Thanks for the quick response.  Two followups:
 
1) If the server-wide defaults are in DEFAULT.MAILTPL, what is the
function of SITE.MAILTPL?
 
2) Nathan wrote "Testing on my test list indicates that if you remove
the .hh block, it will work"  So the "#" characters are just treated as
whitespace in the template?
 
Thanks again.
 
- JWM

________________________________

From: LISTSERV give-and-take forum
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nathan Brindle
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2011 8:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [LSTSRV-L] Banners in LISTSERV


At 07:22 PM 8/25/2011 -0400, John Manly wrote:


	Hello.  I have a few questions about BANNERS that I can't seem
to find the answer to in the documentation:
	 
	1) What is the difference and intended usage of the
BOTTOM_BANNER vs. the DEFAULT_BOTTOM_BANNER templates?  I would have
thought that DEFAULT_BOTTOM_BANNER was a site-wide default, with
BOTTOM_BANNER being list specific, but when I look in a given list's
MAILTPL file, I see both.  In what sort of circumstances should one use
one over the other?


DEFAULT_BOTTOM_BANNER is ignored if found in the list-level template, so
why it's in the template file is anybody's guess.  Possibly someone
copied it in thinking it was needed.



	2) How does the <list>.MAILTPL file get populated when a new
list is created?  Where are the true site-wide defaults kept from which
these are copied?  (SITE.MAILTPL?  default.MAILTPL?  How these work in
terms of which overrides which?)


There is no listname.MAILTPL file until you create it, either by a PUT
operation via email or by editing one of the templates available in the
web interface.  Server-wide defaults are kept in DEFAULT.MAILTPL and are
used unless they are overridden by the list-level template.



	3) What triggers the creation of the <list>.MAILTPL file at all?
Is one always created unconditionally at list creation time, or only if
some kind of template modifications have taken place?  (On my system I
have some lists that have a MAILTPL file and some that don't, and some
of the ones that do are ones I know have not had their templates
specifically modified.)


I think I just answered that above :)



	4) Does the "#" character have any special significance in a
MAILTPL file?  As a comment delimeter, for example?


No.  You start a comment line with ".*" as documented.



	  I have a MAILTPL file that looks like this: 
	 
	

		>>> BOTTOM_BANNER Default bottom banner
		
		.CS ISO-8859-1
		
		To unsubscribe from the list:
&LISTNAME-signoff-request@&MYHOST
		
		
		  
		.hh on
		
	
########################################################################
		
		
		  
		##To unsubscribe from the &LISTNAME list, click the
following link:
		
		##.BB &LITEFE = 0
		
		## &*TICKET_URL(&LISTNAME_ENCODED,SIGNOFF);
		
		##.ELSE
		
		##&WA_URL;?SUBED1=&LISTNAME_ENCODED&A=1
		
		##.EB
		
		.hh off
		
		

	Not surprisingly, it causes errors on messages about the ".hh"
directive (which is invalid), but the "#" characters don't seem to show
up either.  Maybe that's because of the directive error, but those
prefix "##" look like someone thought it was a commend delimiter, so I
just want to double-check before I fix it.


Testing on my test list indicates that if you remove the .hh block, it
will work.  (Which was what I figured but I thought I'd test it to make
sure.)  What you ought to be getting in the mail with it set up like the
above is something like

>>> Error in line 4 of LISTNAME.MAILTPL: unknown formatting command <<<
-> .hh on <-

instead of the banner.

Nathan 

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