The options chosen for a list can have a large effect on the
usefulness of the list to its subscribers.
As the list owner, you can see the options for a list by sending a
REVIEW
request to the ACM LISTSERV:
REVIEW MY-LIST
LISTSERV will respond with a the list header for the list specified,
a message describing the owners of the list, the list options, and the people on the list.
* MY LIST Closed Announcement List
*
* Owner= list_owner@somewhere.net (Owner Name)
* Owner= Quiet:
* Owner= other_list_owner@somewhere.net
* Owner= some_other_list_owner@somewhere.net
* Notebook= Yes, some_physical_path\listname, Monthly, Private
* Digest= Yes,Same,Monthly
* Subscription= Closed
* Ack= Yes
* Confidential= No
* Notify= No
* Files= No
* Mail-Via= Distribute
* Validate= No
* Reply-to= Sender,Respect
* Review= Owner
* Sender= None
* Send= Editor,Confirm
* Editor= All
* Editor-Header= No
* Moderator= All
* Auto-Delete= Yes, Full-Auto, Probe(0)
* Default-Options= NoFiles,Repro,Ack
* X-Tags= No
*
*
* Total number of "concealed" subscribers: 1
* Total number of users subscribed to the list: 28 (non-"concealed" only)
* Total number of local node users on the list: 0 (non-"concealed" only)
|
This output can also be used as an input format.
That is: A list owner can GET this description:
GET MY-LIST (HEADER
edit it, and PUT it back (stars and all) to change most options.
PUT MY-LIST LIST PW=password
* MY LIST (Open Discussion)
*
...
Two configurations of options that are commonly used are
open lists (for discussion and announcements) and
closed lists (for announcements only). The open/closed attribute only refers to subscriptions.
Open lists have open subscription (but require a quick
confirmation from subscribers to ensure that their email
address is correct).
Closed lists are used as announcement lists.
Chapters lists have initally been set up to allow only list Owners to:
- Send mail to the list
- Review list options and subscribers
- Add subscribers to the list
The default setup of Chapters lists is as follows:
- Subscription is only by the list owner(s).
- Only the list Owners (defined as Editor=All and
Send= Editor,Confirm) may send to the list and have to confirm
a message through the "ok" mechanism in order for a message to
be posted to the list.
- This is how the "ok" mechanism works:
- When
LISTSERV receives a message intended for the list, it sends
a message back to the originating email address asking for a confirmation
to distribute the message.
- The message is confirmed by replying to LISTERV's message and entering
the word "ok" (no quotes, not case-sensitive) in the body of the reply.
An archive (Notebook=Yes, ...) is kept for the record; and a Digest is
available (Digest=Yes, ...).
The following table describes the output and options.
The most important considerations are those for list
openness:
- Subscription= Defines who can subscribe to the list
- Send= Defines who can send mail to the list
- Review= Defines who can review the list (and its unconcealed subscribers)
A general guideline is for discussion lists to be public on all dimensions,
while announcement lists are closed on all dimensions.
| Part
| Description
|
| Owner=
| Name of the Primary List Owner
The first listed owner is the primary list owner.
|
| Owner= Quiet:
| Subsequent Owners are Quiet
Non-quiet owners could be added above the Quiet: tag.
|
| Notebook=
| Status and Location and Frequency of Archiving
|
| Digest=
| Status and Frequency of Digests
|
| Errors-To=
| Where Errors Should be Directed
|
| Subscription=
|
- Open
- Anyone can subscribe
- By Owner
- A list owner must approve the subscription
(may require a lot of work by list owners)
- Closed
- Subscription requests are rejected,
users must be added by the owner
(the default for Chapters lists)
|
| Ack=
| Determines the Feedback to Posters
- yes
- A short acknowledgement is sent to the poster
along with some statistical information (e.g.,
the number of people receiving the message)
(the default value for Chapters lists)
- no
- no acknowledgement is sent to the poster
|
| Confidential=
| Controls whether the list appears on the list of lists.
(the default value for Chapters lists is "No" - not confidential)
|
| Notify=
| Determines whether (and to whom) subscriptions and deletions are sent.
- Yes
- Inform the list owner of changes
(this option might be the default for more established lists,
but would produce a lot of mail for new lists)
- No
- Do not inform the list owner
(the default for Chapters lists)
- address
- Inform the person at address
- role
- Inform the person with role of Owner, Editor, Moderator
|
| Files=
| No
|
| Mail-Via=
| Distribute
|
| Validate=
| Specifies whether list commands must be validated
(the default for Chapters lists is "No",
but this policy may change if there are problems with the lists).
|
| Reply-To=
| Specifies the contents of the Reply-To: field in distributed messages.
- List
- Not recommended because it invariably leads to
people accidentally replying to the entire list,
a source of annoyance for many people.
- Sender
- Reply to the message sender.
(the default for Chapters lists)
- Respect/Ignore
- Specifies whether the sender's Reply-To: field
should be respected or ignored.
(the default for Chapters lists is Respect)
|
| Review=
| Determines who can Review the List
- Public
- Anyone can review the list.
- Private
- Only list subscribers can review the list.
- Owner
- Only list owners can review the list.
(the default for Chapters lists)
|
| Send=
| Determines who can Send to the List
- Public
- Anyone can send messages to the list.
- Private
- Only list subscribers can send mail to the list.
- Editor
- Only a designated editor can send to the list.
(the default for Chapters lists; note that Editor= All, i.e., all Owners are Editors,
but you can add more Editors without having them act as Owners)
- Owner
- Only list owners can send to the list.
|
| Stats=
| Indicates whether stats for the list are maintained and who can access them.
- Normal/None
- By default, normal stats are kept.
- Access level
- Private (the default), Public, Owner, ...
|
| X-Tags=
| Yes
|
| Default-Options=
| The Default Options for New Subscribers.
(The defaults for Chapters lists are: NoFiles,Repro,Ack)
- NoFiles
- Files=No
- Repro
- Subscribed senders get a copy of their message.
Subscribers can SET NOREPRO.
- Ack
- Subscribed senders get an acknowledgement of their message.
Subscribers can SET NOACK.
|
