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308 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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325 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
337 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
345 @top The Gnus Newsreader
349 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
350 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
351 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
354 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
355 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
370 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
371 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
373 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
374 being accused of plagiarism:
376 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
377 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
378 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
379 can even read news with it!
381 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
382 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
383 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
384 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
385 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys, Gravatars
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
633 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
634 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
699 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
703 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
704 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
705 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
706 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
710 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
714 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
718 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
719 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
720 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
724 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
725 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
726 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
728 The Gnus Diary Library
730 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
731 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
732 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
733 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
737 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
738 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
739 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
740 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
741 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
742 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
743 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
744 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
745 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
746 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
747 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
748 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
749 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
750 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
754 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
755 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
756 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
760 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
761 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
762 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
766 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
767 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
768 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
769 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
770 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
771 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
772 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
773 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
774 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
775 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
776 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
777 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
778 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
779 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
780 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
781 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
785 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
786 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
787 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
791 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
792 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
793 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
794 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
795 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
796 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
797 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
798 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
799 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
800 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
801 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
802 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
803 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
804 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
805 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
806 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
807 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
808 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
809 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
810 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
814 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
815 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
816 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
817 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
818 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
819 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
820 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
821 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
825 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
826 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
827 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
829 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
830 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
831 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
835 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
836 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
837 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
838 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
842 * Spam Package Introduction::
843 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
844 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
845 * Spam and Ham Processors::
846 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
848 * Extending the Spam package::
849 * Spam Statistics Package::
851 Spam Statistics Package
853 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
854 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
855 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
859 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
860 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
861 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
862 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
863 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
864 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
865 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
866 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
867 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
871 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
872 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
873 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
874 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
875 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
876 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
877 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
878 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
879 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
883 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
884 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
885 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
886 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
887 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
888 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
889 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
893 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
894 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
895 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
896 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
900 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
901 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
902 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
903 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
904 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
905 * Group Info:: The group info format.
906 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
907 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
908 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
912 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
913 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
914 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
915 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
916 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
917 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
921 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
922 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
926 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
927 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
933 @chapter Starting Gnus
936 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
941 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
942 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
943 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
944 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
945 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
946 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
948 @findex gnus-other-frame
949 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
950 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
951 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
953 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
954 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
955 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
957 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
958 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
961 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
962 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
963 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
964 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
965 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
966 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
967 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
968 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
969 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
970 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
974 @node Finding the News
975 @section Finding the News
978 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
979 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
980 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
981 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
982 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
983 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
984 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
985 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
987 @vindex gnus-select-method
989 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
990 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
991 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
992 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
995 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
996 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1002 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1005 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1008 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1009 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1010 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1011 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1013 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1015 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1016 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1017 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1018 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1019 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1020 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1021 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1023 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1025 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1026 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1027 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1028 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1029 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1030 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1032 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1034 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1035 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1036 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1037 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1038 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1039 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1042 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1043 you would typically set this variable to
1046 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1049 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1050 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1051 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1052 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1055 @node The First Time
1056 @section The First Time
1057 @cindex first time usage
1059 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1060 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1062 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1063 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1064 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1065 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1068 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1069 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1070 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1072 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1073 help you with most common problems.
1075 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1076 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1080 @node The Server is Down
1081 @section The Server is Down
1082 @cindex server errors
1084 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1085 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1086 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1088 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1089 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1090 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1091 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1092 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1093 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1094 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1096 @findex gnus-no-server
1097 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1099 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1100 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1101 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1102 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1103 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1104 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1105 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1109 @section Slave Gnusae
1112 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1113 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1114 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1115 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1117 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1118 @file{.newsrc} file.
1120 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1121 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1122 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1123 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1124 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1125 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1126 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1129 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1130 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1131 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1132 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1133 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1134 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1135 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1136 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1138 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1139 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1141 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1142 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1143 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1144 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1145 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1152 @cindex subscription
1154 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1155 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1156 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1157 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1158 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1159 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1160 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1161 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1162 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1165 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1166 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1167 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1171 @node Checking New Groups
1172 @subsection Checking New Groups
1174 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1175 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1176 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1177 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1178 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1179 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1180 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1181 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1182 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1183 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1185 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1186 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1187 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1188 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1189 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1190 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1191 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1192 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1193 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1194 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1195 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1197 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1198 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1199 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1200 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1201 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1202 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1205 @node Subscription Methods
1206 @subsection Subscription Methods
1208 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1209 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1210 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1212 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1213 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1215 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1219 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1220 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1221 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1222 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1223 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1225 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1227 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1228 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1232 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1236 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1237 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1238 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1239 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1240 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1241 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1242 up. Or something like that.
1244 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1245 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1246 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1247 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1248 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1250 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1252 Kill all new groups.
1254 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1255 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1256 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1257 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1258 topic parameter that looks like
1264 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1267 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1273 A closely related variable is
1274 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1275 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1276 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1277 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1280 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1281 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1282 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1283 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1286 @node Filtering New Groups
1287 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1289 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1290 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1291 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1294 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1297 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1298 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1299 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1300 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1301 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1302 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1303 subscribing these groups.
1304 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1305 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1307 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1308 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1309 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1310 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1311 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1312 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1313 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1314 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1316 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1317 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1318 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1319 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1320 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1321 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1322 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1323 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1324 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1325 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1328 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1329 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1332 @node Changing Servers
1333 @section Changing Servers
1334 @cindex changing servers
1336 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1337 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1338 very flaky and you want to use another.
1340 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1341 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1345 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1346 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1347 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1348 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1351 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1352 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1353 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1354 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1357 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1358 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1359 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1360 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1362 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1363 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1364 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1365 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1366 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1367 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1368 cache for all groups).
1372 @section Startup Files
1373 @cindex startup files
1378 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1379 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1380 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1383 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1384 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1385 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1386 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1387 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1388 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1389 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1391 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1392 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1393 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1394 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1395 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1396 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1398 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1399 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1400 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1401 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1402 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1403 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1404 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1405 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1406 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1407 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1408 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1411 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1412 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1413 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1414 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1415 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1416 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1417 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1418 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1419 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1420 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1421 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1422 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1424 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1425 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1426 @vindex version-control
1427 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1428 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1429 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1430 If you want version control for this file, set
1431 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1432 @code{version-control} variable.
1434 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1435 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1436 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1437 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1438 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1439 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1440 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1441 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1442 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1443 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1446 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1447 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1449 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1450 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1453 @vindex gnus-init-file
1454 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1455 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1456 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1457 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1458 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1459 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1460 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1461 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1462 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1463 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1464 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1465 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1466 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1471 @cindex dribble file
1474 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1475 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1476 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1477 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1478 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1481 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1482 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1485 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1486 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1487 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1489 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1490 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1491 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1492 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1493 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1494 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1496 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1497 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1498 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1501 @node The Active File
1502 @section The Active File
1504 @cindex ignored groups
1506 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1507 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1508 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1510 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1511 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1512 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1513 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1514 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1515 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1516 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1519 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1520 @c if you set it to anything else.
1522 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1524 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1525 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1526 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1528 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1529 you actually subscribe to.
1531 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1532 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1533 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1534 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1536 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1537 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1538 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1539 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1540 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1541 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1543 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1544 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1545 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1548 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1549 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1550 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1551 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1552 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1553 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1555 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1556 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1558 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1559 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1561 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1562 secondary select methods.
1565 @node Startup Variables
1566 @section Startup Variables
1570 @item gnus-load-hook
1571 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1572 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1573 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1574 times you start Gnus.
1576 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1577 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1578 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1580 @item gnus-startup-hook
1581 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1582 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1584 @item gnus-started-hook
1585 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1586 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1589 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1590 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1591 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1592 generating the group buffer.
1594 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1595 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1596 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1597 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1598 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1599 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1600 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1601 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1603 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1604 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1605 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1606 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1607 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1608 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1610 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1611 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1612 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1614 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1615 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1616 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1617 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1618 group operation some.
1624 @chapter Group Buffer
1625 @cindex group buffer
1627 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1629 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1630 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1631 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1632 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1633 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1634 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1635 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1636 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1637 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1638 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1639 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1640 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1641 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1642 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1643 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1644 @c human rights at 9...
1647 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1648 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1649 long as Gnus is active.
1653 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1654 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1655 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1656 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1657 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1658 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1659 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1660 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1666 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1667 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1668 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1669 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1670 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1671 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1672 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1673 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1674 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1675 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1676 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1677 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1678 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1679 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1680 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1681 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1682 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1683 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1684 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1688 @node Group Buffer Format
1689 @section Group Buffer Format
1692 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1693 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1694 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1697 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1698 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1701 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1702 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1703 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1704 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1707 @node Group Line Specification
1708 @subsection Group Line Specification
1709 @cindex group buffer format
1711 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1712 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1714 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1717 25: news.announce.newusers
1718 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1723 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1724 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1725 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1726 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1728 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1729 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1730 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1731 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1732 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1733 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1735 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1737 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1738 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1739 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1740 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1741 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1743 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1744 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1745 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1747 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1752 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1755 Whether the group is subscribed.
1758 Level of subscribedness.
1761 Number of unread articles.
1764 Number of dormant articles.
1767 Number of ticked articles.
1770 Number of read articles.
1773 Number of unseen articles.
1776 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1777 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1779 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1780 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1781 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1782 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1783 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1784 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1785 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1787 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1788 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1789 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1790 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1791 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1792 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1793 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1796 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1799 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1808 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1809 comment element in the group parameters.
1812 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1813 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1814 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1818 @samp{m} if moderated.
1821 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1827 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1833 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1837 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1840 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1841 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1842 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1843 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1844 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1847 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1849 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1853 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1856 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1860 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1861 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1862 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1863 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1866 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1867 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1868 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1869 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1870 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1871 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1876 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1877 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1878 group, or a bogus native group.
1881 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1882 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1883 @cindex group mode line
1885 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1886 The mode line can be changed by setting
1887 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1888 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1892 The native news server.
1894 The native select method.
1898 @node Group Highlighting
1899 @subsection Group Highlighting
1900 @cindex highlighting
1901 @cindex group highlighting
1903 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1904 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1905 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1906 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1907 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1909 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1913 (cond (window-system
1914 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1915 (defface my-group-face-1
1916 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1917 (defface my-group-face-2
1918 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1919 "Second group face")
1920 (defface my-group-face-3
1921 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1922 (defface my-group-face-4
1923 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-5
1925 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1927 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1928 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1929 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1930 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1931 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1932 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1935 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1937 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1944 The number of unread articles in the group.
1948 Whether the group is a mail group.
1950 The level of the group.
1952 The score of the group.
1954 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1956 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1957 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1959 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1960 topic being inserted.
1963 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1964 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1965 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1967 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1968 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1969 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1970 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
1973 @node Group Maneuvering
1974 @section Group Maneuvering
1975 @cindex group movement
1977 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1978 expected, hopefully.
1984 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1985 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1986 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1992 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1993 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1994 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1998 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1999 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2003 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2004 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2008 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2009 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2010 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2014 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2015 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2016 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2019 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2025 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2026 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2027 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2032 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2033 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2034 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2039 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2040 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2043 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2044 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2045 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2046 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2049 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2050 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2051 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2052 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2055 @node Selecting a Group
2056 @section Selecting a Group
2057 @cindex group selection
2062 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2063 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2064 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2065 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2066 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2067 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2068 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2069 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2070 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2071 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2073 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2074 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2075 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2077 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2078 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2083 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2084 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2085 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2086 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2087 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2091 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2092 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2093 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2094 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2095 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2096 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2097 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2098 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2099 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2100 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2103 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2104 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2105 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2106 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2107 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2110 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2111 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2112 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2113 doing any processing of its contents
2114 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2115 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2116 manner will have no permanent effects.
2120 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2121 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2122 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2123 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2124 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2125 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2126 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2127 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2128 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2129 most recently will be fetched.
2131 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2132 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2133 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2136 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2137 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2138 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2139 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2140 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2141 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2142 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2143 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2144 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2145 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2146 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2147 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2148 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2149 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2150 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2151 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2152 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2154 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2155 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2156 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2157 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2158 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2159 Which article this is controlled by the
2160 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2166 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2169 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2172 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2174 @item unseen-or-unread
2175 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2176 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2180 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2184 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2185 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2187 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2188 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2189 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2190 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2194 @node Subscription Commands
2195 @section Subscription Commands
2196 @cindex subscription
2198 The following commands allow for managing your subscriptions in the
2199 Group buffer. If you want to subscribe to many groups, it's probably
2200 more convenient to go to the @ref{Server Buffer}, and choose the
2201 server there using @kbd{RET} or @kbd{SPC}. Then you'll have the
2202 commands listed in @ref{Browse Foreign Server} at hand.
2210 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2211 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2212 Toggle subscription to the current group
2213 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2219 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2220 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2221 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2222 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2228 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2229 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2230 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2236 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2237 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2240 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2241 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2242 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2243 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2244 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2250 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2251 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2255 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2256 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2259 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2260 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2261 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2262 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2263 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2264 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2265 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2266 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2267 @file{.newsrc} file.
2271 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2281 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2282 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2283 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2284 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2285 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2286 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2291 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2292 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2293 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2297 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2298 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2299 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2301 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2302 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2303 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2304 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2305 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2306 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2313 @section Group Levels
2317 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2318 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2319 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2320 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2321 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2323 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2329 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2330 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2331 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2332 prompted for a level.
2335 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2336 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2337 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2338 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2339 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2340 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2341 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2342 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2343 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2344 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2345 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2346 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2347 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2348 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2349 reasons of efficiency.
2351 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2352 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2354 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2355 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2356 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2357 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2358 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2359 groups are hidden, in a way.
2361 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2362 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2363 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2364 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2365 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2366 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2368 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2369 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2370 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2371 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2372 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2373 list of killed groups.)
2375 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2376 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2377 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2379 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2380 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2381 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2382 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2383 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2384 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2385 relevant valid ranges.
2387 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2388 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2389 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2390 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2391 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2392 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2395 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2396 one with the best level.
2398 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2399 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2400 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2402 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2403 be called and the result will be used as value.
2406 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2407 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2408 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2409 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2412 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2413 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2414 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2415 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2417 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2418 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2419 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2420 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2421 to 5. The default is 6.
2425 @section Group Score
2430 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2431 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2432 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2435 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2436 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2437 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2438 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2439 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2440 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2441 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2442 least significant part.))
2444 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2445 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2446 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2447 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2448 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2449 action after each summary exit, you can add
2450 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2451 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2452 slow things down somewhat.
2455 @node Marking Groups
2456 @section Marking Groups
2457 @cindex marking groups
2459 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2460 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2461 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2462 bidding on those groups.
2464 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2465 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2466 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2474 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2475 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2481 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2482 Remove the mark from the current group
2483 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2487 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2488 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2492 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2493 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2497 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2498 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2502 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2503 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2504 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2507 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2509 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2510 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2511 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2512 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2513 the command to be executed.
2516 @node Foreign Groups
2517 @section Foreign Groups
2518 @cindex foreign groups
2520 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2521 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2522 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2523 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2526 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2527 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2528 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2534 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2535 @cindex making groups
2536 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2537 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2538 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2542 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2543 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2544 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2548 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2549 @cindex renaming groups
2550 Rename the current group to something else
2551 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2552 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2558 @findex gnus-group-customize
2559 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2563 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2564 @cindex renaming groups
2565 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2566 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2571 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2572 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2576 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2577 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2578 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2582 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2584 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2585 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2590 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2591 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2595 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2597 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2598 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2599 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2603 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2604 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2606 Make a group based on some file or other
2607 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2608 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2609 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2610 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2611 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2612 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2613 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2614 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2615 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2619 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2620 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2621 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2622 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2626 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2630 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2632 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2633 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2634 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2635 @xref{Web Searches}.
2637 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2638 to a particular group by using a match string like
2639 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2643 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2644 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2645 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2649 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2650 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2651 This function will delete the current group
2652 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2653 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2654 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2655 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2656 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2660 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2661 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2662 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2666 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2667 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2668 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2671 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2674 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2675 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2676 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2677 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2678 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2679 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2683 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2684 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2687 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2688 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2689 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2690 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2691 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2692 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2695 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2696 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2697 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2698 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2699 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2700 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2701 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2702 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2703 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2704 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2706 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2707 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2708 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2709 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2710 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2712 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2713 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2714 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2715 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2718 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2726 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2727 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2728 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2732 @node Group Parameters
2733 @section Group Parameters
2734 @cindex group parameters
2736 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2738 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2739 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2740 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2741 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2742 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2743 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2744 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2746 Here's an example group parameter list:
2749 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2753 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2754 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2755 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2756 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2758 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2759 is an alist of regexps and values.
2761 The following group parameters can be used:
2766 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2769 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2772 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2773 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2774 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2775 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2776 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2778 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2779 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2780 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2781 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2782 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2783 list address instead.
2785 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2789 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2792 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2795 It is totally ignored
2796 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2797 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2799 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2800 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2801 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2802 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2803 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2805 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2806 @cindex mail list groups
2807 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2808 entering summary buffer.
2810 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2815 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2816 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2817 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2818 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2819 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2820 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2821 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2822 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2825 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2826 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2829 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2830 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2834 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2835 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2836 of whether it has any unread articles.
2838 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2839 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2841 @item broken-reply-to
2842 @cindex broken-reply-to
2843 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2844 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2845 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2846 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2847 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2848 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2852 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2853 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2857 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2858 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2859 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2864 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2865 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2866 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2867 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2868 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2869 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2870 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2872 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2873 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2874 doesn't accept articles.
2878 @cindex expiring mail
2879 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2880 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2881 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2883 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2886 @cindex total-expire
2887 @cindex expiring mail
2888 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2889 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2890 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2891 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2894 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2898 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2899 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2900 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2901 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2902 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2903 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2904 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2907 @cindex expiry-target
2908 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2909 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2912 @cindex score file group parameter
2913 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2914 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2915 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2918 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2919 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2920 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2921 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2924 @cindex admin-address
2925 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2926 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2927 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2928 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2932 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2933 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2937 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2940 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2941 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2944 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2948 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2950 Here are some examples:
2954 Display only unread articles.
2957 Display everything except expirable articles.
2959 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2960 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2964 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2965 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2966 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2967 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2968 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2972 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2973 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2974 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2978 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2979 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2980 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2984 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2985 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2986 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2988 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2990 @item ignored-charsets
2991 @cindex ignored-charset
2992 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2993 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2994 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2996 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2999 @cindex posting-style
3000 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3001 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3002 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3003 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3004 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3006 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3007 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3008 like this in the group parameters:
3013 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3014 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3017 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3018 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3019 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3020 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3021 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3022 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3028 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3029 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3033 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3034 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3035 mail source for this group.
3039 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3040 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3041 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3042 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3043 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3047 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3048 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3049 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3050 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3052 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3053 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3054 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3055 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3058 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3059 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3063 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3064 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3065 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3066 like the following is generated:
3069 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3070 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3074 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3075 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3077 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3078 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3080 @item (agent parameters)
3081 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of its parameters to
3082 control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3083 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3084 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3085 minimize the configuration effort.
3087 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3088 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3089 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3090 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3091 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3092 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3093 @code{eval}ed there.
3095 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3096 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3097 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3098 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3099 form needs to be set to it.
3101 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3102 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3103 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3104 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3105 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3106 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3107 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3110 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3113 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3114 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3115 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3118 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3121 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3122 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3123 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3124 into the group parameters for the group.
3126 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3127 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3128 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3129 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3130 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3132 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3133 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3134 following is added to a group parameter
3137 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3138 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3141 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3146 @vindex gnus-parameters
3147 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3148 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3149 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3153 (setq gnus-parameters
3155 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3156 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3157 (gnus-summary-line-format
3158 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3162 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3166 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3170 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3173 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3174 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3176 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3177 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3178 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3179 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3180 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3181 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3182 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3183 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3184 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3185 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3186 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3187 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3189 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3190 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3191 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3192 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3193 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3194 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3195 weekly news RSS feed
3196 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3202 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3203 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3204 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3205 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3206 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3208 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3209 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3210 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3211 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3212 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3213 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3217 @node Listing Groups
3218 @section Listing Groups
3219 @cindex group listing
3221 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3229 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3230 List all groups that have unread articles
3231 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3232 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3233 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3234 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3241 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3242 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3243 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3244 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3245 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3246 unsubscribed groups).
3250 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3251 List all unread groups on a specific level
3252 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3253 with no unread articles.
3257 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3258 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3259 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3260 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3265 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3266 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3270 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3271 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3272 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3276 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3277 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3281 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3282 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3283 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3284 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3285 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3286 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3287 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3288 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3292 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3293 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3294 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3298 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3299 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3300 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3304 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3305 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3309 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3310 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3314 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3315 List groups limited within the current selection
3316 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3320 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3321 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3325 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3326 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3330 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3331 @cindex visible group parameter
3332 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3333 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3334 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3335 get the same effect.
3337 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3338 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3339 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3340 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3341 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3344 @node Sorting Groups
3345 @section Sorting Groups
3346 @cindex sorting groups
3348 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3349 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3350 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3351 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3352 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3353 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3358 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3359 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3360 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3362 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3363 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3364 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3366 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3367 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3368 Sort by group level.
3370 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3371 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3372 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3374 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3375 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3376 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3377 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3379 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3380 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3381 Sort by number of unread articles.
3383 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3384 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3385 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3387 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3388 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3389 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3394 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3395 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3399 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3400 some sorting criteria:
3404 @kindex G S a (Group)
3405 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3406 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3407 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3410 @kindex G S u (Group)
3411 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3412 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3413 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3416 @kindex G S l (Group)
3417 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3418 Sort the group buffer by group level
3419 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3422 @kindex G S v (Group)
3423 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3424 Sort the group buffer by group score
3425 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3428 @kindex G S r (Group)
3429 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3430 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3431 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3434 @kindex G S m (Group)
3435 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3436 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3437 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3440 @kindex G S n (Group)
3441 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3442 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3443 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3447 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3448 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3450 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3451 commands will sort in reverse order.
3453 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3457 @kindex G P a (Group)
3458 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3459 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3460 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3463 @kindex G P u (Group)
3464 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3465 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3466 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3469 @kindex G P l (Group)
3470 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3471 Sort the groups by group level
3472 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3475 @kindex G P v (Group)
3476 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3477 Sort the groups by group score
3478 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3481 @kindex G P r (Group)
3482 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3483 Sort the groups by group rank
3484 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3487 @kindex G P m (Group)
3488 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3489 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3490 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3493 @kindex G P n (Group)
3494 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3495 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3496 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3499 @kindex G P s (Group)
3500 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3501 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3505 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3509 @node Group Maintenance
3510 @section Group Maintenance
3511 @cindex bogus groups
3516 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3517 Find bogus groups and delete them
3518 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3522 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3523 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3524 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3525 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3526 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3530 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3531 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3532 @cindex expiring mail
3533 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3534 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3535 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3536 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3539 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3540 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3541 @cindex expiring mail
3542 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3543 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3548 @node Browse Foreign Server
3549 @section Browse Foreign Server
3550 @cindex foreign servers
3551 @cindex browsing servers
3556 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3557 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3558 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3559 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3562 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3563 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3564 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3565 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3567 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3572 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3573 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3577 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3578 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3581 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3582 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3583 Enter the current group and display the first article
3584 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3587 @kindex RET (Browse)
3588 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3589 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3593 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3594 @vindex gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method
3595 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3596 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}). You
3597 can affect the way the new group is entered into the Group buffer
3598 using the variable @code{gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method}. See
3599 @pxref{Subscription Methods} for available options.
3605 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3606 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3610 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3611 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3615 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3616 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3617 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3622 @section Exiting Gnus
3623 @cindex exiting Gnus
3625 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3630 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3631 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3632 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3633 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3637 @findex gnus-group-exit
3638 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3639 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3643 @findex gnus-group-quit
3644 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3645 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3648 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3649 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3650 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3651 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3652 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3653 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3659 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3660 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3661 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3667 @section Group Topics
3670 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3671 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3672 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3673 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3674 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3675 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3679 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3680 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}