foreign_submit, have accept
linked to dist (the default), and place some
alternate addresses of your subscribers into
accept2.
How to configure the list: Use these recipies in rc.local.s00.
The variable $moderator_PASSWORD (set in
rc.custom) needs to be set to a regular expression that
matches the password(s). In the most simple case, this is
just the password itself, but
$moderator_PASSWORD may also match a whole set
of passwords.
(See the recipe
file for an example.)
How to use it:
As the maintainer, you add an Approved: header
line with a valid password to the message, then resend
("redirect", "bounce", or whatever your mail program calls
it) it back to the list. The list will remove that header
line, so the password is not revealed to the list members.
Behind the scenes:
It checks approval the same way a moderated lists checks
it: If the body starts with the word "Approved:", it is
pulled into the header (by concatenating header and
body (1) (2)). Then, the new header is checked for a valid
Approved: header line. If it is found,
moderated_flag and foreign_submit
are both set to yes. The former causes the
removal of the Approved: header, the latter
causes the mail to be forwarded through the list, despite
the fact that the original sender is not subscribed.
(1) This is intended to allow moderators to also use mail
programs that do not allow their users to add
arbitrary header lines to messages.
(2) Make sure there is an empty line before the forwarded
message starts (a really empty line, not even a space may be
on that line). Else, everything (or at least the beginning
of the message) will become part of the header. At best,
this would confuse your list members, because they will only
see part of the message. At worst, it would confuse some
mailing software on the way, causing it to throw the message
away.
Alternative Solution:
In a mail to the
SmartList discussion list, Tim Pierce pointed out that there
is an even simpler solution: Just add the maintainer to
the accept2 file.
$size_limit in rc.init and rc.custom) are
normally not resent to the list, but get a special header line
and are forwarded to the maintainer only.
Goal: If this happens, tell the sender about it. A copy of this mail draws the maintainer's attention to the problem mail. Allow the maintainer to resend this message despite its size.
The story behind: Being subscribed to several of the lists I maintain (though not all of them), I sometimes do not notice that the message I am just reading did not reach the other members of the list, but has been forwarded to the maintainer (me).
In late May 2001, that even happened with a list to which I am not subscribed. (And that was a support list; thank Jove the customer's reaction was not to unfriendly.) A colleague suggested that in such cases a notification message should be sent to the originator of the mail, so s/he knows that the message was not lost.
I accepted his idea, and decided that this notification should also go to the maintainer, so I (or whoever is the maintainer) get aware of that problem.
How to configure the list: Use rc.local.s00.toolarge as rc.local.s00 (or pull it in via INCLUDERC=...).
Behind the scenes:
If a mail comes in to the list
that exceeds $size_limit, the script toolarge gets invoked to inform
the sender of this fact, with a copy of the notification
being sent to $maintainer to attract her/his
attention.
The submission itself is further handled by rc.submit, which
passes it to the maintainer for being too large.
If, however, the mail comes from the list maintainer, or
carries a correct Approved: header (like for a
moderated list), the mail passes through. To avoid that
rc.submit suppresses the mail again, $size_limit is
increased. (Note: As none of my lists is
moderated, I am not sure whether the "Approved:" part
works. The relevant parts are copied from rc.submit, so I
expect it to work the same way.)
)
subscribe.files