Have read the LISTSERV manuals a few times and re-reading after learning the product has greatly improved my knowledge. However, I still have some holes in my detailed understating.



When initially configuring our list templates I set Mail-Merge= Yes for our lists so that the BOTTOM_BANNERs would include a valid unsubscribe link. My decision was based on a comment in Section 7.5.2 of the Site Manager's Operations Manual (page 86).  Our list management advisory team doesn't like bottom banners, so we delete them from all lists. We don't use Mail-Merge for customizing messages with &firstname or $lastname, etc. In my thinking, we would replace that one-click link with a generic < mailto: list-unsubscribe > tag that generates a new message for mail client instead of taking them to the subscription management page (as we have disabled logins for outside users).



With Mail-Merge enabled the SMTP mail creates one message for each recipient, which generates a lot of traffic. Since setting Mail-Merge= No for all our lists I have noticed that LISTSERV bundles up 100 recipients per e-mail message (MAXBSMTP). This greatly reduces traffic, which is a very good thing.



I would also add that our LISTSERV is configured for login from LDAP only. Local passwords are not allowed. This is fine for internal users but keeps outside users from logging in to configure their subscription options. I don't think many people do that, if any at all.



I've also noticed that the SMTP MAIL FROM value (usually the Sender: header) contains the recipient's e-mail address encoded within when using Mail-Merge, but does not after disabling.



A few questions:



1.       What are the major downsides to disabling Mail-Merge, if any?

2.       Does Outlook or any other e-mail client recognize the hidden headers List-Unsubscribe to help recipients get off lists easily?

3.       Does this in any way impact bounce processing for automatic subscription updates?

4.       What are reasons for enabling Mail-Merge when not customizing messages?

5.       Which List template controls the initial BOTTOM_BANNER and BOTTOM_BANNER_HTML assigned when creating new lists? Is there a way to revert a template back to its default value from when the product was installed (forgive me if I am ignorant about that Revert button).



Thanks in advance.



matthew black

california state university, long beach

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