Hi there, LSTOWN-L'ers...
 
We are trying to set up a system to help a group of us manage a moderated
list, whereby we can use a "pseudo-list" to direct errors, notifications,
and messages for moderation to the appropriate volunteers.
 
Currently, the relevent headers of Quaker-L are as follows:
(Quaker-M is the "pseudo-list" which exists only to manage Quaker-L)
 
* Send=         Editor
* Editor=       [log in to unmask],(QUAKER-M)
* Notify=       (QUAKER-M)
* Errors-to=    (QUAKER-M)
 
Currently, whover is "on duty" subscribes to Quaker-M and receives all
the administrative mail and submissions to Quaker-L for moderation.
When done, they delete themselves and someone else takes over.
 
It is not possible to SET QUAKER-M MAIL / NOMAIL as the redirected mail
from Quaker-L goes directly to the subscription list of Quaker-M,
bypassing any individual settings.
 
This system allows all of us to remain active owners of Quaker-L, without
getting inundated with mail, but still being reachable via Quaker-L-Request.
It also means that when we shift moderators, we don't have to go through
the hassle of GETting the list, editing the headers, and PUTting it back.
 
What we would like to be able to do is to set up Quaker-M with TOPICS, so
we can divide up the admin work at any given time.  One person would
moderate the messages from Q-L, another would handle error messages, and
another would dialogue with users re technical questions they may have.
Error messages would have topic "QUAKER-L:" as their subject always
start with that, ongoing dialogues with subscribers about moderating one
of their messages would have the topic "MODERATE:", replies to
subscribers about technical issues would have the topic "TECHNICAL:" and
requests for help from one owner to another would have "HELP:"
 
This would allow us to choose which type of messages we wanted to receive
at any given time, depending on what duties we had taken on that week, or
how burned out we were on off weeks.  All this would be possible to
customize easily and without GETting and PUTting the headers.  (Yes I
know we can accomplish the same things by each of us editing the headers
as needed, but that is a hassle, especially for remote owners who have to
wait a half-hour or sometimes several hours just to get a confirm message
to get the header in the first place...)
 
My question is this:  I assume that TOPICS won't work for the same reason
that MAIL/NOMAIL don't work.  However, is there a difference between
directing the mail to (QUAKER-M) and directing the mail to
<[log in to unmask]> ?  I know that LISTSERV tends to
reject mail directed to it from another list (hence the (QUAKER-M) format).
But is there a way to turn off that rejection filter?  If we could
forward the mail to quaker-m itself, instead of directly to it's
subscription list, we could use all the features described above.
(We can use that address on the Editor= line since the mail is forwarded
from individuals, not from a LISTSERV list.)
 
(BTW we are running LISTSERV 1.8b AIX Unix beta)
 
Any comments or suggestions welcomed!
 
--
Bruce P. A. Dienes                          Campus Support Groups Program
Internet: [log in to unmask]                 [log in to unmask]
Phone:    Home:  217-328-7720 (best)   or   Office:  217-244-0454 (voicemail)