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List Administration

Help: Mailing List Digest Options

You can offer subscribers a digest of messages sent to the list-server mailing list. The list server will "archive" messages sent to the list to a digest mailbox. The accumulated messages are then sent periodically to digest subscribers as a single message. You schedule the digest to be sent on a time-basis (for example daily or weekly) or when the digest reaches a certain size. When subscribers receive a digest, it contains all the messages sent to the list since the last digest was sent.

To set up a list-server mail digest, you first enable digest mode (see List Parameters, Step 6), and then you set the options you want to use.

List Digest Options

Digest Mailbox. Enter the name of the mailbox where postings get stored before the digest mailing is sent out. A copy of all postings will be sent to: list_administrator-mailboxname@yourhost.com. This mailbox has the following characteristics:

  • After a posting is sent to the digest list, the Digest Mailbox is emptied and a copy is made in the format: digestmailbox MMDD.mbx where digestmailbox is the name of the Digest Mailbox, MM is the month, and DD is the day of the posting.
  • The list administrator can view the mailbox by using the Web, and can delete or add messages before the posting is sent. The list administrator can also view posted digests by the MMDD format described in the previous paragraph.

Subject Line for Digest Postings. E nter the text that you want to appear as the subject line of the digest.

Strip Non-Text Attachments before Posting. Turn on this option to strip non-text attachments from messages when the digest posting is sent.

Enable Digest Separator. Turn on this option to specify lines or characters that will automatically separate messages in the digest posting. Then, click the Separator button and then enter the lines or characters that you want to use as a separator.

Enable Digest Header or Enable Digest Trailer. Turn on these options to display text at the beginning and/or end of each digest posting. For example, you can enter the subscribe/unsubscribe information for the digest and have it appear at the beginning and/or end of every message. Then, click the Header or Trailer button and enter the text. This information is saved in the digest_header.txt and/or digest_trailer.txt files.

Include Headers/Trailers When Posting to Digest Mailbox. Turn on this option to have the posted digest messages include the header and or trailer messages. We recommend turning off this option as it will make the digest larger and the digest has its own header and trailer.

Click the Digest Subscribers button to edit the list of users (digest.lst ) subscribed to the digest.

Digest Scheduling

From the Periodicity drop-down list, select how often you want to post the digest. For example, if you select Daily and set the Next Processing Date/Time to 12/10/1999 3:00 AM, then the digest will initially be posted on 12/10/1999, and then every day thereafter at the same time.

  • Daily. If you want to post the digest daily, select this and set the date and time to post the digest.
  • Weekly. If you want to post the digest weekly, select this and set the date and time to post the digest.
  • Bi-Weekly. If you want to post the digest every two weeks, select this and set the date and time to post the digest.
  • Monthly. If you want to post the digest monthly, select this and set the date and time to post the digest.
  • User-defined. If you want to post the digest every nn days, select this and enter the number of days. This affects both how often the digest is posted and how it is rescheduled for the next posting.
  • Size-Exceeds. To specify a size that causes the digest to be published, select this and enter the number of Kilobytes. This affects both how often the digest is posted and how it is rescheduled for the next posting.
  • Manual. If you want the digest to be posted only when you click the Process/Send Now button, select this.

Last Processing Date/Time. Shows the date and time of the last digest posting.

Next Processing Date/Time. If the next digest has been scheduled, the next date and time is shown. If date and time are blank, then set the next processing date and time and these values will be updated after the next processing date.

Click the Set button to save your changes.

Click the Send button to post the digest now.