On Thu, 23 Nov 2000 09:27:59 -0500, somebody wrote:
>Many lists I belong to include a "You are subscribed as
>feature". How can I add this feature to my L-Soft list?
This question has been asked many, many times in various ways. People have
explored the uses of &WHOM and &MBX in BOTTOM_BANNER template to no avail.
It IS possible to do this with LISTSERV lists but there are a number of
technical requirements, ALL of which must be satisfied.
The first requirement, as we have said many times, is that doing this involves
electronic Mail-Merge. Mail-Merge is only possible if you are using L-Soft's
LSMTP(R) mailer (version 1.1b or later) as the outbound mailer for LISTSERV. No
other SMTP mail program is capable of mail-merge for this purpose. If your
LISTSERV host site is not using LSMTP, then you need read no further. You will
not be able to do this.
The next requirement is you must be using the most recent update build kit for
LISTSERV. The latest kit available from our FTP site is dated 28 Nov 2000. To
find the Build date of your LISTSERV, send the SHOW LICENSE command. The kit is
at ftp://ftp.lsoft.com/listserv/beta-1.8d/intel.zip (WinNT/2000 kit only for
now). This is an update kit only, not a full install kit. It can only be
installed over an existing, correctly installed and running LISTERV
installation. Download the kit to your x:\LISTSERV directory (but do not unzip
yet). STOP LISTSERV (and SMTP Listener if applicable). Then unzip the kit.
You must allow unzip to use the built-in directory paths, and also to overwrite
files. Only executables and other system files are updated/overwritten. All
lists, mailtpl, config and other files are not affected. Then restart LISTSERV
(and SMTP Listener, if applicable). This should take about 2 minutes or less.
Next there are changes to the SITE.CFG configuration file for LISTSERV.
You can make these changes using the site.exe configuration utility (use
Advanced Configuration button) or you can simply use Notepad or other plain text
editor:
Required settings:
DIST_OWNER_MAIL_MERGE=1
Strongly recommended settings:
USE_LSMTP_MAIL_MERGE=1
MAXBSMTP=1000
SORT_RECIPIENTS=2
Detailed discussion of these settings can be found in the Site Manager Manual,
Appendix C. Server Admins may choose not to enable the first setting
(DIST_OWNER_MAIL_MERGE=1) because of the possible impact to mail flow on the
server. Remember, normal LISTSERV list mailings are done as BSMTP 'envelopes'
(one copy of message and multiple recipient addresses to each destination).
Turning on DIST_OWNER_MAIL_MERGE can make all list mailings into mail-merge
operations (1 copy of customized message to 1 recipient). For a typical list of
1000 recipients, this could easily mean 10 times as much mail flows out. This
affects available bandwidth. Proper tuning of LSMTP for destinations becomes
very important. See the LSMTP FAQ: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/lsmtp-faq.stm
The above recommended settings are preferred if you are using LSMTP, even if you
choose not to enable DIST_OWNER_MAIL_MERGE as they allow a speedup of various
internal operations.
Finally you must make a keyword setting the List Header of every list where you
want to use this feature. You can GET/PUT the List Header by email or use the
WWW interface.
* Mail-Merge= Yes
Using the feature
-----------------
Once all the configuration settings are done, you need to decide exactly how you
want to implement this. Basically no substitutions will occur unless you use
the proper variable token marker(s) in the message.
The only tokens applicable to standard LISTSERV native format lists are
&*TO; (replaced by the recipient's email address)
&NAME; (replaced by the recipient's 'name')
Other tokens may be available in DBMS situations but that is already covered in
the Developers Guide Manual and not discussed here. The substitution tokens may
be placed anywhere appropriate in the message body. Note also that variables
when substituted will be a variable length since some data is short and other
data is long. Neither LISTSERV nor LSMTP will 'reflow' text to the most
pleasing set. You must anticipate leaving adequate room for both long and short
data in your composition design.
Some Examples:
Standard list mailing message sent to list:
--------------
From: Ben Parker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: MM test
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 21:45:01 -0700
this is only a test message.
My name is &NAME;
My email address is &*TO;
--------------
Same message as received by recipients:
--------------
From: Ben Parker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: MM test
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 21:45:01 -0700
this is only a test message.
My name is Test Address
My email address is [log in to unmask]
--------------
Note that if no 'Name' is in the list it will say:
My name is No name available
Note also that, as in all LISTSERV list mailings, the To: address is the
List-Address (LISTNAME@hostname). The only way to change the To: address to
become the actual recipient's address is via a DBMS or List-Based Mail-Merge
DISTRIBUTE job, which is covered in the Developers Guide and not here.
If you want to define a BOTTOM_BANNER message template for your list, you can
enter the substitution variables in the BOTTOM_BANNER and they will work
correctly:
>>> BOTTOM_BANNER message template
.ce ------------------------
.fo off
This message mailed to &*TO;
If you wish to unsubscribe, write to:
&LISTNAME-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@&MYHOST
Standard list mailing message sent to list using a BOTTOM_BANNER:
--------------
From: Ben Parker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: bottom banner test
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 21:46:01 -0700
this is only a test message.
My name is &NAME;
My email address is &*TO;
--------------
Message as received with BOTTOM_BANNER:
--------------
From: Ben Parker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: bottom banner test
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 21:46:01 -0700
this is only a test message.
My name is Test Address
My email address is [log in to unmask]
------------------------
This message mailed to [log in to unmask]
If you wish to unsubscribe, write to:
[log in to unmask]
--------------
Obviously you must figure out the best wording applicable to your situation.
It is also possible to embed the &*TO; into a URL:
If you wish to unsubscribe, click here:
http://www.example.com/users/signoff.asp?a=&*TO;
which will come out as
If you wish to unsubscribe, click here:
[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]
Of course the ASP web script that processes the address indicated in this URL is
not part of LISTSERV.
Enjoy this new feature!
|
