are three ways in which you can restrict who can subscribe
to a list:
- You can put the addresses of unwanted subscribers on the so-called
reject-list (the `reject'-file).
- You can create a program (e.g. a shell script) called "subscreen".
It must be executable and will receive the mail address of the
prospective subscriber as the first argument. If subscription for that
address is allowed, the program must return with exitcode zero. If
subscription is disallowed, simply return with exitcode one. A sample
program is provided in the examples directory.
- You can completely disable automatic subscription by uncommenting
the appropriate "auto_subscribe" line in rc.custom.
- You can completely disable automatic unsubscription by uncommenting
the appropriate "auto_unsubscribe" line in rc.custom.
How can I automatically subscribe people who post
to the list?
Instead of rejecting submissions by people not on the accept (dist)
list, you can enable "force_subscribe". This will cause
people submitting mails to the list to be autosubscribed to the list
if they were not in the dist file.
How can I automatically send files to new
subscribers?
You can create a file named "subscribe.files". It can
contain any number of archive-server commands. The results (i.e. the
files requested) will be sent to the new subscriber.
How can I prevent certain people from automatic
unsubscription?
Everything in the dist file preceding the line containing: '(Only
addresses below this line can be automatically removed)' is write
protected from changes by multigram (i.e. these addresses can never be
automatically/accidentally unsubscribed).
How can I
disable automatic unsubscription?
By removing the line '(Only addresses below this line can be
automatically removed)' from the dist file, automatic unsubscription
will be disabled.
How can I
tell smartlist to notify me when someone subscribes/unsubscribes?
By setting the cc_requests or cc_unsubrequests variables in the
rc.custom file to yes (making sure to uncomment it).
How do I turn a non-digest list into a digest?
You can configure a list to send out digests of accumulated
submissions. In order to do so, simply uncomment the appropriate
assignment to digest_flag in rc.custom. Digests are then sent out
every so often depending on size and age of the accumulated messages.
How often do digests get sent out?
When it reaches a certain pre-set size limit (set in rc.custom), or it
ages beyond the maximum age (3 days).
Can I force a digest to be sent every day, even if
it is small?
Yes, by creating a file called .digest.force in your list directory, a
digest will be sent out the next time that flush_digests is run, no
matter how big it is (unless it is empty). You should have a crontab
entry that runs flush_digests every day (if you want to send out a
digest every day), if you want to force a digest every day, using .digest.force
is not the way to go, since the file is deleted every time that
flush_digests is run, if you really want digests every day, run
flush_digests from cron with the -f (force) option.
How can I add a message to the beginning of every
digest?
If you create a file named digest.admin in either the main directory
of the digested list or in the archive/latest directory belonging to
it, it will be picked up by the next flush_digests and included up
front to the actual digest under the heading "Administrivia".
The archive/latest/digest.admin file digested list will be
automatically removed after the digest has been pushed out. The
digest.admin file in the main directory of the digested list will not
be removed and is included in every digest.
How does someone access the archive server?
By sending email to your listname-request address, with a subject
of 'archive'.
How can I restrict who can access the archive
server?
You can restrict archive access to people on the accept-lists (the
`accept' and `accept2'-file). Mail from anyone else will be passed on
to the maintainer instead of being passed to the archive server. To
enable this you have to uncomment the appropriate "restrict_archive"
line in rc.custom.
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