Users interact with Sympa, of course, when they send messages to one of the lists, but also indirectly through administrative requests (subscription, list of users, etc.).
This section describes administrative requests, as well as interaction modes in the case of private and moderated lists. Administrative requests are messages whose body contains commands understood by Sympa, one per line. These commands can be indiscriminately placed in the Subject: or in the body of the message. The To: address is generally the sympa@domain alias, although it is also advisable to recognize the listserv@domain address.
Example:
From: pda@prism.uvsq.fr To: sympa@cru.fr LISTS INFO sympa-users REVIEW sympa-users QUIT
Most user commands can have three-letter abbreviations (e.g. REV instead of REVIEW).
Provides the instructions for use of Sympa commands. The result is the content of the ~sympa/expl/helpfile file. You will find an example of this file in the sample/ directory of the distribution.
Provides the welcome message for the specified list. The result is the content of the ~welcome[.mime].
Provides the names of lists managed by Sympa. This list
can either be generated dynamically, using visibility
(see 8.1.2, page )
and subject list parameters (8.1.1,
page
) but also ~sympa/expl/lists.header and ~sympa/expl/lists.footer). It can also be generated
statically by including contents of the ~sympa/expl/lists file, which must be updated manually by
the robot administrator.
Provides the parameters of the specified list (owner,
subscription mode, etc.), as well as the addresses of
subscribers if the run mode authorizes it. See the review parameter (8.3.7, page ) for the configuration file of each list,
which controls consultation authorizations for the subscriber
list. Since subscriber addresses can be abused by spammers,
it is strongly advised to only authorize owners
to access the susbcriber list.
Returns the list of lists to which one is subscribed, as well as the configuration of his or her subscription to each of the lists (DIGEST, NOMAIL, CONCEAL).
Provides statistics for the specified list: number of messages received, number of messages sent, mega-bytes received, mega-bytes sent. This is the contents of the ~sympa/expl/stats file
Provides index of archives for specified list. Access rights to this function are the same as for the GET command.
To retrieve archives for list (see above). Access
rights are the same as for the REVIEW command.
See review parameter (8.3.7,
page ).
To receive the last message distributed in a list (see above). Access rights are the same as for the GET command.
Requests sign-up to the specified list. The firstname and name are optional. If the
list is parameterized with a restricted subscription (see
subscribe parameter, 8.3.1,
page ), this command is sent to the
list owner for approval.
Invite someone to subscribe to the specified list. The
name is optional. The command is similar to the
ADD but the specified person is not added to the
list but invited to subscribe to it accordind to the
subscribe parameter, 8.3.1,
page ).
Requests unsubscription from the specified list. SIGNOFF * means unsubscription from all lists.
Puts the subscriber in digest mode for the listname list. Instead of receiving mail from the list in a normal manner, the subscriber will periodically receive it in a DIGEST. This DIGEST compiles a group of messages from the list, using multipart/digest mime format.
The sending period for these DIGESTS is regulated by the
list owner using the digest parameter (see 8.4.7, page ). See the SET LISTNAME MAIL command (9.1, page
) and the reception parameter (7.5, page
).
Puts subscriber in nomail mode for the listname list. This mode is used when a subscriber wants
to no longer receive mail from the list; nevertheless he
or she maintains the capability of writing in the list.
This mode therefore prevents the subscriber from unsubscribing
and subscribing later on. See the SET LISTNAME MAIL
command (9.1, page ) and
the reception (7.5, page
).
Puts the subcriber in normal mode (default) for the listname list. This option is mainly used to cancel the
nomail or digest modes. If the subscriber
was in nomail mode, he or she will again receive
mail from the list in a normal manner. See the SET LISTNAME NOMAIL command (9.1,
page ) and the reception
parameter (7.5, page
).
Puts the subscriber in conceal mode for the listname list. The subscriber will then become invisible during REVIEW on this list. Only owners will see the whole subscriber list.
See the SET LISTNAME NOCONCEAL command (9.1, page ) and
the visibility parameter (8.1.2,
page
).
Puts the subscriber in noconceal mode (default) for listname list. The subscriber will then become visible during REVIEW of this list. The conceal mode is then cancelled.
See SET LISTNAME CONCEAL command (9.1, page ) and
visibility parameter (8.1.2,
page
).
Ends acceptance of commands. This can prove useful when the message contains additional lines, as for example in the case where a signature is automatically added by the user's program.
If the send parameter of a list is set to privatekey, publickey or privateorpublickey, messages are only distributed in the list after an authentication phase by return mail, using a one-time password (numeric key). For this authentication, the sender of the message is requested to post the ``CONFIRM key'' command to Sympa.
This command is used for silent (mute) processing: no performance report is returned for commands prefixed with QUIET).
Some administrative requests are only available to list owner(s). They are indispensable for all procedures in limited access mode, and to perform requests in place of users. These requests are:
Add command similar to SUBSCRIBE
Delete command similar to SIGNOFF
REMIND is used usually by list owner in order to send an individual service message to each subscriber. This message is make by parsing the remind.tpl file.
REMIND is used to send to each subscriber of any list a single message with a summary of his/her subscriptions. In this case the message sent is built by parsing the global_remind.tpl file. Freach list sympa test if the list is setup as hidden to each subscriber (parameter lparam visibility). By default this command usage is limited to listmasters. Processing may take a lot of time !
92listname age (in days) deadline (in days) (listname) (age (in days)) (deadline (in days)) explanatory text to be sent to concerned subscribers
This command activates an expiration process for former subscribers of the designated list. Subscribers for which no procedures have been enabled for more than age days receive the explanatory text appended to the EXPIRE command. This text, which must be adapted by the list owner for each subscriber population, should explain to the people receiving this message that they can update their subscription date so as to not be deleted from the subscriber list, within a deadline of deadline days.
Past this deadline, the initiator of the EXPIRE command receives the list of persons who have not confirmed their subscription. It is up to the initiator to send Sympa the corresponding DELETE commands.
Any operation updating the subscription date of an address serves as confirmation of subscription. This is also the case for SET option selecting commands and for the SUBSCRIBE subscription command itself. The fact of sending a message to the list also updates the subscription date.
The explanatory message should contain at least 20 words; it is possible to delimit it by the word QUIT, in particular in order not to include a signature, which would systematically end the command message.
A single expiration process can be activated at any given time for a given list. The EXPIRE command systematically gives rise to authentication by return mail. The EXPIRE command has no effect on the subscriber list.
Makes it possible, at any time, for an expiration process activated using an EXPIRE command to receive the list of addresses for which no enabling has been received.
Deletion of a process activated using the EXPIRE command. The EXPIREDEL command has no effect on subscribers, but it possible to activate a new expiration process with new deadlines.
As above, these commands can be prefixed with QUIET to indicate processing without acknowledgment of receipt.
Sympa only distributes messages enabled by one of the moderators
(editor) of the list in the moderated list. Moderators have several
methods for enabling message distribution, depending on the send list parameter (8.3.6, page ).
If the send parameter of a list is set to editorkey or editorkeyonly, each message queued
for moderation is stored in a spool (see 3.5.2, page ), and a key is
associated to it.
The moderator must use this command to enable message distribution.
The message with the key key is deleted from the moderation spool of the listname list.
This command sends back the list of messages queued for moderation for the listname list.
The result is presented in the form of an index, which supplies, for each message, its sending date, its sender, its size, and the key associated to it, as well as all messages in the form of a digest.
See also the advice documents for the moderation.