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Section 14 List Maintenance and Moderation Features and Functions

Section 14 List Maintenance and Moderation Features and Functions
14.1 Setting Up Edited/Moderated Mailing Lists
As noted in Section 7.13 Setting Up Lists for Specific Purposes, you need only add the following lines to the list header file:
* Send= Editor
* Editor= userid@some.host.edu
where "userid@some.host.edu" should be replaced with the network address of the person who will be handling submissions to your list.
There can be multiple editors as well (and multiple Editor= lines, if desirable), and they do not have to be list owners:
* Send= Editor
* Editor= alex@reges.org,joe@foo.bar.edu
* Editor= tony@tiger.com
Normally, LISTSERV forwards submissions only to the first editor defined by the "Editor=" keyword. In the case above, all submissions would go to the primary list owner.
Note: The first editor CANNOT be an access-level; that is to say, you cannot use the notation "Editor= Owner" to define the first editor. LISTSERV requires that the primary editor of a list must be the e-mail address of a real person.

This does not apply to second and subsequent editors. For instance, in order to allow subscribers to post directly but have non-subscriber posts sent to an editor for approval, you can code something like:
* Send= Editor
* Editor= alex@reges.org,(MYLIST-L)
On a high-volume list, LISTSERV allows you to share the editing load via the "Moderator=" keyword. By default, this keyword is set to the same value as the first editor defined by "Editor=". When you define more network addresses with the "Moderator=" keyword, LISTSERV sends submissions to each moderator in sequence. The difference between the "Editor=" and "Moderator=" keywords lies in the fact that while any editor can post directly to the list, only moderators receive the forwarded submissions from non-editors.
Here is an example of a list with both Editor= and Moderator= keywords defined:
* Send= Editor
* Editor= joe@foo.bar.edu,tony@tiger.com,kent@net.police.net
* Moderator= kent@net.police.net,joe@foo.bar.edu
This list will "load-share" the editing duties between Kent and Joe. Tony is able to post directly to the list, but will not receive forwarded subscriber posts for editing.
Note: An Editor is not required to be a Moderator, but a Moderator should always be listed as an Editor. LISTSERV currently compares the contents of the "Editor=" and "Moderator=" keywords and consolidates the two sets of parameters if necessary, but coding lists this way is not considered good practice and the "compare/consolidate" feature may be removed in a future upgrade.
For more information on setting up edited lists, see "Send=", "Editor=" and "Moderator=" in the List Keyword Reference document, as well as Section 7.13.2 Private Discussion Lists where setting up edited lists is discussed further.
14.2 Restricting the Size of Messages Posted to the List
Using the "Sizelim=" list header keyword, you can restrict the size (in lines) of messages posted to a given list. This may be particularly desirable for lists discussing programming topics where the posting of uuencoded binaries to the list is discouraged, or simply to encourage economy in posting. In any case, if this feature is desired, simply add the keyword
* Sizelim= nnn
to the list header, where "nnn" is the maximum number of lines (including Internet delivery and addressing headers) to be accepted. Note that unlike the "Size()" parameter of the "Digest=" keyword, LISTSERV will not allow a post to go over the "Sizelim=" setting, but will reject it if it is even a single line over the allowable threshold. When a posting is rejected for size, the original poster receives a notification that his post was too large.
Additionally, list owners may specify a maximum message size in either kilobytes or megabytes, rather than in lines, if preferred. For instance:
Sizelim= 100K
Reject messages over 100Kbytes
Sizelim= 1M
Reject messages over 1Mbyte
As before, the limit operates against the entire message file, including all Internet header lines.
Note: Some misconfigured mail hosts will try to bounce delivery errors, complete with the text of the message that bounced, back to the list address rather than to the RFC821 MAIL FROM: address. Setting "Sizelim=" to a reasonable level (say, 400 lines, or 25-30 kilobytes) will usually prevent a mail host from bouncing a whole digest back to the list.
14.3 Restricting the Number of Posts Per User Per Day
You can restrict the number of posts to the list per user per day. This is done with a new second parameter for the "Daily-Threshold=" list header keyword. For instance, setting "Daily-Threshold= 100,5" would tell LISTSERV to hold the list after 100 postings, and additionally, to stop accepting new postings from any individual subscriber after that subscriber had posted 5 messages during the 24h period from midnight to midnight (server time). After reaching the user threshold, the subscriber simply receives a message to the effect that he has reached the daily limit and that he should try to repost the message later (i.e., after midnight). Please see the entry for "Daily-Threshold=" in the List Keyword Reference document for further information.
14.4 Moving a List to a New Location (New-List= Keyword)
When a list is moved to a different LISTSERV host, this keyword can be added to the list header left on the original host. This facilitates forwarding of administrative commands and postings from the original host to the new host. Users posting to the old address will also receive a short note in return listing the new address.
Notes: This only works for a move from one L-Soft LISTSERV server to another, not for a move from a LISTSERV server to a server running another mailing list manager.

See "New-List=" in the List Keyword Reference document for more information about this keyword and how to use it.