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4 @settitle September Gnus Manual
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176 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
183 \thispagestyle{empty}
185 Copyright \copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
187 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
188 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
189 are preserved on all copies.
191 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
192 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
193 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
194 permission notice identical to this one.
196 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
197 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
206 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
208 Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
210 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
211 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
212 are preserved on all copies.
215 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
216 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
217 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
218 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
221 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
222 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
223 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
224 permission notice identical to this one.
226 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
227 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
233 @title September Gnus Manual
235 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
238 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
239 Copyright @copyright{} 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
241 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
242 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
243 are preserved on all copies.
245 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
246 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
247 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
248 permission notice identical to this one.
250 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
251 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
260 @top The Gnus Newsreader
264 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
265 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
266 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
274 \thispagestyle{empty}
277 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
278 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
280 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
281 being accused of plagiarism:
283 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
284 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
285 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
286 even read news with it!
288 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
289 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
290 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
291 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
292 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
299 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
300 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
301 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
302 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
303 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
304 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
305 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
306 * Various:: General purpose settings.
307 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
308 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
309 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
310 * Key Index:: Key Index.
315 @chapter Starting Gnus
320 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
321 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
324 @findex gnus-other-frame
325 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
326 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
327 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
329 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
333 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
334 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
335 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
336 * Slave Gnusii:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
337 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
338 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
339 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
340 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
341 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
342 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
346 @node Finding the News
347 @section Finding the News
349 @vindex gnus-select-method
351 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
352 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
353 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
354 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
357 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
358 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
361 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
364 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
367 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
370 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
371 certainly be much faster.
373 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
375 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
376 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
377 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
378 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
379 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
380 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
381 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long-shot, though.
383 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
384 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
385 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
386 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
388 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
389 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
390 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
391 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
392 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
393 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
395 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
397 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
398 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
399 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
400 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
401 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
402 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
404 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
406 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
407 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
408 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
409 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
410 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
411 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
414 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
415 would typically set this variable to
418 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
423 @section The First Time
424 @cindex first time usage
426 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
427 be subscribed by default.
429 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
430 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
431 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
432 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
435 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few randomly picked
436 groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Random} is here defined as
437 @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
439 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
440 help you with most common problems.
442 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
443 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
447 @node The Server is Down
448 @section The Server is Down
449 @cindex server errors
451 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
452 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
453 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
455 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
456 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
457 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
458 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
459 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
460 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
461 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
463 @findex gnus-no-server
465 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
466 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
467 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
468 if you're in a hurry as well.
472 @section Slave Gnusiï
475 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
476 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (eg., if you
477 are using the two different Gnusiï to read from two different servers),
478 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
480 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusiï that use the same
483 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
484 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
485 @dfn{servants}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
486 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
487 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
488 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
489 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
491 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
492 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusiï should be started with
493 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
494 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contains information only
495 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
496 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
497 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
498 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
500 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
501 information in the normal (i. e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
504 @node Fetching a Group
505 @section Fetching a Group
507 @findex gnus-fetch-group
508 It it sometime convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
509 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
510 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
511 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
512 It takes the group name as a parameter.
519 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
520 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
521 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
523 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
528 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
529 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
530 Make all new groups zombies. You can browse the zombies later (with
531 @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly, or subscribe to them.
534 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
535 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
536 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
538 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
539 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
540 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
542 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
543 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
544 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically.
546 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
547 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
548 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
549 you about @strong{all} new groups.
551 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
552 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
557 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
558 A closely related variable is
559 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
560 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
561 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
562 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
565 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
566 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
567 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
569 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
570 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
571 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
574 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
577 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
578 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
579 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
580 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
581 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
582 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
583 subscribing these groups.
584 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
585 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
587 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
588 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
589 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
590 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
591 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
592 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
593 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
594 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
596 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
597 Yet another variable that meddles here is
598 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
599 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
600 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
601 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
602 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
603 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
604 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
605 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
607 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
608 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
609 you could set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
610 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
611 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
612 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
613 is @code{t} by default.
615 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
616 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
617 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
618 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
619 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster &
620 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
621 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
622 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
623 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
624 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
626 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
627 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
628 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
629 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
630 few days. If any do, then it works. If any don't, then it doesn't
631 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
632 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
633 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
634 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
635 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
636 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
638 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
639 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
640 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
641 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
642 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
643 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
647 @section Startup Files
648 @cindex startup files
651 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
652 information is traditionally stored in this file.
654 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
655 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
656 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
657 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
658 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
659 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
660 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
662 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
663 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
664 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
665 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
667 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
668 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
669 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
670 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
671 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
672 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
674 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
675 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
676 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
677 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
678 will also means that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
679 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
680 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
681 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
684 @vindex gnus-startup-file
685 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
686 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
687 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
689 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
690 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
691 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
692 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
693 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
694 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
695 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
696 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
697 control on or off. Version control is off by default when saving the
706 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
707 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
708 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
709 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
710 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
713 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
714 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
717 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
718 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
719 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
721 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
722 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
723 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
724 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
725 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
726 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
729 @node The Active File
730 @section The Active File
732 @cindex ignored groups
734 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
735 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
736 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
738 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
739 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
740 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
741 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
742 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
743 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
744 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
747 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
748 @c if you set it to anything else.
750 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
752 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
753 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
754 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
756 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
757 you actually subscribe to.
759 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
760 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
761 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
762 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
764 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
765 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
766 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
767 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
768 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
769 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
771 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
772 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
773 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
774 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
775 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
776 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
778 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
779 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
782 @node Startup Variables
783 @section Startup Variables
788 @vindex gnus-load-hook
789 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
790 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
791 times you start Gnus.
793 @item gnus-startup-hook
794 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
795 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
797 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
798 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
799 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
800 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
801 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
802 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
803 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
804 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
806 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
807 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
808 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
809 your boss might not notice that you are reading news instead of doing
812 @item gnus-no-groups-message
813 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
814 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
818 @node The Group Buffer
819 @chapter The Group Buffer
822 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
823 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
824 long as Gnus is active.
827 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
828 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
829 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
830 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
831 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
832 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
833 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
834 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
835 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
836 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
837 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
838 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
839 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
840 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
841 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
842 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
846 @node Group Buffer Format
847 @section Group Buffer Format
848 @cindex group buffer format
851 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
852 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
853 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
857 @node Group Line Specification
858 @subsection Group Line Specification
860 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
861 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
863 Here's a couple of example group lines:
866 25: news.announce.newusers
867 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
872 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
873 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
874 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
875 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
877 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
878 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
879 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
880 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
881 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
882 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
884 The default value that produced those lines above is
885 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n}.
887 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
888 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
889 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
890 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
893 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
894 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
895 instead of wasting time reading news.)
897 Here's a list of all available format characters:
902 Only marked articles.
905 Whether the group is subscribed.
908 Level of subscribedness.
911 Number of unread articles.
914 Number of dormant articles.
917 Number of ticked articles.
920 Number of read articles.
923 Total number of articles.
926 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
929 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
938 Newsgroup description.
941 @samp{m} if moderated.
944 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
953 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
957 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
960 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
961 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
962 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
963 The default is @code{1}.
966 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
967 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
968 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
969 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current headers as
970 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
971 into the buffer just like information from any other specifier.
975 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
976 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
977 group, or a bogus (or semi-bogus) native group.
980 @node Group Modeline Specification
981 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
983 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
984 The mode line can be changed by setting
985 (@code{gnus-group-mode-line-format}). It doesn't understand that many
990 The native news server.
992 The native select method.
996 @node Group Highlighting
997 @subsection Group Highlighting
999 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1000 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1001 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1002 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1003 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1005 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1009 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1011 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1012 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1013 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1015 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1017 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1019 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1023 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1030 The number of unread articles in the group.
1034 Whether the group is a mail group.
1036 The level of the group.
1038 The score of the group.
1040 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1043 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1044 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1045 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1047 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1048 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1049 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1050 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1051 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1054 @node Group Maneuvering
1055 @section Group Maneuvering
1056 @cindex group movement
1058 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1059 expected, hopefully.
1065 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1066 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1067 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1074 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1075 Go to the previous group group that has unread articles
1076 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1080 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1081 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1085 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1086 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1090 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1091 Go to the next unread group on the same level (or lower)
1092 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1096 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1097 Go to the previous unread group on the same level (or lower)
1098 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1101 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1107 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1108 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1109 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1114 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1115 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1116 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1120 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1121 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1122 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1125 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1126 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1127 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1128 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1132 @node Selecting a Group
1133 @section Selecting a Group
1134 @cindex group selection
1139 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1140 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1141 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1142 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1143 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1144 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1145 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, Gnus
1146 will fetch @var{N} number of articles. If @var{N} is positive, fetch
1147 the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is negative, fetch the
1148 @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1152 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1153 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1154 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1155 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1156 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1160 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1161 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1162 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1163 minimum amount off fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1164 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1165 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1166 enter some humongous group.
1169 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1170 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1171 This is yet one more command that does the same as the one above, but
1172 this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1173 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1177 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1178 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1179 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1180 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1181 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is when catching up a group from
1186 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1187 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1188 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1191 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1192 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1193 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1194 unread articles than this, Gnus will query the user before entering the
1195 group. The user can then specify how many articles should be fetched
1196 from the server. If the user specifies a negative number (@code{-n}),
1197 the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it is positive, the
1198 @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will be fetched.
1200 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1201 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1202 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1203 automatically when entering a group.
1208 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1209 full summary buffer.
1212 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1215 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1219 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1220 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1221 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1224 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
1225 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
1226 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
1227 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1228 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
1229 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1230 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
1231 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
1232 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
1233 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
1234 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
1235 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
1236 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
1237 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
1239 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
1240 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
1241 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
1242 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
1243 in the list. You should probably always include
1244 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
1245 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
1246 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
1247 ascending article order.
1249 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
1250 number, you could do something like:
1253 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1254 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
1255 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
1256 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1259 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
1260 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
1261 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
1262 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
1263 which the articles arrived.
1265 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
1269 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
1271 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
1272 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
1275 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
1276 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
1277 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
1278 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
1281 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
1282 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
1283 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
1284 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
1285 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
1286 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
1287 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
1288 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
1289 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
1290 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
1291 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
1292 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
1293 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
1295 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
1299 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
1300 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
1301 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
1305 @node Subscription Commands
1306 @section Subscription Commands
1315 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1316 Toggle subscription to the current group
1317 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1323 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1324 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1325 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1326 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1332 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1333 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1339 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1340 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1343 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1344 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1345 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1346 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1347 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1353 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1354 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1358 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1359 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1362 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1363 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1364 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1365 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1366 be used with some caution. The only thing where this command comes in
1367 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1368 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level @code{7} will
1369 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1370 @file{.newsrc} file.
1374 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1378 @section Group Levels
1381 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1382 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1383 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1384 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1385 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1391 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1392 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1393 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1394 prompted for a level.
1397 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1398 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1399 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1400 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1401 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1402 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1403 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1404 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1405 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1406 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1407 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1408 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1409 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1410 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1411 for reasons of efficiency.
1413 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1414 low levels (eg. 1 or 2).
1416 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1417 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1418 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1420 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1421 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1422 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1423 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1424 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1425 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1426 relevant legal ranges.
1428 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1429 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1430 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1431 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1432 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1433 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1436 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1437 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1438 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1441 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1442 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1443 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1444 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1447 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1448 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1449 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1450 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1452 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1453 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1454 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1455 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1460 @section Group Score
1463 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1464 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1465 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1468 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1469 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1470 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1471 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1472 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1473 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1474 part and the score is the least significant part.)
1476 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1477 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1478 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1479 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1480 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1481 action after each summary exit, you can add
1482 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1483 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1484 slow things down somewhat.
1487 @node Marking Groups
1488 @section Marking Groups
1489 @cindex marking groups
1491 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1492 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1493 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1494 bidding on those groups.
1496 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1497 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1498 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1506 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1507 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1513 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1514 Remove the mark from the current group
1515 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1519 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1520 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1524 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1525 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1529 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1530 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1534 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1535 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1536 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1539 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1541 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1542 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1543 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1544 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1545 the command to be executed.
1548 @node Foreign Groups
1549 @section Foreign Groups
1551 Here are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1552 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1553 special-purpose groups:
1559 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1560 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1561 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1562 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1566 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1567 Rename the current group to something else
1568 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some groups --
1569 mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow on some
1574 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1575 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1576 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1580 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1581 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1582 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1586 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1587 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1588 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1592 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1593 Make a directory group. You will be prompted for a directory name
1594 (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1598 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1599 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1603 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1604 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1605 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1606 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1607 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1608 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1609 group will be created from from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1613 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1614 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1615 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1616 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1620 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1621 Read a random directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1622 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1626 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1627 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1628 Make a group based on some file or other
1629 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1630 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1631 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1632 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1633 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1634 guess at the file type.
1637 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1638 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1639 This function will delete the current group
1640 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1641 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1642 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1643 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1647 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1648 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1649 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}).
1653 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1654 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1655 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1658 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1661 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1662 If the @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1663 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1664 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1665 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1668 @node Group Parameters
1669 @section Group Parameters
1670 @cindex group parameters
1672 Gnus stores all information on a group in a list that is usually known
1673 as the @dfn{group info}. This list has from three to six elements.
1674 Here's an example info.
1677 ("nnml:mail.ding" 3 ((1 . 232) 244 (256 . 270)) ((tick 246 249))
1678 (nnml "private") ((to-address . "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
1681 The first element is the @dfn{group name}, as Gnus knows the group,
1682 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
1683 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
1684 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
1685 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
1686 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
1687 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
1689 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
1690 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
1691 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
1693 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1698 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1699 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1700 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1701 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1702 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1703 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1704 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1705 copies of your followups.
1707 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1708 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1709 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1710 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1711 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1712 list address instead.
1716 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1717 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1718 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1719 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1720 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1722 @item broken-reply-to
1723 @cindex broken-reply-to
1724 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1725 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1726 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1727 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1728 broken behavior. So there!
1732 If the group parameter list contains an element like @code{(to-group
1733 . "some.group.name")}, all posts will be sent to that group.
1737 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, all articles that
1738 are read will be marked as expirable. For an alternative approach,
1739 @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1742 @cindex total-expire
1743 If this symbol is present, all read articles will be put through the
1744 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1749 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1750 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1751 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1752 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1753 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1754 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1757 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1758 @samp{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1759 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1762 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1763 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1764 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1765 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1768 This parameter allows you to enter a random comment on the group.
1770 @item @var{(variable form)}
1771 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1772 are entering. Say you want to turn threading off in
1773 @samp{news.answers}. You'd then put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in
1774 the group parameters of that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be
1775 made into a local variable in the summary buffer you enter, and the form
1776 @code{nil} will be @code{eval}ed there.
1778 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1779 If you want to hear a beep when you enter the group
1780 @samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, you could put something like
1781 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
1782 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the @code{(ding)}
1783 form, but who cares?
1787 If you want to change the group info you can use the @kbd{G E} command
1788 to enter a buffer where you can edit it.
1790 You usually don't want to edit the entire group info, so you'd be better
1791 off using the @kbd{G p} command to just edit the group parameters.
1794 @node Listing Groups
1795 @section Listing Groups
1796 @cindex group listing
1798 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
1806 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
1807 List all groups that have unread articles
1808 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
1809 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
1810 only lists groups of level five or lower (i.e., just subscribed groups).
1816 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
1817 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
1818 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
1819 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
1820 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
1821 unsubscribed groups).
1825 @findex gnus-group-list-level
1826 List all unread groups on a specific level
1827 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
1828 with no unread articles.
1832 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
1833 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
1834 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
1835 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
1840 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
1841 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
1845 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
1846 List all subscribed groups with unread articles that match a regexp
1847 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
1851 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
1852 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
1856 @findex gnus-group-list-active
1857 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
1858 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
1859 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
1860 to do a @kbd{A m} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
1865 @findex gnus-group-apropos
1866 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
1867 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
1871 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
1872 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
1873 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
1877 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
1878 @cindex visible group parameter
1879 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
1880 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
1881 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
1882 get the same effect.
1884 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
1885 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
1886 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
1887 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
1888 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
1891 @node Sorting Groups
1892 @section Sorting Groups
1893 @cindex sorting groups
1895 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
1896 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
1897 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
1898 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
1899 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
1900 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
1905 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1906 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
1907 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
1909 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
1910 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
1911 Sort by group level.
1913 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
1914 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
1915 Sort by group score.
1917 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1918 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
1919 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
1920 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
1922 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1923 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
1924 Sort by number of unread articles.
1926 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
1927 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
1928 Sort by alphabetically on the select method.
1933 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
1934 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
1938 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
1939 some sorting criteria:
1943 @kindex G S a (Group)
1944 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
1945 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
1946 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
1949 @kindex G S u (Group)
1950 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
1951 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
1952 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
1955 @kindex G S l (Group)
1956 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
1957 Sort the group buffer by group level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
1961 @kindex G S v (Group)
1962 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
1963 Sort the group buffer by group score
1964 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
1967 @kindex G S r (Group)
1968 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
1969 Sort the group buffer by group level
1970 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
1973 @kindex G S m (Group)
1974 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
1975 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
1976 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
1980 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
1983 @node Group Maintenance
1984 @section Group Maintenance
1985 @cindex bogus groups
1990 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
1991 Find bogus groups and delete them
1992 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
1996 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
1997 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
1998 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2002 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2003 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2004 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2005 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2008 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2009 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2010 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2011 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2016 @node Browse Foreign Server
2017 @section Browse Foreign Server
2018 @cindex foreign servers
2019 @cindex browsing servers
2024 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2025 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2026 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2027 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2030 @findex gnus-browse-server-mode
2031 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2032 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-server-mode}. This buffer looks a bit
2033 (well, a lot) like a normal group buffer, but with one major difference
2034 - you can't enter any of the groups. If you want to read any of the
2035 news available on that server, you have to subscribe to the groups you
2036 think may be interesting, and then you have to exit this buffer. The
2037 new groups will be added to the group buffer, and then you can read them
2038 as you would any other group.
2040 Future versions of Gnus may possibly permit reading groups straight from
2043 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2048 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2049 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2053 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2054 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2057 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2058 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2059 Enter the current group and display the first article
2060 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2063 @kindex RET (Browse)
2064 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2065 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2069 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2070 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2071 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2077 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2078 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2082 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2083 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2084 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2089 @section Exiting Gnus
2090 @cindex exiting Gnus
2092 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2097 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2098 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2099 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2100 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2104 @findex gnus-group-exit
2105 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2109 @findex gnus-group-quit
2110 Quit Gnus without saving any startup files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2113 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2114 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2115 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2116 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2117 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2122 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2123 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2124 trying to customize meta-variables.
2129 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, feels her feet go
2130 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2131 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2137 @section Group Topics
2140 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2141 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2142 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2143 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2144 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2145 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2147 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2149 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2150 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2151 is a toggling command.)
2153 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2154 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2155 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2156 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2159 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2160 the hook for the group mode:
2163 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2167 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2168 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2169 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2173 @node Topic Variables
2174 @subsection Topic Variables
2175 @cindex topic variables
2177 @vindex gnus-topic-unique
2178 If @code{gnus-topic-unique} is non-@code{nil}, each group will be member
2179 of (tops) one topic each. If this is @code{nil}, each group might end
2180 up being a member of several topics.
2182 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2183 really neat, I think.
2185 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2186 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2187 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
2188 Elements allowed are:
2200 Number of groups in the topic.
2202 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2204 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2207 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2208 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2209 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2210 The default is @code{2}.
2212 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2213 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2216 @node Topic Commands
2217 @subsection Topic Commands
2218 @cindex topic commands
2220 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2221 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2222 definitions slightly.
2228 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2229 Create a new topic (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}). You will be
2230 prompted for a topic name and the name of the parent topic.
2234 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2235 Move the current group to some other topic
2236 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command understands the
2237 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2241 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2242 Copy the current group to some other topic
2243 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command understands the
2244 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2248 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2249 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2250 This command understands the process/prefix convention
2251 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2255 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2256 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2257 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2261 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2262 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2263 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2267 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2268 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2269 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2272 @kindex T M-# (Group)
2273 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2274 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2275 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2279 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2281 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2282 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2283 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2284 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2285 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2286 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2289 @kindex T TAB (Group)
2290 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2291 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2292 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2293 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2297 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2298 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}).
2302 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2303 Yank the previously killed group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}).
2304 Note that all topics will be yanked before all groups.
2308 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2309 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2312 @kindex T DEL (Group)
2313 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2314 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2318 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2319 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2320 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2325 @node Topic Topology
2326 @subsection Topic Topology
2327 @cindex topic topology
2330 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2336 2: alt.religion.emacs
2339 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2341 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2342 13: comp.sources.unix
2345 So, here we have one top-level topic, two topics under that, and one
2346 sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always just one (1)
2347 top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as follows:
2351 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2352 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2356 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2357 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2358 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2359 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2360 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2361 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2363 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2364 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2365 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2368 @node Misc Group Stuff
2369 @section Misc Group Stuff
2372 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2373 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2374 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2381 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2382 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}). @xref{The
2387 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2388 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2389 group name will be used as the default.
2393 @findex gnus-group-mail
2394 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2398 Variables for the group buffer:
2402 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2403 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2404 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2407 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2408 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2409 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2410 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2416 @node Scanning New Messages
2417 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2418 @cindex new messages
2419 @cindex scanning new news
2425 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2426 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2427 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2428 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2429 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2434 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2435 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2436 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2437 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}). The
2438 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} variable controls whether
2439 this command is to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t}
2442 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2443 @cindex activating groups
2445 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2446 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2451 @findex gnus-group-restart
2452 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}).
2456 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2457 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2459 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2460 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2464 @node Group Information
2465 @subsection Group Information
2466 @cindex group information
2467 @cindex information on groups
2473 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2476 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2477 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2478 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2479 remote machine. @code{ange-ftp} will be used for fetching the file.
2483 @cindex describing groups
2484 @cindex group description
2485 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2486 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2487 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2491 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2492 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2493 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2498 @findex gnus-version
2499 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2503 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2504 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2507 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2510 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2511 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2516 @subsection File Commands
2517 @cindex file commands
2523 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2524 @vindex gnus-init-file
2525 @cindex reading init file
2526 Read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2527 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2531 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2532 @cindex saving .newsrc
2533 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2534 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2535 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2539 @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2540 Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2545 @node The Summary Buffer
2546 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2547 @cindex summary buffer
2549 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2550 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2553 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2554 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2555 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2556 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2557 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2558 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2559 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
2560 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
2561 * Threading:: How threads are made.
2562 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
2563 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
2564 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
2565 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
2566 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
2567 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
2568 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
2569 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
2570 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
2571 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
2572 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
2573 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
2574 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
2575 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
2579 @node Summary Buffer Format
2580 @section Summary Buffer Format
2581 @cindex summary buffer format
2584 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
2585 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
2586 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
2589 @findex mail-extract-address-components
2590 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
2591 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
2592 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
2593 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
2594 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
2595 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
2596 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
2597 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
2600 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
2601 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
2602 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
2603 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
2606 @node Summary Buffer Lines
2607 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
2609 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
2610 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
2611 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
2612 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions.
2614 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
2616 The following format specification characters are understood:
2624 Subject if the article is the root, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject}
2627 Full @code{From} line.
2629 The name (from the @code{From} header).
2631 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
2632 spec in that it uses @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is
2633 slower, but may be more thorough.
2635 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
2638 Number of lines in the article.
2640 Number of characters in the article.
2642 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
2644 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
2645 pushes everything after it off the screen).
2647 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{\[}, but can also be @samp{<}
2648 for adopted articles.
2650 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{\]}, but can also be @samp{>}
2651 for adopted articles.
2653 One space for each thread level.
2655 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
2663 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
2664 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
2665 default level. If the difference between
2666 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
2667 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
2679 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
2680 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
2682 A single character will be displayed if the article has any children.
2684 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
2685 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
2686 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
2687 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
2688 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
2689 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
2692 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
2693 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
2694 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
2695 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
2696 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
2697 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
2699 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
2700 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
2702 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
2705 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
2706 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
2708 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
2709 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
2710 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. Here are the
2711 elements you can play with:
2717 Unprefixed group name.
2719 Current article number.
2723 Number of unread articles in this group.
2725 Number of unselected articles in this group.
2727 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
2728 either as @samp{<%U(+%u) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
2729 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
2730 and no unselected ones.
2732 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
2733 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
2735 Subject of the current article.
2739 Name of the current score file.
2741 Number of dormant articles.
2743 Number of ticked articles.
2745 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
2747 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
2751 @node Summary Highlighting
2752 @subsection Summary Highlighting
2756 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2757 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
2758 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
2759 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
2760 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2762 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
2763 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
2764 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
2765 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2767 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
2768 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
2769 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
2770 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
2772 @item gnus-summary-highlight
2773 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
2774 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
2775 list where the elements are on the format @code{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
2776 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
2777 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
2779 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
2780 ((> score default) . bold))
2782 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
2783 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
2787 @node Summary Maneuvering
2788 @section Summary Maneuvering
2789 @cindex summary movement
2791 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
2792 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
2794 None of these commands select articles.
2799 @kindex M-n (Summary)
2800 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
2801 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
2802 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
2803 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
2807 @kindex M-p (Summary)
2808 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
2809 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
2810 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
2811 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
2816 @kindex G j (Summary)
2817 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
2818 Ask for an article number and then go that article
2819 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
2822 @kindex G g (Summary)
2823 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
2824 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
2825 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
2828 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
2829 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
2830 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
2831 to the group buffer.
2833 Variables related to summary movement:
2837 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
2838 @item gnus-auto-select-next
2839 If you are at the end of the group and issue one of the movement
2840 commands, Gnus will offer to go to the next group. If this variable is
2841 @code{t} and the next group is empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and
2842 return to the group buffer. If this variable is neither @code{t} nor
2843 @code{nil}, Gnus will select the next group, no matter whether it has
2844 any unread articles or not. As a special case, if this variable is
2845 @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
2846 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same will
2847 happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
2848 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
2849 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
2850 @pxref{Group Levels}.
2852 @item gnus-auto-select-same
2853 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
2854 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
2855 article with the same subject as the current. This variable is not
2856 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
2858 @item gnus-summary-check-current
2859 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
2860 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
2861 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
2862 Instead, they will choose the current article.
2864 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
2865 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
2866 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
2867 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
2868 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
2869 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
2870 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
2871 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
2877 @node Choosing Articles
2878 @section Choosing Articles
2879 @cindex selecting articles
2881 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
2882 and they all select and display an article.
2886 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
2887 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
2888 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
2889 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
2894 @kindex G n (Summary)
2895 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
2896 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
2901 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
2902 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
2907 @kindex G N (Summary)
2908 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
2909 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
2914 @kindex G P (Summary)
2915 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
2916 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
2919 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
2920 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
2921 Go to the next article with the same subject
2922 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
2925 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
2926 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
2927 Go to the previous article with the same subject
2928 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
2932 @kindex G f (Summary)
2934 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2935 Go to the first unread article
2936 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
2940 @kindex G b (Summary)
2942 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2943 Go to the article with the highest score
2944 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
2949 @kindex G l (Summary)
2950 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
2951 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
2954 @kindex G p (Summary)
2955 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
2956 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
2957 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
2958 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
2959 history as you like.
2962 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
2965 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2966 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
2967 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
2968 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
2969 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
2970 the server and display it in the article buffer.
2972 @item gnus-select-article-hook
2973 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
2974 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
2975 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
2977 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
2978 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
2979 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
2980 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
2981 @findex gnus-unread-mark
2982 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
2983 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
2984 @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-and-read-as-read}, and will change the
2985 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
2986 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
2987 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
2988 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
2989 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
2990 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
2995 @node Paging the Article
2996 @section Scrolling the Article
2997 @cindex article scrolling
3002 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3003 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3004 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3005 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3006 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3009 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3010 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3011 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3014 @kindex RET (Summary)
3015 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3016 Scroll the current article one line forward
3017 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3022 @kindex A < (Summary)
3023 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3024 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3025 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3030 @kindex A > (Summary)
3031 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3032 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3035 @kindex A s (Summary)
3036 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3037 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3038 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3043 @node Reply Followup and Post
3044 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3047 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3048 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3049 * Summary Mail and Post Commands:: Sending both news and mail.
3053 @node Summary Mail Commands
3054 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3056 @cindex composing mail
3058 Commands for composing a mail message:
3064 @kindex S r (Summary)
3066 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3067 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3068 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3073 @kindex S R (Summary)
3074 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3075 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3076 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3077 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3080 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3081 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3082 Forward the current article to some other person
3083 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}).
3086 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3087 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3088 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3089 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
3094 @kindex S m (Summary)
3095 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3096 Send a mail to some other person
3097 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3100 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3101 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3102 @vindex gnus-bounced-headers-junk
3103 @cindex bouncing mail
3104 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3105 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3106 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3107 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3108 sending the mail off again. The headers that match the regexp
3109 @code{gnus-bounced-headers-junk} (default @samp{^Received:}) are
3110 automatically deleted first. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3111 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3112 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3113 very well fail, though.
3116 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3117 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3118 @vindex gnus-ignored-resent-headers
3119 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3120 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3121 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3122 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3123 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3124 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3125 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3126 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl. All old
3127 headers that match the regular expression
3128 @code{gnus-ignored-resent-headers} will be deleted before resending the
3129 message. The default is @samp{"^Return-receipt"}.
3131 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3132 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3133 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3134 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3135 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
3138 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3139 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3140 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3141 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3142 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3145 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3146 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3147 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3148 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3152 @node Summary Post Commands
3153 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3155 @cindex composing news
3157 Commands for posting an article:
3163 @kindex S p (Summary)
3164 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3165 Post an article to the current group
3166 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3171 @kindex S f (Summary)
3172 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3173 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3177 @kindex S F (Summary)
3179 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3180 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3181 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3182 process/prefix convention.
3185 @kindex S u (Summary)
3186 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3187 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3188 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3192 @node Summary Mail and Post Commands
3193 @subsection Summary Mail and Post Commands
3194 @cindex mail and post
3195 @cindex post and mail
3197 Commands for sending mail and post at the same time:
3201 @kindex S b (Summary)
3202 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply
3203 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article
3204 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply}).
3207 @kindex S B (Summary)
3208 @findex gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original
3209 Post a followup and send a reply to the current article and include the
3210 original message (@code{gnus-summary-followup-and-reply-with-original}).
3211 This command uses the process/prefix convention.
3215 @node Canceling and Superseding
3216 @section Canceling Articles
3217 @cindex canceling articles
3218 @cindex superseding articles
3220 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3221 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3223 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3225 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3227 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3228 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3229 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3230 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3232 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3233 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3236 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3237 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3238 your original article.
3240 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3242 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3243 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3244 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3247 @vindex gnus-delete-supersedes-headers
3248 You probably want to delete some of the old headers before sending the
3249 superseding article---@code{Path} and @code{Date} are probably
3250 incorrect. Set @code{gnus-delete-supersedes-headers} to a regexp to
3251 match the lines you want removed. The default is
3252 @samp{^Path:\\|^Date}.
3254 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3255 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3256 have posted almost the same article twice.
3258 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3259 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3260 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3261 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*post-buf*}). There you will
3262 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3263 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3264 header by substituting one of those words for @code{Message-ID}. Then
3265 just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as you would do normally.
3266 The previous article will be canceled/superseded.
3268 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3271 @node Marking Articles
3272 @section Marking Articles
3273 @cindex article marking
3274 @cindex article ticking
3277 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3279 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3280 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3281 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3283 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3286 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3287 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3288 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3292 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3296 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3297 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3301 @node Unread Articles
3302 @subsection Unread Articles
3304 The following marks mark articles as unread, in one form or other.
3306 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3307 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3310 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3311 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3312 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3313 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3314 article forever, you'll have to save it. Ticked articles have a
3315 @samp{!} (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}) in the first column.
3318 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3319 A @dfn{dormant} article is marked with a @samp{?}
3320 (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}), and will only appear in the summary buffer
3321 if there are followups to it.
3324 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3325 An @dfn{unread} article is marked with a @samp{SPACE}
3326 (@code{gnus-unread-mark}). These are articles that haven't been read at
3332 @subsection Read Articles
3333 @cindex expirable mark
3335 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3340 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3341 Articles that are marked as read. They have a @samp{r}
3342 (@code{gnus-del-mark}) in the first column. These are articles that the
3343 user has marked as read more or less manually.
3346 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3347 Articles that are actually read are marked with @samp{R}
3348 (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3351 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3352 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions are now
3353 @dfn{old} and marked with @samp{O} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3356 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3357 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3360 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3361 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3364 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3365 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3368 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3369 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3372 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3373 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3376 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3377 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}).
3380 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3381 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}).
3384 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3385 They are interpreted differently by the adaptive scoring scheme,
3388 One more special mark, though:
3392 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3393 You can also mark articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as
3394 such automatically). That doesn't make much sense in normal groups,
3395 because a user does not control the expiring of news articles, but in
3396 mail groups, for instance, articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable}
3397 can be deleted by Gnus at any time. Expirable articles are marked with
3398 @samp{E} (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3403 @subsection Other Marks
3404 @cindex process mark
3407 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3413 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3414 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3415 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3416 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3417 encounters the article.
3420 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3421 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3422 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3423 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3426 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3427 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3428 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3431 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3432 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3433 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3434 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3437 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3438 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3439 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3440 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3441 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3444 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3445 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3446 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3447 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3448 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3449 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3453 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3454 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3455 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3457 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3458 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3459 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3463 @subsection Setting Marks
3464 @cindex setting marks
3466 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3472 @kindex M t (Summary)
3473 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3474 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3479 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3480 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3481 Mark the current article as dormant
3482 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3486 @kindex M d (Summary)
3488 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3489 Mark the current article as read
3490 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3495 @kindex M k (Summary)
3496 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
3497 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
3498 and then select the next unread article
3499 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
3503 @kindex M K (Summary)
3504 @kindex C-k (Summary)
3505 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
3506 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
3507 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
3510 @kindex M C (Summary)
3511 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
3512 Mark all unread articles in the group as read
3513 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
3516 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
3517 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
3518 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
3519 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
3522 @kindex M H (Summary)
3523 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
3524 Catchup the current group to point
3525 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
3528 @kindex C-w (Summary)
3529 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
3530 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
3531 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
3534 @kindex M V k (Summary)
3535 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
3536 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
3537 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
3541 @kindex M c (Summary)
3542 @kindex M-u (Summary)
3543 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
3544 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
3545 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
3549 @kindex M e (Summary)
3551 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
3552 Mark the current article as expirable
3553 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
3556 @kindex M b (Summary)
3557 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
3558 Set a bookmark in the current article
3559 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
3562 @kindex M B (Summary)
3563 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
3564 Remove the bookmark from the current article
3565 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
3568 @kindex M V c (Summary)
3569 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
3570 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
3571 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3574 @kindex M V u (Summary)
3575 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
3576 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
3577 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
3580 @kindex M V m (Summary)
3581 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
3582 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
3583 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
3584 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
3587 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
3588 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
3589 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
3590 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
3591 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
3592 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
3593 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
3594 The default is @code{t}.
3597 @node Setting Process Marks
3598 @subsection Setting Process Marks
3599 @cindex setting process marks
3606 @kindex M P p (Summary)
3607 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
3608 Mark the current article with the process mark
3609 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
3610 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
3614 @kindex M P u (Summary)
3615 @kindex M-# (Summary)
3616 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
3617 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
3620 @kindex M P U (Summary)
3621 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
3622 Remove the process mark from all articles
3623 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
3626 @kindex M P R (Summary)
3627 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
3628 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
3631 @kindex M P r (Summary)
3632 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
3633 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
3636 @kindex M P t (Summary)
3637 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
3638 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3639 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
3642 @kindex M P T (Summary)
3643 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
3644 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
3645 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
3648 @kindex M P v (Summary)
3649 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
3650 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
3651 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
3654 @kindex M P s (Summary)
3655 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
3656 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3659 @kindex M P S (Summary)
3660 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
3661 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
3662 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
3665 @kindex M P a (Summary)
3666 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
3667 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
3670 @kindex M P b (Summary)
3671 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
3672 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
3673 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
3681 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
3682 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
3683 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
3690 @kindex / / (Summary)
3691 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
3692 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
3693 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
3696 @kindex / a (Summary)
3697 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
3698 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
3699 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
3703 @kindex / u (Summary)
3705 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
3706 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
3707 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
3708 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
3709 dormant articles will also be excluded.
3712 @kindex / m (Summary)
3713 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
3714 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
3715 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
3718 @kindex / n (Summary)
3719 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
3720 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
3721 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
3722 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3725 @kindex / w (Summary)
3726 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
3727 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
3728 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
3732 @kindex / v (Summary)
3733 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
3734 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
3735 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
3739 @kindex M S (Summary)
3740 @kindex / E (Summary)
3741 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
3742 Display all expunged articles
3743 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
3746 @kindex / D (Summary)
3747 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
3748 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
3751 @kindex / d (Summary)
3752 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
3753 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
3756 @kindex / c (Summary)
3757 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
3758 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
3759 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
3762 @kindex / C (Summary)
3763 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
3764 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
3765 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
3766 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
3774 @cindex article threading
3776 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
3777 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
3781 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
3782 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
3786 @node Customizing Threading
3787 @subsection Customizing Threading
3788 @cindex customizing threading
3794 @item gnus-show-threads
3795 @vindex gnus-show-threads
3796 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
3797 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
3798 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
3799 slower and more awkward.
3801 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
3802 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
3803 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
3804 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
3805 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
3806 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
3807 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
3808 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
3809 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
3810 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
3811 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
3812 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
3814 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
3815 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
3816 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
3817 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
3818 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
3819 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
3820 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
3821 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
3822 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
3823 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
3824 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
3825 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
3826 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
3827 @code{nil} by default.
3829 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3830 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
3831 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
3832 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
3833 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
3834 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
3835 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
3836 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
3837 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
3838 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
3839 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
3841 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
3842 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
3843 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
3845 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3846 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
3847 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
3848 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
3849 simplification is used.
3851 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3852 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3853 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
3854 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
3856 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
3858 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
3861 (mapconcat 'identity
3863 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
3864 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
3865 "answer" "reference" "announce"
3866 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
3871 (mapconcat 'identity
3872 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
3874 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
3877 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
3880 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3881 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
3882 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
3883 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
3884 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
3885 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
3886 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
3887 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
3889 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3890 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3891 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
3892 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
3893 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
3894 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
3895 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
3896 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
3897 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
3901 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3902 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
3903 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
3904 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
3906 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3907 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
3908 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
3911 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
3915 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
3916 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
3919 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
3920 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
3921 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
3922 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
3923 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
3924 read or killed the root in a previous session.
3926 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
3927 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
3928 There are four possible values:
3930 @cindex adopting articles
3935 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
3936 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
3937 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
3938 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
3941 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
3942 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
3943 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
3944 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
3945 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
3946 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
3947 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
3950 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
3951 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
3952 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
3956 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
3957 display them after one another.
3960 Don't gather loose threads.
3963 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3964 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
3965 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
3968 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
3969 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
3970 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
3973 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3974 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
3975 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
3976 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
3977 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
3980 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
3981 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
3982 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
3983 The default is @code{4}.
3987 @node Thread Commands
3988 @subsection Thread Commands
3989 @cindex thread commands
3995 @kindex T k (Summary)
3996 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
3997 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
3998 Mark all articles in the current sub-thread as read
3999 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4000 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4005 @kindex T l (Summary)
4006 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4007 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4008 Lower the score of the current thread
4009 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).