This question was sent me privately, but I'm going to answer it publicly as I want to repeat questions which I asked before which was never answered. >> Of course, if one is concerned only about the digest, one can GET that >> and edit it before it is sent out, > > I didn't know one could do this. Is it simply get listname.digest? Must one > lock it first? Yes, or get listname digest . No, don't lock it, that is for the list (sub, unsub, changing options), HOLD the list, which is for distribution of postings. A caveat: if you totally delete an item from the digest the reference to it will remain in the listing at the begining of the digest; the item will be listed, but it won't be there, which some may ask about, though no one ever has. I've asked about this before. Why, if one totally deletes an item from the digest, is it still listed in the digest "index", why is the listing not automatically deleted? Is there a way to get rid of the listing of the deleted item? If not, why not? Douglas Winship [log in to unmask]