Reply-To=

Indicates whether the "Reply-to:" tag supplied by the sender of the mail file is to be preserved or discarded (if present), and, if discarded or omitted, what should be placed in the new "Reply-to:" generated by the server. The default value is "Reply-To= List,Respect".

Note that some mailing systems are unable to process a "Reply-To:" field with multiple addresses correctly and may therefore disregard the Reply-to= Both option and treat it as Reply-to= List.

There are two extremely important caveats attached to the setting and use of the Reply-To= list header keyword.

Please note carefully: Setting this parameter guarantees only one thing -- that LISTSERV will generate an appropriate RFC822 Reply-To: header in the mail it distributes to subscribers.

THERE IS UNFORTUNATELY NO GUARANTEE THAT THE MAIL TRANSFER AGENT (MTA) OR MAIL CLIENT ON THE RECEIVING END WILL HONOR THE Reply-To: HEADER.

This is because some mail clients, out-of-office robots, and Internet MTAs either simply do not recognize the existence of Reply-To:, or do not implement it properly. Specifically RFC2076 "Common Internet Message Headers" reports that the use of Reply-To: is "controversial", that is, "The meaning and usage of this header is controversial, meaning that different implementors have chosen to implement the header in different ways. Because of this, such headers should be handled with caution and understanding of the different possible interpretations." (RFC2076, page 4).

Also, RFC6854 Section 2.1. states, in part,

The originator fields also provide the information required when

replying to a message. When the "Reply-To:" field is present, it

indicates the address(es) to which the author of the message suggests

that replies be sent. In the absence of the "Reply-To:" field,

replies SHOULD by default be sent to the mailbox(es) specified in the

"From:" field unless otherwise specified by the person composing the

reply.

While L-Soft recognizes that it is sometimes important to provide an explicit Reply-To: header to indicate a response path, L-Soft cannot be held responsible for problems arising from the inability of a remote server to properly process Reply-To: headers.

Please understand that there is absolutely no way that LISTSERV can prevent any end user from using the "Reply to All" function of their mail client, regardless of the setting of Reply-To= for a given list. End users have total control over the choice of how a reply should be sent from their mail client.

The two parameters are specified as follows:

First parameter:

List	Replies are directed to the list address.
Sender	Replies are directed to the original sender.
Both	Reply to both the original sender and to the list (see note regarding this above)
None	No Reply-to: header is generated unless ",Respect" is specified and a Reply-to: header is present in the original posting, in which case replies are directed to wherever the Reply-To: tag points.
net-address	Replies are directed to the specified internet address

Second parameter:

Respect	The original "Reply to:" tag on the posting, if any, is kept. If no valid Reply To: tag exists in the posting, the value defined in the first parameter of this keyword is used.
Ignore	The original "Reply to:" tag on the posting, if any, is ignored and discarded, and the value defined in the first parameter of this keyword is used instead. If Reply To= None,Ignore, then a Reply to: tag will never be generated by LISTSERV.