The mailling list creation tool is Sympa's web interface. However this web feature is available only from 2.7 release. Previous version users have to create new lists with there favorit text file editor.
This chapter describe how to create mailing list without using
web tools. See 10, page to
do it using WWSympa, you will do it in a easier way.
To create a mailing list, only system mail aliases modification requires system privileges. Other tasks will be carried out under sympa UID in order to guarantee that the files created have the right permissions.
For each new list, it is necessary to create three mail aliases (the location of the sendmail alias file varies from one system to another).
For example, to create the mylist list, the following aliases must be added:
mylist: "|/home/sympa/bin/queue mylist" mylist-request: "|/home/sympa/bin/queue mylist-request" mylist-editor: "|/home/sympa/bin/queue mylist-editor" mylist-owner: "|/home/sympa/bin/bouncequeue mylist mylist-subscribe: "|/home/sympa/bin/queue mylist-subscribe" mylist-unsubscribe: "|/home/sympa/bin/queue mylist-unsubscribe"
The address mylist-request should be the address of the person in charge of mylist list management (the list owner). Sympa will forward messages for mylist-request to the owner of list mylist defined in ~sympa/expl/mylist/config file. This feature avoids later changes to this alias when updating owner's addresses.
The address mylist-editor can be used as mylist-request to contact the list editors if defined in ~sympa/expl/mylist/config. This address definition is not mandatory.
The address mylist-owner is the address receiving
non-delivery reports. bouncequeue program stores these messages
in queuebounce directory. WWSympa ((see 5.1, page ) may then analyze them and provide a web access to them.
The address mylist-subscribe is for a fast and easy to explain subscription. Be carefull: subscription is so easy that spammer may subscribe by accident.
The address mylist-unsubscribe is for simple unsubscription. By the way, everything that simplifies unsubscription simplifies list administration.
Each list has its own directory which name defines the list name. We recommend to create it with the same name as the alias. This directory is located in the ~sympa/expl according to home defined in /etc/sympa.conf file.
Here is a list of files/directories you may find in the list's directory :
archives/ bye.tpl config info invite.tpl homepage message.header message.footer reject.tpl remind.tpl removed.tpl stats subscribers welcome.tpl
The configuration file for the mylist list is named ~sympa/expl/mylist/config. Sympa reads it into memory the first time the list is referred to. This file is not rewritten by Sympa; as a result, it is possible to put comment lines in it. It is possible to change this file when the program is running. Changes are then taken into account the next time the list is accessed. Be careful to provide read access for Sympa on this file !
You will find a few configuration files in sample directory. Copy one of them to ~sympa/expl/mylist/config and customize it.
List configuration parameters are reviewed in list creation section, 11, page .
This first example is for a list open to everyone:
subject First example (an open list) visibility noconceal owner email Pierre.David@prism.uvsq.fr send public review public
The second example is for a moderated list with authentified subscription:
subject Second example (a moderated list) visibility noconceal owner email moi@ici.fr editor email big.prof@ailleurs.edu send editor subscribe auth review owner reply_to list cookie 142cleliste
The third example is for a moderated list, with subscription controlled by the owner, and running in digest mode. Subscribers who are in digest mode receive the mail on Monday and Thursday.
owner email moi@ici.fr editor email prof@ailleurs.edu send editor subscribe owner review owner reply\_to list digest 1,4 12:00
WARNING: Sympa will not use this file if the list is configured in include or database user_data_source.
The ~sympa/expl/mylist/subscribers file is created and is automatically filled in. It contains information about list subscribers. It is not advisable to edit this file. Main parameters are:
Email address of subscriber.
Information about subscriber (family name, first name, etc.) This parameter is optional on signing up.
Special receive mode for emails that the subscriber has
selected. The mode can be either nomail, digest or summary. In normal receive mode, the receive attribute
no longer appears for this subscriber. See the SET LISTNAME SUMMARY (14.1,
page ) ,
or SET LISTNAME NOMAIL command (14.1,
page
), and the digest
parameter (11.4.8, page
).
Special mode which allows subscriber to be invisible when
there is a REVIEW command in the list. If this
parameter does not exist, the subscriber remains visible
by REVIEW. Note: this option does not affect
the results of a REVIEW command issued by an
owner. See the SET LISTNAME MAIL command (14.1, page ) for
details.
~sympa/expl/mylist/info should contain a detailed text description of the list. If is used by INFO command. It can also be referenced from template files for service messages.
~sympa/expl/mylist/homepage is the HTML text on the WWSympa info page for the list.
These files are used by Sympa as service messages for commands such as
SUB, ADD, SIG, DEL, REJECT.
These files are interpreted (parsed) by Sympa and respect the template
format ; every file has the .tpl extension. See 8.1,
page .
Sympa looks for these files in the following order :
If the file starts with a From: line it is considered as a full message and will be sent (after parsing) without adding SMTP headers. Else file is taken as a text/plain message body.
The following variables may be used in list template files :
You may also dynamically include a file from a template using the [INCLUDE] directive.
Example:
Dear [user->email], Welcome to list [list->name.@[list->host]. Presentation of the list : [INCLUDE 'info'] Owners of liste [list->name] are : [FOREACH ow IN list->owner] [ow->gecos] <[ow->email]> [END]
Sympa will send a welcome message for each subscription. The welcome message can be customized for each list.
Sympa will send an unsubscription message for each received SIGNOFF mail command.
This message is sent to users that have been deleted (using DELETE command) from the list by the list owner.
Sympa will send a reject message to the sender of a message that is rejected par the list editor. If the editor prefixe the REJECT with the keyword QUIET, the reject message is not sent.
This message is sent to users that have been invited (using INVITE command) to subscribe to a list.
You may use additional variables
This file contains a message which is sent to each subscriber
when one of the list owners sends the command REMIND
(see 14.2, page ).
~sympa/expl/mylist/stats is a text file containing statistics about the list. These informations are numerics separated by white spaces within a single line :
You may create ~sympa/expl/mylist/message.header and ~sympa/expl/mylist/message.footer files. Their content is added, either at the beginning or at the end of each message before the distribution process.
footer_type list parameter defines whether to attach the header/footer content as a MIME part (except for multipart/alternative messages) or to append them to the message body (if a text/plain message).
~sympa/expl/mylist/archives/ directory contains the
archived messages if the list is archived, see 11.6.1,
page . The files are named in accordance with the
frequency of archiving defined with the archive parameter.