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14 Copyright @copyright{} 1995-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
17 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
18 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
19 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
20 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual'',
21 and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license
22 is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License''.
24 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have the freedom to copy and
25 modify this GNU manual. Buying copies from the FSF supports it in
26 developing GNU and promoting software freedom.''
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309 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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324 @dircategory Emacs network features
326 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @title Gnus Manual (DEVELOPMENT VERSION)
337 @ifclear WEBHACKDEVEL
341 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
343 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
351 @top The Gnus Newsreader
355 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
356 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
357 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
360 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
361 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.2
376 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
377 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
379 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
380 being accused of plagiarism:
382 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
383 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
384 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
385 can even read news with it!
387 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
388 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
389 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
390 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
391 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
394 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
395 This manual corresponds to Ma Gnus v0.2
397 @heading Other related manuals
399 @item Message manual: Composing messages
400 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
401 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
402 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
403 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
409 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
410 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
411 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
412 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
413 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
414 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
415 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
416 * Searching:: Mail and News search engines.
417 * Various:: General purpose settings.
418 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
419 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
420 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
421 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
422 * Key Index:: Key Index.
424 Other related manuals
426 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
427 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
428 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
429 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
430 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
433 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
437 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
438 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
439 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
440 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
441 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
442 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
443 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
444 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
445 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
446 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
450 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
451 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
452 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
456 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
457 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
458 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
459 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
460 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
461 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
462 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
463 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
464 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
465 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
466 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
467 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
468 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
469 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
470 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
471 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
472 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
473 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
477 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
478 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
479 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
483 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
484 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
485 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
486 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
487 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
491 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
492 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
493 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
494 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
495 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
499 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
500 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
501 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
502 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
503 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
504 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
505 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
506 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
507 * Threading:: How threads are made.
508 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
509 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
510 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
511 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
512 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
513 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
514 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
515 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
516 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
517 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
518 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
519 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
520 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
521 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
522 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
523 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
524 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
525 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
526 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
527 or reselecting the current group.
528 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
529 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
530 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
531 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
533 Summary Buffer Format
535 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
536 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
537 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
538 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
542 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
543 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
545 Reply, Followup and Post
547 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
548 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
549 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
550 * Canceling and Superseding::
554 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
555 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
556 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
557 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
558 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
559 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
563 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
564 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
566 Customizing Threading
568 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
569 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
570 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
571 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
575 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
576 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
577 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
578 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
579 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
580 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
584 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
585 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
586 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
590 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
591 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
592 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
593 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
594 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
595 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
596 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
597 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
598 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys, Gravatars
599 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
600 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
602 Alternative Approaches
604 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
605 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
607 Various Summary Stuff
609 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
610 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
611 * Summary Generation Commands::
612 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
616 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
617 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
618 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
619 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
620 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
624 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
625 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
626 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
627 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
628 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
629 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
630 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
631 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
632 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
636 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
637 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
638 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
642 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
643 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
666 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
670 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
671 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
672 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
673 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
674 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
675 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
676 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
677 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
678 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
679 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
680 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
681 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
682 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
686 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
687 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
688 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
690 Choosing a Mail Back End
692 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
693 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
694 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
695 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
696 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
697 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
698 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
703 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
704 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
705 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
709 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
710 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
711 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
712 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
713 * The Empty Backend:: The backend that never has any news.
717 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
721 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
725 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
726 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
727 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
731 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
732 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
733 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
735 The Gnus Diary Library
737 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
738 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
739 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
740 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
744 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
745 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
746 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
747 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
748 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
749 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
750 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
751 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
752 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
753 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
754 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
755 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
756 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
757 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
761 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
762 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
763 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
767 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
768 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
769 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
773 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
774 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
775 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
776 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
777 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
778 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
779 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
780 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
781 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
782 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
783 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
784 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
785 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
786 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
787 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
788 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
792 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
793 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
794 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
798 * nnir:: Searching with various engines.
799 * nnmairix:: Searching with Mairix.
803 * What is nnir?:: What does nnir do.
804 * Basic Usage:: How to perform simple searches.
805 * Setting up nnir:: How to set up nnir.
809 * Associating Engines:: How to associate engines.
813 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
814 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
815 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
816 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
817 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
818 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
819 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
820 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
821 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
822 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
823 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
824 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
825 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
826 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
827 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
828 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
829 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
830 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
831 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
832 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
836 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
837 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
838 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
839 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
840 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
841 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
842 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
843 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
847 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
848 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
849 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
851 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
852 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
853 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
857 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
858 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
859 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
860 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
864 * Spam Package Introduction::
865 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
866 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
867 * Spam and Ham Processors::
868 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
870 * Extending the Spam package::
871 * Spam Statistics Package::
873 Spam Statistics Package
875 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
876 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
877 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
881 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
882 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
883 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
884 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
885 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
886 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
887 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
888 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
889 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
893 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
894 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
895 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
896 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
897 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
898 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
899 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
900 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
904 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
905 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
906 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
907 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
908 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
909 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
910 * No Gnus:: Very punny. Gnus 5.12/5.13
911 * Ma Gnus:: Celebrating 25 years of Gnus.
915 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
916 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
917 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
918 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
922 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
923 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
924 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
925 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
926 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
927 * Group Info:: The group info format.
928 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
929 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
930 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
934 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
935 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
936 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
937 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
938 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
939 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
943 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
944 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
948 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
949 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
955 @chapter Starting Gnus
958 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
963 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
964 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
965 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
966 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
967 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
968 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
970 @findex gnus-other-frame
971 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
972 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
973 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
975 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
976 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
977 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
979 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
980 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
983 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
984 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
985 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
986 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
987 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
988 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
989 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
990 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
991 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
995 @node Finding the News
996 @section Finding the News
999 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
1000 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
1001 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
1002 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
1003 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
1004 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
1005 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
1006 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
1008 @vindex gnus-select-method
1010 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1011 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1012 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1013 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1014 secondary or foreign groups.
1016 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1017 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1020 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1023 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1026 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1029 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1030 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1031 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1032 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1034 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1036 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1037 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1038 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1039 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1040 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1041 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1042 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1044 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1046 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1047 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1048 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1049 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1050 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1051 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1053 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1055 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1056 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1057 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1058 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1059 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1060 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1063 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1064 you would typically set this variable to
1067 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1070 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1071 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1072 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1073 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1076 @node The Server is Down
1077 @section The Server is Down
1078 @cindex server errors
1080 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1081 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1082 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1084 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1085 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1086 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1087 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1088 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1089 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1090 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1092 @findex gnus-no-server
1093 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1095 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1096 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1097 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1098 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1099 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1100 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1101 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1105 @section Slave Gnusae
1108 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1109 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1110 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1111 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1113 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1114 @file{.newsrc} file.
1116 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1117 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1118 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1119 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1120 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1121 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1122 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1125 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1126 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1127 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1128 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1129 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1130 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1131 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1132 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1134 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1135 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1137 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1138 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1139 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1140 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1141 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1148 @cindex subscription
1150 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1151 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1152 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1153 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1154 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1155 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1156 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1157 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1158 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1161 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1162 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1163 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1167 @node Checking New Groups
1168 @subsection Checking New Groups
1170 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
1171 the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of
1172 subscribed and dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method.
1173 If @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will
1174 ask the server for new groups since the last time. This is both
1175 faster and cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list
1176 of killed groups (@pxref{Group Levels}) altogether, so you may set
1177 @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to @code{nil}, which will save time both
1178 at startup, at exit, and all over. Saves disk space, too. Why isn't
1179 this the default, then? Unfortunately, not all servers support this
1182 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1183 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1184 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1185 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1186 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1187 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1188 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1189 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1190 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1191 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1192 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1194 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1195 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1196 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1197 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1198 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1199 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1202 @node Subscription Methods
1203 @subsection Subscription Methods
1205 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1206 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1207 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1209 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1210 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1212 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1216 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1217 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1218 Make all new groups zombies (@pxref{Group Levels}). This is the
1219 default. You can browse the zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either
1220 kill them all off properly (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them
1223 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1224 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1225 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1226 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1230 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1232 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1234 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1235 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1236 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1237 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1238 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1239 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1240 up. Or something like that.
1242 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1243 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1244 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1245 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1246 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1248 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1249 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1250 Kill all new groups.
1252 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1253 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1254 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1255 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1256 topic parameter that looks like
1262 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1265 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1270 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1271 A closely related variable is
1272 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1273 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1274 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1275 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1278 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1279 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1280 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1281 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1284 @node Filtering New Groups
1285 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1287 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1288 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1289 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1292 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1295 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1296 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1297 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1298 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1299 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1300 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1301 subscribing these groups.
1302 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1303 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1305 The ``options -n'' format is very simplistic. The syntax above is all
1306 that is supports -- you can force-subscribe hierarchies, or you can
1307 deny hierarchies, and that's it.
1309 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1310 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1311 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1312 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1313 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1314 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1315 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1316 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1318 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1319 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1320 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1321 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1322 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1323 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1324 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1325 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1326 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, @code{nnimap}, and
1327 @code{nnmaildir}) subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this
1328 variable to @code{nil}.
1330 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-categories
1331 As if that wasn't enough, @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-categories} also
1332 allows you to specify that new groups should be subscribed based on the
1333 category their select methods belong to. The default is @samp{(mail
1334 post-mail)}, meaning that all new groups from mail-like backends
1335 should be subscribed automatically.
1337 New groups that match these variables are subscribed using
1338 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1341 @node Changing Servers
1342 @section Changing Servers
1343 @cindex changing servers
1345 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1346 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1347 very flaky and you want to use another.
1349 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1350 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1354 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1355 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1356 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1357 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1360 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1361 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1362 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1363 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1366 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1367 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1368 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1369 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1371 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1372 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1373 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1374 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1375 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1376 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1377 cache for all groups).
1381 @section Startup Files
1382 @cindex startup files
1387 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1388 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1389 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1392 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1393 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1394 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1395 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1396 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1397 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1398 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1400 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1401 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1402 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1403 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1404 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1405 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1407 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1408 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1409 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1410 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1411 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1412 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1413 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1414 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1415 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1416 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1417 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1420 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1421 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1422 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1423 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1424 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1425 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1426 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1427 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1428 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1429 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1430 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1431 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1433 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1434 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1435 @vindex version-control
1436 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1437 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1438 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1439 If you want to keep multiple numbered backups of this file, set
1440 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1441 @code{version-control} variable.
1443 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1444 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1445 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1446 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1447 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1448 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1449 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1450 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1451 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1452 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1455 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1456 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1458 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1459 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1462 @vindex gnus-init-file
1463 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1464 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1465 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1466 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1467 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1468 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1469 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1470 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1471 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1472 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1473 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1474 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1475 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1480 @cindex dribble file
1483 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1484 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1485 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1486 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1487 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1490 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1491 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1494 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1495 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1496 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1498 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1499 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1500 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1501 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1502 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1503 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1505 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1506 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1507 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1510 @node The Active File
1511 @section The Active File
1513 @cindex ignored groups
1515 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1516 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1517 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1519 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1520 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1521 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1522 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1523 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1524 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1525 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1528 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1529 @c if you set it to anything else.
1531 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1533 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1534 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1535 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1537 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1538 you actually subscribe to.
1540 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1541 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1542 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1543 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1545 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1546 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1547 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1548 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1549 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1550 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1552 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1553 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1554 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1557 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1558 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1559 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1560 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1561 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1562 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1564 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1565 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1567 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1568 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1570 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1571 secondary select methods.
1574 @node Startup Variables
1575 @section Startup Variables
1579 @item gnus-load-hook
1580 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1581 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1582 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1583 times you start Gnus.
1585 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1586 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1587 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1589 @item gnus-startup-hook
1590 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1591 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1593 @item gnus-started-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1595 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1598 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1599 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1600 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1601 generating the group buffer.
1603 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1604 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1605 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1606 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1607 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1608 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1609 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1610 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1612 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1613 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1614 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1615 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1616 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1617 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1619 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1620 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1621 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1623 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1624 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1625 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1626 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1627 group operation some.
1633 @chapter Group Buffer
1634 @cindex group buffer
1636 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1638 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1639 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1640 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1641 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1642 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1643 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1644 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1645 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1646 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1647 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1648 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1649 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1650 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1651 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1652 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1653 @c human rights at 9...
1656 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1657 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1658 long as Gnus is active.
1662 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1663 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1664 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1665 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1666 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1667 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1668 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1669 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1675 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1676 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1677 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1678 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1679 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1680 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1681 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1682 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1683 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1684 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1685 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1686 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1687 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1688 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1689 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1690 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1691 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1692 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1696 @node Group Buffer Format
1697 @section Group Buffer Format
1700 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1701 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1702 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1705 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1706 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1709 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1710 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1711 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1712 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1715 @node Group Line Specification
1716 @subsection Group Line Specification
1717 @cindex group buffer format
1719 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1720 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1722 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1725 25: news.announce.newusers
1726 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1731 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1732 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1733 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1734 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1736 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1737 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1738 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1739 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1740 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1741 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1743 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1745 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1746 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1747 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1748 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1749 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1751 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1752 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1753 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1755 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1760 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1763 Whether the group is subscribed.
1766 Level of subscribedness.
1769 Number of unread articles.