Subject: Gnus (Emacs Newsreader) FAQ
Supersedes: <m291k8aoaq.fsf@diana.miranova.com>
Date: 19 Jan 1996 11:26:09 -0800
Expires: 21 Feb 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Summary: Monthly posting of Gnus 5.x (formerly (ding) Gnus) FAQ
X-Newsreader: September Gnus v0.29/XEmacs 19.13

Archive-name: gnus-faq
Posting-frequency: monthly (on or about the 19th)
URL: http://www.miranova.com/~steve/gnus-faq.html

[New this month is the introductory material, some of which is quoted
verbatim from Lars Magne Ingerigtsen's User's Manual.  -sb]


                      Gnus 5.x Frequently Asked Questions
                                       =

   =

------------------------------

Subject: Introduction

   This is the Gnus Frequently Asked Questions list. Gnus is a Usenet
   Newsreader and Electronic Mail User Agent implemented as a part of
   Emacs. It's been around in some form for over 5 years now, and has
   been distributed as a standard part of Emacs for much of that time.
   Gnus 5 is the latest (and greatest) incarnation. The original version
   was called GNUS, and was written by Masanobu UMEDA. When autumn crept
   up in '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite
   Gnus.
   =

   Its biggest strength is the fact that it is extremely customizable. It=

   is somewhat intimidating at first glance, but most of the complexity
   can be ignored until you're ready to take advantage of it. If you
   receive a reasonable volume of e-mail (you're on various mailing
   lists), or you would like to read high-volume mailing lists but cannot=

   keep up with them, then you definitely want to investigate Gnus for
   reading mail.
   =

   If you have a Web browser, the official hypertext version is at:
   <URL:http://www.miranova.com/~steve/gnus-faq.html>. This version is
   much nicer than the unofficial hypertext versions that are (will be)
   archived at Utrecht, Oxford, Smart Pages, Ohio State, and other FAQ
   archives. See the resources question below if you want information on
   obtaining it in another format.
   =

   The information contained here was compiled with the assistance of the=

   Gnus development mailing list, and any errors or misprints are my
   (Steve Baur's) fault, sorry.
   =

What's changed since last time?

   The Gnus development mailing list is now available for browsing from
   the World Wide Web. See the Gnus Resources section for details.
   =

   I'm very interested in hearing of non-Unix usage of Gnus. If you are
   running Gnus on a Non-Unix O/S not listed in Question 3, please send
   me a note.
   =

   This file was last modified on January 18, 1996.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Table Of Contents

    1. Installation
          + Q1.1 What is the latest version?
          + Q1.2 Where do I get Gnus?
          + Q1.3 What Emacs versions are required?
          + Q1.4 Where is timezone.el?
          + Q1.5 I get weird messages when running under XEmacs 19.13.
          + Q1.6 Unsubscribing from the mailing list
          + Q1.7 How do I run Gnus on both Emacs and XEmacs?
          + Q1.8 What resources are available?
          + Q1.9 Gnus hangs on connecting to NNTP server.
          + Q1.10 Mailcrypt 3.4 doesn't work
          + Q1.11 What other packages can I use with Gnus?
          + Q1.12 How do I make Gnus start faster? [New!]
    2. Customizing Gnus
          + Q2.1 Custom doesn't work under XEmacs
          + Q2.2 How do I quote messages?
          + Q2.4 Any suggestions for all.SCORE?
          + Q2.5 How do I use yank-through when replying?
          + Q2.6 I don't like the default WWW browser
          + Q2.8 Moving between groups is slow.
    3. Reading News
          + Q3.1 Kill file to Score file conversion
          + Q3.2 Killing groups is slow
          + Q3.3 Using an authenticated NNTP server
          + Q3.4 Not reading the first article
          + Q3.5 Why aren't BBDB known posters marked in the summary
            buffer? [New!]
    4. Reading Mail
          + Q4.1 What does buffer changed on disk mean?
          + Q4.2 How do you make articles un-expirable?
          + Q4.3 How do I delete bogus nnml: groups?
          + Q4.4 What happened to my new mail groups?
          + Q4.5 Not scoring mail groups
          + Q4.6 How to keep groups always visible? [New!]
       =

     _________________________________________________________________
                                      =

                                1. Installation
                                       =

   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.1 What is the latest version of Gnus?

   There are three different versions of Gnus available now. The latest
   (and greatest) general version is 5.0.13. This is the portable version=

   and supports older GNU Emacs and XEmacs.
   =

   Gnus 5.x is included in the official distribution of Emacs 19.30 and
   has a version number of 5.1. Do not attempt to use this release of
   Gnus with other Emacsen, as the necessary required support has been
   stripped out of it. It corresponds to 5.0.13, and includes everything
   except stuff like XEmacs support.
   =

   The Alpha version of the next major release of Gnus (5.2) is something=

   called September Gnus. It is currently at version 0.29 and is somewhat=

   less stable than 5.0 on GNU Emacs. September Gnus runs on XEmacs
   19.13, and on GNU Emacs 19.30 and later.
   =

   For those who will be experimenting with September Gnus, there was a
   major change between 0.12 and 0.14 (and later). The upshot of this is
   that it is O.K. to use older .newsrcs with September Gnus later than
   0.12, however it is not possible to use .newsrcs created by September
   Gnus 0.14 with either Gnus 5.1, Gnus 5.0.13, or September Gnus 0.12
   and earlier. September Gnus should be ready for general use around
   March.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.2 Where do I get Gnus?

   The latest version is available via anonymous FTP or <URL:
   ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/emacs/gnus/gnus.tar.gz>. You can also fetch
   it from the North American mirrors:
   <URL:ftp://ftp.pilgrim.umass.edu/pub/misc/ding/>,
   <URL:gopher://gopher.pilgrim.umass.edu/11/pub/misc/ding/>, or
   <URL:ftp://aphrodite.nectar.cs.cmu.edu/pub/ding-gnus/> or
   <URL:ftp://ftp.statsci.com/pub/users/scott/ding-gnus/>. The last site
   should only be used as a last resort. It is also mirrored in Europe
   at: <URL:ftp://ftp.solace.mh.se:/pub/gnu/elisp/>.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.3 Which version of Emacs do I need?

   At least GNU Emacs 19.28, or XEmacs 19.12 is recommended. GNU Emacs
   19.25 has been reported to work under certain circumstances, but it
   doesn't officially work on it. 19.27 has also been reported to work.
   =

   Gnus has been reported to work under VMS and OS/2 as well as Unix.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.4 Where is timezone.el?

   Upgrade to XEmacs 19.13. In earlier versions of XEmacs this file was
   placed with Gnus 4.1.3, but that has been corrected.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.5 When I run Gnus on XEmacs 19.13 I get weird error messages.=


   You're running an old version of Gnus. Upgrade to at least version
   5.0.4.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.6 How do I unsubscribe from the Mailing List?

   Send an e-mail message to <URL: mailto:ding-request@ifi.uio.no> with
   the magic word unsubscribe somewhere in it, and you will be removed.
   =

   If you are reading the digest version of the list, send an e-mail
   message to <URL:ding-rn-digests-d-request@moe.shore.net> with
   unsubscribe as the subject and you will be removed.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.7 How do I run Gnus on both Emacs and XEmacs?

   The basic answer is to byte-compile under XEmacs, and then you can run=

   under either Emacsen. There is, however, a potential version problem
   with easymenu.el with Gnu Emacs prior to 19.29.
   =

   Per Abrahamsen <abraham@dina.kvl.dk> writes :
   The internal easymenu.el interface changed between 19.28 and 19.29 in
   order to make it possible to create byte compiled files that can be
   shared between Gnu Emacs and XEmacs. The change is upward compatible,
   but not downward compatible. This gives the following compatibility
   table:

Compiled with:  | Can be used with:
----------------+--------------------------------------
19.28           | 19.28         19.29
19.29           |               19.29           XEmacs
XEmacs          |               19.29           XEmacs

   If you have Gnu Emacs 19.28 or earlier, or XEmacs 19.12 or earlier,
   get a recent version of auc-menu.el from
   <URL: ftp://ftp.iesd.auc.dk/pub/emacs-lisp/auc-menu.el> and install it=

   under the name easymenu.el somewhere early in your load path.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.8 What resources are available?

   There is the newsgroup Gnu.emacs.gnus. Discussion of Gnus 5.x is now
   taking place there. There is also a mailing list, send mail to
   ding-request@ifi.uio.no with the magic word subscribe somewhere in
   it. NOTE: the traffic on this list is heavy so you may not want to be
   on it (unless you use Gnus as your mailer reader, that is). The
   mailing list is mainly for developers and testers.
   =

   A digestified version of the list is available by sending a mail
   message to <URL:mailto:ding-rn-digests-d-request@moe.shore.net> with
   the word subscribe in the Subject field. Digests are sent every few
   days. Archives are available via SmartList commands, just use the
   above address with a Subject of help to get details.
   =

   This mailing list is now mirrored on the World Wide Web at
   <URL: http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/>. The archives date back to
   mid August, are separated by month for access speed, and were
   assembled with the Hypermail 1.02 utility.
   =

   Gnus has a home World Wide Web page at
   <URL: http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding.html>. A Gnus tips page exists=

   at
   <URL: http://www.fuentez.com/public-info/ding/ding.html>.
   =

   Gnus has a write up in the X Windows Applications FAQ at:
   <URL:http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/xapps/Q-III.html>.
   =

   The Gnus manual is also available on the World Wide Web. The canonical=

   source is in Norway at
   <URL: http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-manual/gnus_toc.html>
   There are three mirrors in the United States:
   <URL: http://www.miranova.com/gnus-man/>
   <URL: http://www.pilgrim.umass.edu/pub/misc/ding/manual/gnus_toc.html>=

   <URL: http://www.rtd.com/~woo/gnus/>
   =

   PostScript copies of the Gnus Reference card are available from
   <URL: ftp://ftp.cs.ualberta.ca/pub/oolog/gnus/>. They are mirrored at
   <URL: ftp://ftp.pilgrim.umass.edu/pub/misc/ding/refcard/>. In the
   United States. And
   <URL: http://www.thphy.uni-duesseldorf.de/~gnu/doc/gnusref/>
   in Germany.
   =

   An online version of the Gnus FAQ is available at
   <URL: http://www.miranova.com/~steve/gnus-faq.html>. Off-line formats
   are also available:
   ASCII: <URL: ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/gnus-faq>.
   PostScript: <URL: ftp://ftp.miranova.com/pub/gnus/gnus-faq.ps>
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.9 Gnus hangs on connecting to NNTP server

   I am running XEmacs on SunOS and Gnus prints a message about
   Connecting to NNTP server and then just hangs.
   =

   Ben Wing <wing@netcom.com> writes :
   I wonder if you're hitting the infamous libresolv problem. The basic
   problem is that under SunOS you can compile either with DNS or NIS
   name lookup libraries but not both. Try substituting the IP address
   and see if that works; if so, you need to download the sources and
   recompile.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.10 Mailcrypt 3.4 doesn't work

   Is Gnus in your load-path?
   =

   Patrick LoPresti <patl@lcs.mit.edu > writes :
   Note that this is not a bug in either Gnus or Mailcrypt; you cannot
   expect any file to byte-compile correctly if required packages are not=

   in your load path. (Or, worse, if a completely different version of
   the package is in the load path at compile-time than at run-time.)
   =

   Moreover, this need is documented in the Mailcrypt INSTALL file, so
   the problem is really just a failure to follow directions...
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.11 What other packages work with Gnus?

  Mailcrypt
  =

   Mailcrypt is an Emacs interface to PGP. It works, it installs without
   hassle, and integrates very easily. Mailcrypt can be obtained from
   <URL: http://cag-www.lcs.mit.edu/mailcrypt/>.
   =

  Tools for Mime
  =

   Tools for Mime is an Emacs MUA interface to MIME. Installation is a
   two-step process unlike most other packages, so you should be prepared=

   to move the byte-compiled code somewhere. There are currently two
   versions of this package available. It can be obtained from
   <URL: ftp://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/GNU/elisp/>. Be sure to apply the
   supplied patch. It works with Gnus through version 5.0.9. In order for=

   all dependencies to work correctly the load sequence is as follows:

  (load "tm-setup")
  (load "gnus")
  (load "mime-compose")

   Caveat Emptor: Loading the package disables citation highlighting by
   default. To get the old behavior back, use the M-t command.
   =

  Insidious Big Brother Database
  =

   BBDB is a rolodex-like database program for GNU Emacs. BBDB can be
   found at
   <URL:
   ftp://archive.cis.ohio-state.edu:/pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive/packages=

   /bbdb-1.50.tar.Z>. You should also pick up gnus-bbdb from Brian
   Edmonds:
   <URL: http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/gnus-bbdb.el>.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q1.12 How do I make Gnus start faster?

   Pranav Kumar Tiwari <pktiwari@eos.ncsu.edu> writes :
   I posted the same query recently and I got an answer to it. I am going=

   to repeat the answer. What you need is a newer version of gnus,
   version 5.0.4+. I am using 5.0.12 and it works fine with me with the
   following settings:

(setq gnus-check-new-newsgroups nil
      gnus-read-active-file 'some
      gnus-nov-is-evil nil
      gnus-select-method '(nntp gnus-nntp-server))

     _________________________________________________________________
                                      =

                              2. Customizing Gnus
                                       =

   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q2.1 Custom Edit does not work under XEmacs

   The custom package has not been ported to XEmacs.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q2.2 How do I quote messages?

   I see lots of messages with quoted material in them. I am wondering
   how to have Gnus do it for me.
   =

   This is Gnus, so there are a number of ways of doing this. You can use=

   the built-in commands to do this. There are the ``F'' and ``R'' keys
   from the summary buffer which automatically include the article being
   responded to. These commands are also selectable as Followup and Yank
   and Reply and Yank in the Post menu.
   =

   C-c C-y grabs the previous message and prefixes each line with
   `mail-indentation-spaces' spaces or `mail-yank-prefix' if that is
   non-nil, unless you have set your own `mail-citation-hook', which will=

   be called to to do the job.
   =

   You might also consider the Supercite package, which allows for pretty=

   arbitrarily complex quoting styles. Some people love it, some people
   hate it.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q2.4 Any good suggestions on stuff for an all.SCORE file?

   Here is a collection of suggestions from various sources:
   =

  From "Dave Disser" <disser@sdd.hp.com>
  =

   I like blasting anything without lowercase letters. Weeds out most of
   the make $$ fast, as well as the lame titles like "IBM" and "HP-UX"
   with no further description.

 (("Subject"
  ("^\\(Re: \\)?[^a-z]*$" -200 nil R)))

  From "Peter Arius" <arius@immd2.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
  =

   The most vital entries in my (still young) all.SCORE:

(("xref"
  ("alt.fan.oj-simpson" -1000 nil s))
 ("subject"
  ("\\<\\(make\\|fast\\|big\\)\\s-*\\(money\\|cash\\|bucks?\\)\\>" -1000 =
nil r)
  ("$$$$" -1000 nil s)))

  From "Per Abrahamsen" <abraham@dina.kvl.dk>
  =


(("subject"
  ;; CAPS OF THE WORLD, UNITE
  ("^..[^a-z]+$" -1 nil R)
  ;; $$$ Make Money $$$ (Try work)
  ("$" -1 nil s)
  ;; I'm important! And I have exclamation marks to prove it!
  ("!" -1 nil s)))

  From "heddy boubaker" <boubaker@cenatls.cena.dgac.fr>
  =

   I would like to contribute with mine.

(
 (read-only t)
 ("subject"
  ;; ALL CAPS SUBJECTS
  ("^\\([Rr][Ee]: +\\)?[^a-z]+$" -1 nil R)
  ;; $$$ Make Money $$$
  ("$$" -10 nil s)
  ;; Empty subjects are worthless!
  ("^ *\\([(<]none[>)]\\|(no subject\\( given\\)?)\\)? *$" -10 nil r)
  ;; Sometimes interesting announces occur!
  ("ANN?OU?NC\\(E\\|ING\\)" +10 nil r)
  ;; Some people think they're on mailing lists
  ("\\(un\\)?sub?scribe" -100 nil r)
  ;; Stop Micro$oft NOW!!
  ("\\(m\\(icro\\)?[s$]\\(oft\\|lot\\)?-?\\)?wind?\\(ows\\|aube\\|oze\\)?=
[- ]*\
\('?95\\|NT\\|3[.]1\\|32\\)" -1001 nil r)
  ;; I've nothing to buy
  ("\\(for\\|4\\)[- ]*sale" -100 nil r)
  ;; SELF-DISCIPLINED people
  ("\\[[^a-z0-9 \t\n][^a-z0-9 \t\n]\\]" +100 nil r)
  )
 ("from"
  ;; To keep track of posters from my site
  (".dgac.fr" +1000 nil s))
 ("followup"
  ;; Keep track of answers to my posts
  ("boubaker" +1000 nil s))
 ("lines"
  ;; Some people have really nothing to say!!
  (1 -10 nil <=3D))
 (mark -100)
 (expunge -1000)
 )

  From "Christopher Jones" <cjones@au.oracle.com>
  =

   The sample all.SCORE files from Per and boubaker could be augmented
   with:

        (("subject"
          ;; No junk mail please!
          ("please ignore" -500 nil s)
          ("test" -500 nil e))
        )

  From "Brian Edmonds" <edmonds@cs.ubc.ca>
  =

   Augment any of the above with a fast method of scoring down
   excessively cross posted articles.

 ("xref"
  ;; the more cross posting, the exponentially worse the article
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -1 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -2 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -4 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -8 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -16 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -32 nil=
 r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+" -=
64 nil
 r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\=
S-+" -
128 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\=
S-+ \\
S-+" -256 nil r)
  ("^xref: \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\S-+ \\=
S-+ \\
S-+ \\S-+" -512 nil r))

  From "Hardrock" <dharland@kendaco.telebyte.com>
  =

   (Original source unknown, this is used by permission from the Grubor
   FAQ 2.21).

  ("from"
   ("Law Doctor" -10000 nil s)
   ("Manus" -10000 nil s)
   ("Grubor" -10000 nil s)
   ("DrG" -10000 nil s))

------------------------------

Subject: Q2.5 What do I use to yank-through when replying?

   You should probably reply and followup with R and F, instead of r and
   f, which solves your problem. But you could try something like:

(defconst mail-yank-ignored-headers
  "^.*:"
  "Delete these headers from old message when it's inserted in a reply.")=


------------------------------

Subject: Q2.6 I don't like the default WWW browser

   Now when choosing an URL Gnus starts up a W3 buffer, I would like it
   to always use Netscape (I don't browse in text-mode ;-).
   =

    1. Activate `Customize...' from the `Help' menu.
    2. Scroll down to the `WWW Browser' field.
    3. Click `mouse-2' on `WWW Browser'.
    4. Select `Netscape' from the pop up menu.
    5. Press `C-c C-c'
       =

   That's it.
   =

   If you are using XEmacs then to specify Netscape do

(setq gnus-button-url 'gnus-netscape-open-url)

------------------------------

Subject: Q2.8 Moving between groups is slow.

   Per Abrahamsen <abraham@dina.kvl.dk> writes:
   Do you call define-key or something like that in one of the summary
   mode hooks? This would force Emacs to recalculate the keyboard
   shortcuts.
   =

   Removing the call should speed up M-x gnus-summary-mode RET by a
   couple of orders of magnitude. You can use

        (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map KEY COMMAND)

   in your .gnus instead.
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      =

                                3. Reading News
                                       =

   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q3.1 How do I convert my kill files to score files?

   A kill-to-score translator was written by Ethan Bradford
   <ethanb@ptolemy.astro.washington.edu>. It is available from
   <URL:
   http://baugi.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el>
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q3.2 My news server has a lot of groups, and killing groups is
.painfully slow.

   Don't do that then. The best way to get rid of groups that should be
   dead is to edit your newsrc directly. This problem will be addressed
   in the near future.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q3.3 How do I use an NNTP server with authentication?

   Put the following into your .gnus:

 (add-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-authinfo)

------------------------------

Subject: Q3.4 Not reading the first article.

   How do I avoid reading the first article when a group is selected?
    1. Use RET to select the group instead of SPC.
    2. (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil)
    3. elf@mailhost.ee.ryerson.ca (Luis Fernandes) writes:

This is what I use...customize as necessary...

;;; Don't auto-select first article if reading sources, or archives or
;;; jobs postings, etc. and just display the summary buffer
(add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
          (function
           (lambda ()
             (cond ((string-match "sources" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                           ((string-match "jobs" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                                (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                   ((string-match "comp\\.archives" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                   ((string-match "reviews" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                   ((string-match "announce" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                   ((string-match "binaries" gnus-newsgroup-name)
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first nil))
                   (t
                    (setq gnus-auto-select-first t))))))
    4. abraham@dina.kvl.dk (Per Abrahamsen) writes:
       Another possibility is to create an `all.binaries.all.SCORE' file
       like this:

((local
  (gnus-auto-select-first nil)))

and insert

        (setq gnus-auto-select-first t)
   in your .gnus.
       =

------------------------------

Subject: Q3.5 Why aren't BBDB known posters marked in the summary buffer?=


   Brian Edmonds <edmonds@cs.ubc.ca> writes:
   Due to changes in Gnus 5.0, bbdb-gnus.el no longer marks known posters=

   in the summary buffer. An updated version, gnus-bbdb.el is available
   at the locations listed below. This package also supports autofiling
   of incoming mail to folders specified in the BBDB. Extensive
   instructions are included as comments in the file.
   =

     * send mail to <URL: mailto: majordomo@edmonds.home.cs.ubc.ca> with
       the following line in the body of the message: get misc
       gnus-bbdb.el.
     * Or get it from the World Wide Web: <URL:
       http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/gnus-bbdb.el>.
       =

     _________________________________________________________________
                                      =

                                4. Reading Mail
                                       =

   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.1 What does the message ``Buffer has changed on disk'' mean i=
n a
.mail group?

   Your filter program should not deliver mail directly to your folders,
   instead it should put the mail into spool files. Gnus will then move
   the mail safely from the spool files into the folders. This will
   eliminate the problem. Look it up in the manual, in the section
   entitled "Mail & Procmail".
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.2 How do you make articles un-expirable?

   I am using nnml to read news and have used
   gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups to automagically expire articles in
   some groups (Gnus being one of them). Sometimes there are interesting
   articles in these groups that I want to keep. Is there any way of
   explicitly marking an article as un-expirable - that is mark it as
   read but not expirable?
   =

   Use ``u'', ``!'', `d' or `M-u' in the summary buffer. You just remove
   the `E' mark by setting some other mark. It's not necessary to tick
   the articles.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.3 How do I delete bogus nnml: groups?

   My problem is that I have various mail (nnml) groups generated while
   experimenting with Gnus. How do I remove them now? Setting the level
   to 9 does not help. Also gnus-group-check-bogus-groups does not
   recognize them.
   =

   Removing mail groups is tricky at the moment. (It's on the to-do list,=

   though.) You basically have to kill the groups in Gnus, shut down
   Gnus, edit the active file to exclude these groups, and probably
   remove the nnml directories that contained these groups as well. Then
   start Gnus back up again.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.4 What happened to my new mail groups?

   I got new mail, but I have never seen the groups they should have been=

   placed in.
   =

   They are probably there, but as zombies. Press `A z' to list zombie
   groups, and then subscribe to the groups you want with `u'. This is
   all documented quite nicely in the user's manual.
   =

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.5 Not scoring mail groups

   How do you totally turn off scoring in mail groups?
   =

   Use an nnbabyl:all.SCORE (or nnmh, or nnml, or whatever) file
   containing:

((adapt ignore)
 (local (gnus-use-scoring nil))
 (exclude-files "all.SCORE"))

------------------------------

Subject: Q4.6 How to keep groups always visible

   How do you keep groups always visible in the Group buffer, whether or
   not they have any new articles in them?
   =

   There is no magic command right now. 5l will list all subscribed
   groups. This list will get compacted the next time you issue a g
   command though.
   =

   Another trick which almost works is to make sure that you mark an
   article with ! in every group you want to keep visible. While this
   works, entering the group with something like M-5 SPC is no longer as
   convenient.
   =

   Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@ifi.uio.no> writes:
   Ok. I'll be adding a gnus-permanently-visible-groups regexp variable
   to match groups that should always be shown, no matter whether there
   are unread articles in the groups or not. I'll also be adding a
   visible group parameter that will have the same effect.
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      =

   This FAQ is Copyright =A9 1995, Free Software Foundation. Please send
   comments, and suggestions to Steve Baur <URL:
   mailto:steve@miranova.com>.


-- =

steve@miranova.com baur
