Installation Instructions for the Listserver package.

This document contains basic details for installing the various bits of the
Smof Listserver package.

1.   The Basics
2.   Creating a Mailing List
3.   Adding a Digest to a Mailing List
4.   Adding a FAQ to a Mailing List
5.   Posting a FAQ to a Newsgroup
6.   Moderating a Mailing List
7.   Changing the Reply-to: line on a Mailing List
8.   Installing the Listserver
9.   Automatic Subscribing to a Mailing List
10.  Setting Up Mailing List Details
11.  Information Topics
12.  Making Files Available
13.  Logging
14.  Further Details

1.   The Basics
I assume that you have NET.EXE installed in \demon.  Those of us who don't
can change the paths appropriately.  Those who do don't need to worry.

     1.   Make a directory called listserv under \demon.  Change to it and
          unzip this package.  Don't delete the zip file, as you will
          probably want bits of it later.
     2.   Copy your alias file (\demon\alias) here and rename it as
          header.lst
     3.   Edit listserv.cfg and change the line starting [machine] to your
          Demon address.

2.   Creating a Mailing List
     1.   To create a mailing list, you need a name for the list (the
          <listname>), a name for the mailbox where you will read the list
          (the <localname>), a short name for later use by digests (the
          <shortname>), and a list of members.  Listname should be 1-14
          characters, localname 1-8 characters and shortname 1-6
          characters.
     2.   Copy the list of members into \demon\listserv with a name of the
          form listfile.lst.  The lines in the list must be in the form
          address@machine, Real Name.
     3.   Edit listserv.cfg and add two lines at the bottom: 
          [list] listname localname shortname
          [main] listfile.
     4.   Now run alias.exe.  Look at \demon\alias.  It will now have at
          the bottom a set of lines like
          listname localname
           address1@machine1
           address2@machine2
          with the later lines indented by one space.
     5.   When you connect to demon, any mail for listname will now be
          delivered to localname and also forwarded to address1@machine1,
          address2@machine2, etc.  Your mailing list is now operational!

     6.   Whenever you amend a membership listfile, remember to rerun
          alias.exe to rebuild the KA9Q Alias file.

3.   Adding a Digest to a Mailing List
     1.   Your mailing list is now so successful that some people want to
          receive it in digest form - one message a day containing the
          previous day's traffic.  To do this:
     2.   Check that digest.exe is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it out
          of the zip file and put it there.
     3.   Create a file of members in \demon\listserv with a name of the
          form listfile.dst
     4.   Edit listserv.cfg.  After the [list] line that we added earlier,
          add a line:
          [digest] 1 1 1 19940101
     5.   Run alias.exe.  \demon\alias will now have at the bottom a set
          of lines like
          d-shortname
           address3@machine3
           address4@machine4
          listname localname
           s-shortname
           address1@machine1
           address2@machine2
     6.   Edit demon.bat.  Immediately before net.exe is called, insert the
          following lines:
          cd \demon\listserv
          digest
          cd \demon
     7.   digest will now run whenever you call net.exe.  It will produce
          and distribute a digest once a day.  If you have to rebuild
          demon.bat, you may need to put these lines back again.

4.   Adding a FAQ to a Mailing List
     1.   You now want to remind people about the rules of the list and
          tell people who the members are.  To do this, you need to post
          a Frequently Asked Questions file like this:
     2.   Check that digest.exe is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it out
          of the zip file and put it there.
     3.   Create a file containing the answers - call it something like
          listfile.faq.  The first line should be of the form
          Subject: FAQs for this list
          The next line should be blank.
     4.   To include current membership lists, include lines like 
          #include <listfile.lst>
          #include <listfile.dst>
     5.   Edit listserv.cfg.  After the [list] line that we added earlier,
          add a line 
          [faq] listfile.faq d1 19940101
     6.   If you didn't do it before. edit demon.bat.  Immediately before
          net.exe is called, insert the following lines:
          cd \demon\listserv
          digest
          cd \demon
          If these lines are already there, they do not need to be added
          a second time.
     7.   digest will now run whenever you call net.exe.  On the first of
          each month, it will expand the FAQ file with the current versions
          of the #include files and send it to the list.  If you have to
          rebuild demon.bat, you may need to put these lines back again.

5.   Posting a FAQ to a Newsgroup
     1.   You may not be running mailing lists, but you may still have FAQs
          to post, this time to Usenet newsgroups.  Digest can do this for
          you...
     2.   Check that digest.exe is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it out
          of the zip file and put it there.
     3.   Create a file containing the answers - call it something like
          listfile.faq.  The first lines should be of the form
          Newsgroups: news.group.name, alt.group.name
          Subject: FAQs for this list
          The next line should be blank.
     4.   To include other files, include lines like 
          #include <filename.ext>
     5.   Edit listserv.cfg.  Before the first [list] line, add a line 
          [faq] listfile.faq d1 19940101
     6.   If you didn't do it before. edit demon.bat.  Immediately before
          net.exe is called, insert the following lines:
          cd \demon\listserv
          digest
          cd \demon
          If these lines are already there, they do not need to be added
          a second time.
     7.   digest will now run whenever you call net.exe.  On the first of
          each month, it will expand the FAQ file with the current versions
          of the #include files and send it to mail2news@news.demon.co.uk,
          which will post it to the newsgroups listed in the Newsgroups:
          line.  If you have to rebuild demon.bat, you may need to put
          these lines back again.

6.   Moderating a Mailing List
     1.   The traffic is now getting a bit out of hand, and a moderatorial
          presence is now required.  To do this, mail forwarding will be
          done in two stages, giving you the chance to look at the mail
          before it goes to all and sundry.  So:
     2.   Check that reply.exe is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it out
          of the zip file and put it there.
     3.   Change the file extensions on the membership files from .lst to
          .rst.  Leave the .dst (digest) files alone.
     4.   Run alias.exe.  \demon\alias will now have at the bottom a set
          of lines like
          d-shortname
           address3@machine3
           address4@machine4
          l-shortname
           address1@machine1
           address2@machine2
          listname localname
           s-shortname
           r-shortname
     5.   Edit demon.bat.  Immediately before net.exe is called, insert the
          following lines:
          cd \demon\listserv
          reply
          cd \demon
     6.   reply will now run whenever you call net.exe.  It will forward
          any mail found in mailbox r-shortname to the list.  If you have
          to rebuild demon.bat, you may need to put these lines back again.
     7.   Between runs of net.exe, you can now check the mail in r-
          shortname and delete any that is unsuitable for the list.  Don't
          worry about the 'Status: ' lines that some mailreaders put in -
          reply.exe will strip these out.

7.   Changing the Reply-to: line on a Mailing List
     1.   You would like the mail on the list to have one Reply-to: line. 
          To do this:
     2.   make the list moderated as above.
     3.   Edit listserv.cfg.  Before the first [list] line, insert a line:
          [reply] name
          This will cause reply to set the Reply-to: line on all the mail
          it forwards to name@your.machine.  The only special case is where
          name starts with an asterisk '*'.  In this case, the name of the
          current list will be substituted for the asterisk - eg *-approval
          on list evil-masters on machine conspiracies.demon.co.uk will
          cause the Reply-to line to be set to 
          evil-masters-approval@conspiracies.demon.co.uk
8.   Installing the Listserver
     1.   Check that listserv.exe is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it
          out of the zip file and put it there.
     2.   Check that listserv.hlp is in \demon\listserv.  If not, get it
          out of the zip file and put it there.  Edit it and change the
          lines at the bottom to refer to your machine rather than
          site.demon.co.uk.
     3.   If you use alias.exe to build mailing lists, edit header.lst and
          insert the line:
          listserver listserv
          at the bottom, and then run alias.exe.  If you don't use
          alias.exe, edit \demon\alias and add the same line.
     4.   Edit demon.bat.  Immediately _after_ net.exe is called, insert
          the following lines:
          cd \demon\listserv
          listserv
          cd \demon
     5.   listserv will now run whenever you call net.exe.  It will attempt
          to process any commands found in mailbox listserv.  If it is
          unsuccessful, it will add them to mailbox problems.  All
          processed mail will be added to mailbox lserver for safety.  If
          you have to rebuild demon.bat, you may need to put these lines
          back again.
9.   Automatic Subscribing to a Mailing List
     1.   Now that you have the listserver installed, any list which has
          a [main] line can be subscribed to automatically.
     2.   To make the changes in the KA9Q Alias file automatically, edit
          demon.bat.  Immediately _after_ net.exe is called, insert the
          following lines (or the ones that aren't already there):
          cd \demon\listserv
          listserv
          if not errorlevel 1 goto noalias
          alias
          :noalias
          cd \demon

10.  Setting Up Mailing List Details
     1.   To make details about a list available to the listserver's 'list
          <listname>' command, do the following:
     2.   Edit listserv.cfg.  After the [list] line for the list in
          question, insert the following line:
          [info]
          and follow it with the text that you want to be sent out to
          anyone asking about the list.  The text ends with the first line
          that starts with a '['.

11.  Information Topics
     1.   To make details about a topic available to the listserver's 'info
          <topic>' command, do the following:
     2.   Put listserv.inf in \demon\listserv.  Edit it, and for each
          <topic> that you want to send out information about, insert the
          following line:
          [<topic>]
          and follow it with the text that you want to be sent out to
          anyone asking about that topic.  The text ends with the first
          line that starts with a '['.
     3.   For Example:
          [topic]
          A hazelnut in every bite.
          [mars]
          A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.
     4.   If you use the supplied listserv.inf as a basis, please change
          the lines at the bottom to refer to your site rather than
          "site.demon.co.uk".

12.  Making Files Available
     1.   To make files  available for sending out by the listserver's
          'index' and 'get fname' commands, do the following:
     2.   Put listserv.dir in \demon\listserv.  Edit it, and for each file
          that you want to make available, insert the following line:
          [file] fname dosfilename
          where fname is the name that people will 'get', and dosfilename
          is where the file is actually located on your machine.  Follow
          it with another line
          fname    <description of file>.
     3.   For Example:
          [file] topic \confect\topic.txt
          topic    A hazelnut in every bite.
          [file] mars \confect\mars.txt
          mars     A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.
     4.   The second line is what will be sent to those who ask for a 'dir'
          or 'index'; the first tells listserv which file to send.  There
          is no check that the two match, so be careful.

13.  Logging

     All these programs write a record of what they have done to
     listserv.log.  Reply.exe writes a list of mail forwarded to each list
     into <localname>.log in the mail directory.


14.  Further Details

     More details of what each line means are available in the files
     alias.doc, digest.doc, listserv.doc and reply.doc.  In case of further
     problems, please mail me at support@smof.demon.co.uk, and I'll try to
     sort the problem out.


Tim Illingworth
19.July.1994
