Page 32 - Mercury Manual.book

27 Mailing lists
Mailing list settings and options

fields in this page. You can edit the files once you have entered a name, by clicking the Edit
button next to the field.

Standard files Mercury comes pre-installed with a set of standard welcome and farewell
files that it will use by default - these standard files will cover the majority of common
list types and applications. You can instruct Mercury to use its standard set of files by
typing the word STANDARD in either or both of these fields. You cannot edit the standard
files using the Edit buttons, but if you wish, you can change them manually using a text
editor - look for files called STDSUB_?.MER and STDFW_?.MER in the directory where
Mercury is installed.

Confirmation file You can configure your list so that subscriptions to it will only be accepted
when the subscriber replies to a confirmation message sent out by the mail server on receipt
of the original request (this process is widely known as double-opt-in). Doing this reduces the
likelihood of someone subscribing to the list with a mis-typed or invalid e-mail address, since
they will never get the confirmation request if the address is unreachable; it also prevents peo-
ple from maliciously subscribing other people to a list. Mercury has a default confirmation
request text (contained in a file called CONFIRMS.MER), which it will use if you leave this
field blank, but you can also provide your own text by entering a filename here and clicking
the Edit button next to the field. Your confirmation text should include detailed instructions
on how the confirmation should be sent - see the base CONFIRMS.MER file for a recommend-
ed text.

Allow public subscription (anyone may subscribe) If this control is checked, then anyone
may subscribe to the list by sending a SUBSCRIBE command to the Mercury/32 Mail Server,
or by connecting to the MercuryB mailing list web service and using its Subscribe to list op-
tion. If this control is not checked, then only list moderators may add subscribers, using the
mail server's ADD command.

Require confirmation from subscribers before activating new subscriptions If this control is
checked, new subscribers will be required to reply to a confirmation request (i.e, to double-
opt-in) before being added to the list. See Confirmation file, above, for more details.

Automatically set new subscribers to digest mode if available If this control is checked and
digest support is available for the list, new subscribers will automatically be subscribed to the
list in digest mode.

Subscriptions expire automatically after x days If you enter a non-zero value in this field,
then subscriptions to your mailing list will have a limited life span: "x" days after the sub-
scription is activated, the subscriber will be removed from the list. When a user's subscription
to a list expires, Mercury sends a short message advising the user that it has happened. If the
list is moderated, Mercury sends the file AUTOEXPM.MER, and if the list is not moderated, it
sends the file AUTOEXP.MER. You can modify these files if you wish, but they are used for
all lists maintained by Mercury.

Settings controlling submission of mail to the list
Mail can be submitted to the list by This group of controls determines who is permitted to
send mail to the list for redistribution. If Anyone is checked, then Mercury simply distributes
any mail sent to the list without performing any checks. If Subscribers/Moderators is
checked, then Mercury will only permit mail to be distributed to the list if it is sent by a cur- Mercury checks the
rent subscriber or list moderator. If Moderators only is checked, then the list is considered to From:, Reply-to, Resent-
From, and Sender head-
be fully-moderated, and only mail sent by people whose addresses currently appear in the ers in the message, which
moderator list will be distributed to the list. Note that a list moderator is not required to be a means that a subscriber
can forward a message to
current subscriber to the list. the list.