Just to come full circle, I gook Ben's advice, and used the nomail option. To enable topics support, I used the DBMS interface, created a column for each topic type, and using a trigger - populated the columns from the option column. I also hacked up the www template for join/unsub to show only topics without the rest of the options. So, it's secure, there is little/no programming or maint, the archives work, and a novice list owner can run the mail-merge. Thanks all: Michael > >On Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:26:38 -0500, Ben Parker <[log in to unmask]> >wrote: > >> >>* DEFAULT-OPTIONS= NOMAIL (sets all new subscribers to NOMAIL) >>QUIET SET listname NOMAIL FOR *@* >> (sets all current subscribers to NOMAIL) >>Add the List Address as a Subscsriber: >> QUIET ADD listname [log in to unmask] >> Notebook= Yes, e:\listplex\peach\lists\lstown-l,monthly,public