On 21 Apr 2002, at 0:06, Mark D. Lew wrote: > Anyway, even the smoothest web page still requires the delay of opening the > browser in the first place, a tedious matter that I prefer to avoid. For > me, sending Unix-style commands in an email message is definitely easier.
In the same message you replied to, I quoted the list headers from the posts the listserv sends out: List-Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=help> List-Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Subscribe: <http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale>, <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=subscribe> List-Id: <finale.mail.shsu.edu> List-Unsubscribe: <http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale>, <mailto:finale- [EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=unsubscribe> List-Archive: <http://mail.shsu.edu/pipermail/finale/> What that first header means is that if you send an email message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subjectof "help" you should get a reply listing all the options. In other words, mailman offers the web interface as an *extension* to the usual email driven command structure, not as a replacement for it. This is not made clear on the web pages for it, though, and I don't see any help pages, so the web interface is not by any stretch of the imagination a replacement for the traditional email command structure. However, by going to the mailman project web page (i.e., the web page for the software development project that produces mailman), I found this PDF with some instructions for end users: http://www.imsa.edu/~ckolar/mailman/mailman-userguide-0.1.pdf I can't say if it's a good help file or not. I am suspicious of anyone who puts up document in only a PDF, UNIX archive or StarOffice format, and who proudly proclaims at the end (in the fine print) "No Microsoft products were used in the production of this document." Why the document isn't in HTML format I really can't say. It seems a very stupid way of approaching making information available to people who are, by definition, going to be non-technical. But I digress. Here is the HELP response, with all the list commands: ***** help Help for Finale mailing list: This is email command help for version 2.0.6 of the "Mailman" list manager. The following describes commands you can send to get information about and control your subscription to Mailman lists at this site. A command can be in the subject line or in the body of the message. Note that much of the following can also be accomplished via the World Wide Web, at: http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale In particular, you can use the Web site to have your password sent to your delivery address. List specific commands (subscribe, who, etc) should be sent to the *-request address for the particular list, e.g. for the 'mailman' list, use 'mailman-request@...'. About the descriptions - words in "<>"s signify REQUIRED items and words in "[]" denote OPTIONAL items. Do not include the "<>"s or "[]"s when you use the commands. The following commands are valid: subscribe [password] [digest-option] [address=<address>] Subscribe to the mailing list. Your password must be given to unsubscribe or change your options. When you subscribe to the list, you'll be reminded of your password periodically. 'digest-option' may be either: 'nodigest' or 'digest' (no quotes!) If you wish to subscribe an address other than the address you send this request from, you may specify "address=<email address>" (no brackets around the email address, no quotes!) unsubscribe <password> [address] Unsubscribe from the mailing list. Your password must match the one you gave when you subscribed. If you are trying to unsubscribe from a different address than the one you subscribed from, you may specify it in the 'address' field. who See everyone who is on this mailing list. info View the introductory information for this list. lists See what mailing lists are run by this Mailman server. help This message. set <option> <on|off> <password> Turn on or off list options. Valid options are: ack: Turn this on to receive acknowledgement mail when you send mail to the list. digest: Receive mail from the list bundled together instead of one post at a time. plain: Get plain-text, not MIME-compliant, digests (only if digest is set) nomail: Stop delivering mail. Useful if you plan on taking a short vacation. norcv: Turn this on to NOT receive posts you send to the list. Does not work if digest is set. hide: Conceals your address when people look at who is on this list. options Show the current values of your list options. password <oldpassword> <newpassword> Change your list password. end or -- Stop processing commands (good to do if your mailer automatically adds a signature file - it'll save you from a lot of cruft). Commands should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions and concerns for the attention of a person should be sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- David W. Fenton | http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates | http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
