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14 Copyright @copyright{} 1995-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
18 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
19 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
20 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
21 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
22 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
24 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
25 modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
26 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
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309 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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324 @dircategory Emacs network features
326 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @title Gnus Manual (DEVELOPMENT VERSION)
337 @ifclear WEBHACKDEVEL
341 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
343 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
351 @top The Gnus Newsreader
355 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
356 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
357 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
360 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
361 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.6
376 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
377 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
379 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
380 being accused of plagiarism:
382 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
383 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
384 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
385 can even read news with it!
387 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
388 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
389 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
390 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
391 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
394 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
395 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.6
397 @heading Other related manuals
399 @item Message manual: Composing messages
400 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
401 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
402 @item EasyPG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
403 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
409 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
410 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
411 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
412 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
413 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
414 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
415 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
416 * Searching:: Mail and News search engines.
417 * Various:: General purpose settings.
418 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
419 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
420 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
421 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
422 * Key Index:: Key Index.
424 Other related manuals
426 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
427 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
428 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
429 * EasyPG:(epa). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
430 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
433 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
437 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
438 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
439 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
440 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
441 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
442 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
443 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
444 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
445 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
446 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
450 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
451 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
452 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
456 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
457 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
458 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
459 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
460 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
461 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
462 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
463 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
464 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
465 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
466 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
467 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
468 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
469 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
470 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
471 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
472 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
473 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
477 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
478 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
479 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
483 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
484 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
485 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
486 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
487 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
491 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
492 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
493 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
494 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
495 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
499 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
500 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
501 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
502 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
503 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
504 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
505 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
506 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
507 * Threading:: How threads are made.
508 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
509 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
510 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
511 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
512 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
513 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
514 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
515 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
516 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
517 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
518 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
519 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
520 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
521 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
522 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
523 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
524 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
525 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
526 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
527 or reselecting the current group.
528 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
529 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
530 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
531 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
533 Summary Buffer Format
535 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
536 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
537 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
538 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
542 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
543 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
545 Reply, Followup and Post
547 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
548 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
549 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
550 * Canceling and Superseding::
554 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
555 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
556 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
557 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
558 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
559 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
563 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
564 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
566 Customizing Threading
568 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
569 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
570 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
571 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
575 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
576 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
577 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
578 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
579 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
580 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
584 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
585 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
586 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
590 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
591 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
592 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
593 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
594 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
595 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
596 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
597 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
598 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys, Gravatars
599 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
600 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
602 Alternative Approaches
604 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
605 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
607 Various Summary Stuff
609 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
610 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
611 * Summary Generation Commands::
612 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
616 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
617 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
618 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
619 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
620 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
624 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
625 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
626 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
627 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
628 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
629 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
630 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
631 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
632 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
636 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
637 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
638 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
642 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
643 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
669 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
670 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
671 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
672 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
673 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
674 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
675 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
676 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
677 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
678 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
679 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
680 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
681 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
685 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
686 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
687 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
689 Choosing a Mail Back End
691 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
692 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
693 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
694 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
695 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
696 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
697 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
702 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
703 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
704 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
708 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
709 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
710 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
711 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
712 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
716 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
720 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
724 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
725 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
726 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
730 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
731 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
732 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
734 The Gnus Diary Library
736 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
737 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
738 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
739 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
743 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
744 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
745 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
746 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
747 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
748 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
749 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
750 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
751 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
752 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
753 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
754 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
755 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
756 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
760 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
761 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
762 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
766 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
767 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
768 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
772 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
773 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
774 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
775 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
776 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
777 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
778 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
779 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
780 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
781 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
782 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
783 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
784 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
785 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
786 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
787 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
791 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
792 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
793 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
797 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
798 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
802 * What is nnir?:: What does nnir do.
803 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
804 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up nnir.
808 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
812 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
813 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
814 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
815 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
816 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
817 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
818 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
819 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
820 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
821 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
822 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
823 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
824 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
825 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
826 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
827 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
828 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
829 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
830 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
834 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
835 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
836 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
837 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
838 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
839 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
840 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
841 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
845 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
846 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
847 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
849 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
850 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
851 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
855 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
856 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
857 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
858 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
862 * Spam Package Introduction::
863 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
864 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
865 * Spam and Ham Processors::
866 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
868 * Extending the Spam package::
869 * Spam Statistics Package::
871 Spam Statistics Package
873 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
874 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
875 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
879 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
880 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
881 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
882 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
883 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
884 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
885 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
886 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
887 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
891 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
892 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
893 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
894 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
895 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
896 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
897 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
898 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
902 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
903 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
904 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
905 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
906 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
907 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
908 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13
909 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
913 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
914 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
915 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
916 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
920 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
921 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
922 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
923 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
924 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
925 * Group Info:: The group info format.
926 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
927 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
928 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
932 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
933 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
934 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
935 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
936 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
937 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
941 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
942 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
946 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
947 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
953 @chapter Starting Gnus
956 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
961 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
962 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
963 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
964 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
965 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
966 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
968 @findex gnus-other-frame
969 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
970 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
971 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
973 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
974 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
975 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
977 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
978 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
981 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
982 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
983 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
984 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
985 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
986 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
987 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
988 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
989 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
993 @node Finding the News
994 @section Finding the News
997 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
998 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
999 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
1000 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
1001 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
1002 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
1003 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
1004 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
1006 @vindex gnus-select-method
1008 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1009 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1010 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1011 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1012 secondary or foreign groups.
1014 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1015 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1018 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1021 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1024 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1027 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1028 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1029 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1030 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1032 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1034 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1035 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1036 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1037 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1038 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1039 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1040 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1042 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1044 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1045 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1046 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1047 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1048 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1049 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1051 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1053 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1054 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1055 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1056 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1057 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1058 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1061 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1062 you would typically set this variable to
1065 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1070 @node The Server is Down
1071 @section The Server is Down
1072 @cindex server errors
1074 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1075 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1076 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1078 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1079 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1080 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1081 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1082 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1083 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1084 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1086 @findex gnus-no-server
1087 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1089 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1090 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1091 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1092 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1093 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1094 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1095 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1099 @section Slave Gnusae
1102 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1103 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1104 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1105 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1107 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1108 @file{.newsrc} file.
1110 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1111 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1112 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1113 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1114 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1115 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1116 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1119 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1120 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1121 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1122 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1123 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1124 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1125 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1126 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1128 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1129 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1131 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1132 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1133 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1134 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1135 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1142 @cindex subscription
1144 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1145 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1146 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1147 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1148 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1149 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1150 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1151 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1152 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1155 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1156 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1157 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1161 @node Checking New Groups
1162 @subsection Checking New Groups
1164 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
1165 the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of
1166 subscribed and dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method.
1167 If @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will
1168 ask the server for new groups since the last time. This is both
1169 faster and cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list
1170 of killed groups (@pxref{Group Levels}) altogether, so you may set
1171 @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to @code{nil}, which will save time both
1172 at startup, at exit, and all over. Saves disk space, too. Why isn't
1173 this the default, then? Unfortunately, not all servers support this
1176 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1177 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1178 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1179 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1180 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1181 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1182 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1183 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1184 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1185 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1186 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1188 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1189 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1190 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1191 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1192 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1193 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1196 @node Subscription Methods
1197 @subsection Subscription Methods
1199 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1200 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1201 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1203 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1204 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1206 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1210 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1211 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1212 Make all new groups zombies (@pxref{Group Levels}). This is the
1213 default. You can browse the zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either
1214 kill them all off properly (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them
1217 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1218 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1219 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1220 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1222 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1223 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1224 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1226 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1227 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1228 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1229 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1230 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1231 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1232 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1233 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1234 up. Or something like that.
1236 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1237 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1238 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1239 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1240 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1242 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1243 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1244 Kill all new groups.
1246 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1247 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1248 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1249 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1250 topic parameter that looks like
1256 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1259 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1265 A closely related variable is
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1267 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1268 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1269 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1272 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1273 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1274 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1275 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1278 @node Filtering New Groups
1279 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1281 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1282 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1283 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1286 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1289 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1290 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1291 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1292 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1293 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1294 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1295 subscribing these groups.
1296 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1297 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1299 The ``options -n'' format is very simplistic. The syntax above is all
1300 that is supports -- you can force-subscribe hierarchies, or you can
1301 deny hierarchies, and that's it.
1303 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1304 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1305 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1306 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1307 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1308 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1309 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1310 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1312 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1313 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1314 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1315 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1316 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1317 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1318 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1319 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1320 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, @code{nnimap}, and
1321 @code{nnmaildir}) subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this
1322 variable to @code{nil}.
1324 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-categories
1325 As if that wasn't enough, @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-categories} also
1326 allows you to specify that new groups should be subscribed based on the
1327 category their select methods belong to. The default is @samp{(mail
1328 post-mail)}, meaning that all new groups from mail-like backends
1329 should be subscribed automatically.
1331 New groups that match these variables are subscribed using
1332 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1335 @node Changing Servers
1336 @section Changing Servers
1337 @cindex changing servers
1339 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1340 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1341 very flaky and you want to use another.
1343 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1344 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1348 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1349 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1350 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1351 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1354 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1356 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1357 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1360 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1361 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1362 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1363 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1365 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1366 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1367 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1368 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1369 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1370 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1371 cache for all groups).
1375 @section Startup Files
1376 @cindex startup files
1381 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1382 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1383 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1386 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1387 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1388 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1389 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1390 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1391 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1392 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1394 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1395 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1396 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1397 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1398 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1399 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1402 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1403 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1404 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1405 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1406 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1407 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1408 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1409 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1410 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1411 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1414 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1415 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1416 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1417 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1418 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1419 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1420 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1421 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1422 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1423 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1424 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1425 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1427 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1428 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1429 @vindex version-control
1430 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1431 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1432 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1433 If you want to keep multiple numbered backups of this file, set
1434 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1435 @code{version-control} variable.
1437 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1438 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1439 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1440 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1441 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1442 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1443 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1444 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1445 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1446 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1449 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1450 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1452 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1453 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1456 @vindex gnus-init-file
1457 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1458 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1459 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1460 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1461 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1462 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1463 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1464 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1465 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1466 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1467 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1468 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1469 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1474 @cindex dribble file
1477 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1478 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1479 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1480 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1481 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1484 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1485 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1488 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1489 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1490 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1492 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1493 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1494 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1495 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1496 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1497 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1499 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1500 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1501 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1504 @node The Active File
1505 @section The Active File
1507 @cindex ignored groups
1509 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1510 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1511 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1513 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1514 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1515 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1516 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1517 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1518 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1519 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1522 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1523 @c if you set it to anything else.
1525 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1527 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1528 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1529 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1531 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1532 you actually subscribe to.
1534 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1535 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1536 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1537 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1539 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1540 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1541 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1542 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1543 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1544 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1546 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1547 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1548 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1551 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1552 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1553 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1554 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1555 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1556 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1558 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1559 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1561 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1562 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1564 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1565 secondary select methods.
1568 @node Startup Variables
1569 @section Startup Variables
1573 @item gnus-load-hook
1574 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1575 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1576 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1577 times you start Gnus.
1579 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1580 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1581 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1583 @item gnus-startup-hook
1584 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1585 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1587 @item gnus-started-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1589 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1592 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1593 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1594 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1595 generating the group buffer.
1597 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1598 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1599 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1600 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1601 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1602 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1603 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1604 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1606 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1607 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1608 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1609 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1610 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1611 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1613 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1614 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1615 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1617 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1618 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1619 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1620 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1621 group operation some.
1627 @chapter Group Buffer
1628 @cindex group buffer
1630 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1632 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1633 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1634 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1635 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1636 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1637 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1638 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1639 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1640 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1641 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1642 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1643 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1644 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1645 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1646 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1647 @c human rights at 9...
1650 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1651 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1652 long as Gnus is active.
1656 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1657 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1658 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1659 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1660 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1661 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1662 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1663 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1669 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1670 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1671 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1672 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1673 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1674 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1675 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1676 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1677 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1678 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1679 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1680 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1681 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1682 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1683 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1684 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1685 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1686 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1690 @node Group Buffer Format
1691 @section Group Buffer Format
1694 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1695 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1696 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1699 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1700 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1703 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1704 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1705 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1706 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1709 @node Group Line Specification
1710 @subsection Group Line Specification
1711 @cindex group buffer format
1713 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1714 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1716 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1719 25: news.announce.newusers
1720 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1725 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1726 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1727 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1728 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1730 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1731 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1732 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1733 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1734 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1735 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1737 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1739 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1740 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1741 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1742 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1743 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1745 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1746 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1747 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1749 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1754 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1757 Whether the group is subscribed.
1760 Level of subscribedness.
1763 Number of unread articles.
1766 Number of dormant articles.
1769 Number of ticked articles.
1772 Number of read articles.
1775 Number of unseen articles.
1778 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1779 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1781 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1782 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1783 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1784 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1785 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1786 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1787 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1789 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1790 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1791 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1792 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1793 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1794 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1795 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1798 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1801 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1810 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1811 comment element in the group parameters.
1814 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1815 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1816 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1820 @samp{m} if moderated.
1823 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1829 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1835 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1839 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1842 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1843 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1844 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1845 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1846 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1849 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1851 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1855 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1858 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1862 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1863 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1864 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1865 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1868 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1869 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1870 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1871 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1872 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1873 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1878 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1879 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1880 group, or a bogus native group.
1883 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1884 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1885 @cindex group mode line
1887 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1888 The mode line can be changed by setting
1889 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1890 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1894 The native news server.
1896 The native select method.
1900 @node Group Highlighting
1901 @subsection Group Highlighting
1902 @cindex highlighting
1903 @cindex group highlighting
1905 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1906 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1907 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1908 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1909 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1911 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1915 (cond (window-system
1916 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1917 (defface my-group-face-1
1918 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1919 (defface my-group-face-2
1920 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1921 "Second group face")
1922 (defface my-group-face-3
1923 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-4
1925 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1926 (defface my-group-face-5
1927 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1929 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1930 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1931 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1932 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1933 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1934 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1937 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1939 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1946 The number of unread articles in the group.
1950 Whether the group is a mail group.
1952 The level of the group.
1954 The score of the group.
1956 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1958 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1959 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1961 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1962 topic being inserted.
1965 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1966 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1967 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1969 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1970 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1971 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1972 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
1975 @node Group Maneuvering
1976 @section Group Maneuvering
1977 @cindex group movement
1979 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1980 expected, hopefully.
1986 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1987 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1994 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1995 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1996 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2000 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2001 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2005 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2006 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2011 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2012 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2016 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2017 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2018 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2021 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2027 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2028 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2029 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2034 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2035 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2036 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2040 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2041 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2042 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2045 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2046 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2047 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2048 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2051 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2052 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2053 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2054 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2057 @node Selecting a Group
2058 @section Selecting a Group
2059 @cindex group selection
2064 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2065 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2066 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2067 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2068 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2069 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2070 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2071 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2072 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2073 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2075 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2076 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2077 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2079 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2080 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2085 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2086 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2087 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2088 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2089 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2093 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2094 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2095 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2096 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2097 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2098 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2099 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2100 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2101 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2102 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2105 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2106 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2107 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2108 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2109 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2112 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2113 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2114 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2115 doing any processing of its contents
2116 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2117 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2118 manner will have no permanent effects.
2122 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2123 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2124 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2125 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2126 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2127 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2128 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2129 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2130 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2131 most recently will be fetched.
2133 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2134 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2135 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2138 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2139 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2140 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2141 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2142 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2143 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2144 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2145 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2146 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2147 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2148 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2149 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2150 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2151 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2152 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2153 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2154 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2156 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2157 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2158 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2159 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2160 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2161 Which article this is controlled by the
2162 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2168 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2171 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2174 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2176 @item unseen-or-unread
2177 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2178 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2182 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2186 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2187 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2189 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2190 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2191 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2192 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2196 @node Subscription Commands
2197 @section Subscription Commands
2198 @cindex subscription
2200 The following commands allow for managing your subscriptions in the
2201 Group buffer. If you want to subscribe to many groups, it's probably
2202 more convenient to go to the @ref{Server Buffer}, and choose the
2203 server there using @kbd{RET} or @kbd{SPC}. Then you'll have the
2204 commands listed in @ref{Browse Foreign Server} at hand.
2212 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2213 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2214 Toggle subscription to the current group
2215 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2221 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2222 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2223 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2224 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2230 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2231 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2232 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2238 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2239 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2242 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2243 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2244 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2245 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2246 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2252 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2253 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2258 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2261 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2263 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2264 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2265 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2266 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2267 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2268 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2269 @file{.newsrc} file.
2273 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2283 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2284 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2285 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2286 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2287 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2288 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2293 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2294 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2295 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2299 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2300 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2301 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2303 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2304 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2305 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2306 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2307 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2308 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2315 @section Group Levels
2319 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2320 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2321 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2322 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2323 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2325 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2331 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2332 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2333 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2334 prompted for a level.
2337 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2338 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2339 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2340 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2341 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2342 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2343 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2344 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2345 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2346 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2347 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2348 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2349 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2350 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2351 reasons of efficiency.
2353 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2354 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2356 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2357 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2358 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2359 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2360 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2361 groups are hidden, in a way.
2363 @cindex zombie groups
2364 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2365 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2366 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2367 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2368 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2369 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2371 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2372 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2373 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2374 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2375 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2376 list of killed groups.)
2378 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2379 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2380 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2382 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2383 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2384 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2385 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2386 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2387 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2388 relevant valid ranges.
2390 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2391 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2392 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2393 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2394 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2395 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2398 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2399 one with the best level.
2401 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2402 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2403 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2405 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2406 be called and the result will be used as value.
2409 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2410 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2411 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2412 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2415 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2416 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2417 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2418 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2420 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2421 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2422 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2423 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2424 to 5. The default is 6.
2428 @section Group Score
2433 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2434 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2435 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2438 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2439 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2440 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2441 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2442 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2443 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2444 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2445 least significant part.))
2447 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2448 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2449 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2450 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2451 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2452 action after each summary exit, you can add
2453 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2454 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2455 slow things down somewhat.
2458 @node Marking Groups
2459 @section Marking Groups
2460 @cindex marking groups
2462 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2463 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2464 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2465 bidding on those groups.
2467 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2468 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2469 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2477 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2478 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2485 Remove the mark from the current group
2486 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2491 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2496 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2501 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2505 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2506 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2507 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2510 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2512 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2513 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2514 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2515 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2516 the command to be executed.
2519 @node Foreign Groups
2520 @section Foreign Groups
2521 @cindex foreign groups
2523 If you recall how to subscribe to servers (@pxref{Finding the News})
2524 you will remember that @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} and
2525 @code{gnus-select-method} let you write a definition in Emacs Lisp of
2526 what servers you want to see when you start up. The alternate
2527 approach is to use foreign servers and groups. ``Foreign'' here means
2528 they are not coming from the select methods. All foreign server
2529 configuration and subscriptions are stored only in the
2530 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file.
2532 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2533 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2534 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2535 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2538 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2539 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2540 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2546 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2547 @cindex making groups
2548 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2549 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2550 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2554 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2555 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2556 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2560 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2561 @cindex renaming groups
2562 Rename the current group to something else
2563 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2564 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2570 @findex gnus-group-customize
2571 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2575 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2576 @cindex renaming groups
2577 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2578 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2583 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2584 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2588 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2589 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2590 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2594 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2596 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2597 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2603 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2607 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2609 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2610 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2611 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2615 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2616 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2618 Make a group based on some file or other
2619 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2620 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2621 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2622 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2623 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2624 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2625 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2626 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2627 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2631 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2632 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2633 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2634 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2638 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2642 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2643 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2644 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2645 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2646 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2647 @xref{Web Searches}.
2649 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2650 to a particular group by using a match string like
2651 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2655 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2656 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2657 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2661 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2662 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2663 This function will delete the current group
2664 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2665 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2666 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2667 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2668 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2672 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2673 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2674 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2678 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2679 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2680 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2683 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2686 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2687 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2688 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2689 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2690 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2691 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2695 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2696 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2699 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2700 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2701 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2702 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2703 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2704 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2707 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2708 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2709 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2710 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2711 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2712 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2713 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2714 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2715 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2716 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2718 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2719 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2720 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2721 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2722 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2724 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2725 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2726 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2727 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2730 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2738 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2739 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2740 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2744 @node Group Parameters
2745 @section Group Parameters
2746 @cindex group parameters
2748 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2750 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2751 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2752 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2753 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2754 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2755 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2756 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2758 Here's an example group parameter list:
2761 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2765 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2766 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2767 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2768 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2770 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2771 is an alist of regexps and values.
2773 The following group parameters can be used:
2778 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2781 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2784 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2785 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2786 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2787 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2788 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2790 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2791 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2792 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2793 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2794 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2795 list address instead.
2797 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2801 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2804 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2807 It is totally ignored
2808 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2809 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2811 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2812 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2813 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2814 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2815 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2817 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2818 @cindex mail list groups
2819 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2820 entering summary buffer.
2822 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2827 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2828 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2829 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2830 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2831 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2832 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2833 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2834 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2837 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2838 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2841 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2842 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2846 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2847 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2848 of whether it has any unread articles.
2850 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2851 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2853 @item broken-reply-to
2854 @cindex broken-reply-to
2855 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2856 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2857 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2858 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2859 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2860 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2864 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2865 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2869 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2870 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2871 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2876 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2877 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2878 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2879 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2880 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2881 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2882 (@pxref{Archived Messages}), with the exception for messages to resend.
2884 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2885 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2886 doesn't accept articles.
2890 @cindex expiring mail
2891 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2892 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2893 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2895 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2898 @cindex total-expire
2899 @cindex expiring mail
2900 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2901 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2902 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2903 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2906 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2910 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2911 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2912 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2913 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2914 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2915 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2916 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2919 @cindex expiry-target
2920 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2921 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2924 @cindex score file group parameter
2925 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2926 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2927 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2930 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2931 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2932 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2933 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2936 @cindex admin-address
2937 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2938 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2939 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2940 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2944 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2945 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2949 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2952 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2953 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2956 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2960 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2962 Here are some examples:
2966 Display only unread articles.
2969 Display everything except expirable articles.
2971 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2972 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2976 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2977 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2978 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2979 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2980 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, and @code{unseen}.
2984 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2985 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2986 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2990 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2991 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2992 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2996 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2997 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2998 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3000 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3002 @item ignored-charsets
3003 @cindex ignored-charset
3004 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3005 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3006 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3008 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3011 @cindex posting-style
3012 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3013 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3014 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3015 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3016 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3018 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3019 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3020 like this in the group parameters:
3025 ("X-Message-SMTP-Method" "smtp smtp.example.org 587")
3026 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3027 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3030 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3031 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3032 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3033 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3034 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3035 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3041 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3042 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3046 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3047 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3048 mail source for this group.
3052 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3053 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3054 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3055 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3056 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3060 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3061 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3062 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3063 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3065 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3066 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3067 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3068 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3071 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3072 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3076 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3077 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3078 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3079 like the following is generated:
3082 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3083 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3087 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3088 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3090 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3091 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3093 @item (agent parameters)
3094 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of its parameters to
3095 control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3096 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3097 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3098 minimize the configuration effort.
3100 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3101 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3102 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3103 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3104 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3105 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3106 @code{eval}ed there.
3108 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3109 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3110 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3111 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3112 form needs to be set to it.
3114 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3115 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3116 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3117 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3118 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3119 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3120 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3123 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3126 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3127 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3128 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3131 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3134 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3135 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3136 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3137 into the group parameters for the group.
3139 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3140 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3141 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3142 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3143 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3145 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3146 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3147 following is added to a group parameter
3150 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3151 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3154 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3159 @vindex gnus-parameters
3160 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3161 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3162 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3166 (setq gnus-parameters
3168 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3169 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3170 (gnus-summary-line-format
3171 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3175 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3179 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3183 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3186 All clauses that matches the group name will be used, but the last
3187 setting ``wins''. So if you have two clauses that both match the
3188 group name, and both set, say @code{display}, the last setting will
3191 Parameters that are strings will be subjected to regexp substitution,
3192 as the @code{to-group} example shows.
3194 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3195 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3196 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3197 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3198 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3199 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3200 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3201 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3202 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3203 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3204 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3205 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3207 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3208 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3209 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3210 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3211 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3212 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3213 weekly news RSS feed
3214 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3220 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3221 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3222 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3223 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3224 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3226 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3227 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3228 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3229 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3230 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3231 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3235 @node Listing Groups
3236 @section Listing Groups
3237 @cindex group listing
3239 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3247 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3248 List all groups that have unread articles
3249 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3250 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3251 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3252 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3259 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3260 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3261 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3262 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3263 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3264 unsubscribed groups).
3268 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3269 List all unread groups on a specific level
3270 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3271 with no unread articles.
3275 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3276 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3277 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3278 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3283 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3284 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3288 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3289 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3290 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3294 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3295 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3299 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3300 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3301 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3302 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3303 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3304 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3305 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3306 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3310 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3311 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3312 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3316 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3317 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3318 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3322 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3323 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3327 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3328 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3332 @findex gnus-group-list-ticked
3333 List all groups with ticked articles (@code{gnus-group-list-ticked}).
3337 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3338 Further limit groups within the current selection
3339 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}). If you've first limited to groups
3340 with dormant articles with @kbd{A ?}, you can then further limit with
3341 @kbd{A / c}, which will then limit to groups with cached articles,
3342 giving you the groups that have both dormant articles and cached
3347 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3348 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3352 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3353 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3357 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3358 @cindex visible group parameter
3359 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3360 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3361 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3362 get the same effect.
3364 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3365 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3366 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3367 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3368 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3371 @node Sorting Groups
3372 @section Sorting Groups
3373 @cindex sorting groups
3375 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3376 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3377 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3378 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3379 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3380 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3385 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3386 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3387 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3389 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3390 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3391 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3393 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3394 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3395 Sort by group level.
3397 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3398 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3399 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3401 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3402 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3403 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3404 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3406 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3407 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3408 Sort by number of unread articles.
3410 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3411 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3412 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3414 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3415 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3416 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3421 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3422 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3426 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3427 some sorting criteria:
3431 @kindex G S a (Group)
3432 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3433 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3434 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3437 @kindex G S u (Group)
3438 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3439 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3440 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3443 @kindex G S l (Group)
3444 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3445 Sort the group buffer by group level
3446 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3449 @kindex G S v (Group)
3450 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3451 Sort the group buffer by group score
3452 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3455 @kindex G S r (Group)
3456 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3457 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3458 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3461 @kindex G S m (Group)
3462 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3463 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3464 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3467 @kindex G S n (Group)
3468 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3469 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3470 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3474 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3475 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3477 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3478 commands will sort in reverse order.
3480 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3484 @kindex G P a (Group)
3485 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3486 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3487 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3490 @kindex G P u (Group)
3491 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3492 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3493 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3496 @kindex G P l (Group)
3497 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3498 Sort the groups by group level
3499 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3502 @kindex G P v (Group)
3503 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3504 Sort the groups by group score
3505 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3508 @kindex G P r (Group)
3509 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3510 Sort the groups by group rank
3511 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3514 @kindex G P m (Group)
3515 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3516 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3517 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3520 @kindex G P n (Group)
3521 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3522 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3523 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3526 @kindex G P s (Group)
3527 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3528 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3532 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3536 @node Group Maintenance
3537 @section Group Maintenance
3538 @cindex bogus groups
3543 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3544 Find bogus groups and delete them
3545 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3549 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3550 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3551 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3552 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3553 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3557 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3558 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3559 @cindex expiring mail
3560 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3561 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3562 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3563 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3566 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3567 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3568 @cindex expiring mail
3569 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3570 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3575 @node Browse Foreign Server
3576 @section Browse Foreign Server
3577 @cindex foreign servers
3578 @cindex browsing servers
3583 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3584 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3585 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3586 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3589 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3590 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3591 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3592 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3594 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3599 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3600 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3604 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3605 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3608 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3609 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3610 Enter the current group and display the first article
3611 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3614 @kindex RET (Browse)
3615 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3616 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).