On Wed, 1 Jul 1998 23:39:15 -0500, Winship <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >If the list has never had Topics the default is of course NONE. Actually it is 'undefined'. If you have not defined any topics you can't even have NONE. >One >decides to put in limited topics, say Topics= Jobs,Meetings One wants the >default to be that everyone gets everything, as at present, regardless of >whether someone puts in one of the Topic tags or not. Will leaving the >default as NONE achieve that? If you want to be sure you control what topics people will get initially then you set them explicitly with the Default-Topics= Jobs,Meetings or Default-topics= All line. Note, like any Default Setting, knowledgeable users may quickly change their settings and there is nothing you can do about that. >If so, will those who elect to remain NONE see the topic tags, or not (as >in Subjectheader where those not set to Subject never see that tag)? No. Everyone who gets mail will see the topic tag on the subject line. LISTSERV does not filtering out of same. People set to NONE are essentially set to NOMAIL. >That >is a big issue with some adamantly opposed to using Topics, they want to >get everything and they do NOT want those silly topic tags clogging the >subject line, they want to see the REAL suject line, uncluttered. They'll just have to get used to it. >So, >will those set NONE get everything, or not? If they do get everything >will they see the topic tags? Those set to ALL will get everything. Those set to NONE get nothing. Those set to Jobs: will get messages set to ALL: and JOBS: they will not get messages set to MEETINGS: or messages without proper keywords. You can figure out the rest of the combinations and permutations on this. Topics apply only to people on individual mail. Digest and Index subscribers get everything. Those set only to OTHER will only get messages without a topic keyword (Jobs or Meetings in your example) or with the ALL: keyword. >I would like for it to work that way as then those not interested in >Topics will need do nothing. They may have to do something either to avoid mail with topics or perhaps to get mail with topics, depending on how you set things up. >If it doesn't work that way we'll have to >put in an explicit Default-Topics= Correct? >Should that be Default-Topics= ALL ? Yes. That's easiest since if you later add more topics, that will still be the correct default. >Keyword memo says one can't use it in Topics= but I don't recall a >prohibition about using it in Default-Topics= That's because it is the correct, fast way to include all Default-topics. >A little speculation, based on the assumption we can leave the default as >NONE. Those who want it just as it is presently (no Topics) need do >nothing. As noted above, depending on how you set it, they may need to do something. >Those who want to get everything EXCEPT the two explicit topics >(when people put them in properly on posting) would do a >SET listname TOPICS: ALL -JOBS -MEETINGS >Correct? No, SET listname TOPICS: OTHER >What do they do if they want ONLY the JOBS postings that are so >tagged? Will SET listname TOPICS: +JOBS SET listname TOPICS: JOBS (no +) SET listname TOPICS: X sets only that topic and replaces any previous setting(s). (topic = X) SET listname TOPICS: +X sets topic X adding it to any previous setting(s). (topics= X Y Z) SET listname TOPICS: -X removes only topic X from the previous setting, leaving any others (topics= Y Z) >Everyone knows more about Topics than I: never used them for any of my >lists and never subscribed to a list that does use them, that I know of. >Keyword memo (yes, Nathan, I've got the Dec. 12, '96 version from LSOFT, >not the '95 version I mentioned earlier) doesn't explain everything, so I >ask questions. There is an Owners Manual and Site Manger Manual, both of which offer more complete explanations than Keyword Memo, which is necessarily brief. Appendix B is good, as is Owners Manual Chap 6. Also GET WIN95-L WELCOME from [log in to unmask] (Win95-L uses topics extensively).