L-Soft international, Inc.
Site Manager's Operations Manual
for
LISTSERV®, version 1.8c
April 8, 1997
Revision 1
r970408-001

The reference number of this document is 9704-UD-03.

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Appendix G: Related Documentation and Support

G.1. Official L-Soft Documentation

Subscribers to LISTSERV mailing lists will find answers to many of their questions in the User's Guide to LISTSERV Version 1.8c. This new manual has replaced the old "NSC93" document originally written for LISTSERV 1.8a.

LISTSERV list owners will be interested in the List Owner's Manual for LISTSERV 1.8c.

All of L-Soft's manuals for LISTSERV are available in ascii-text format via LISTSERV and in popular word-processing formats via ftp.lsoft.com. They are also available on the World Wide Web at the following URL:

http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/index.html

L-Soft invites comment on its manuals. Please feel free to send your comments via e-mail to MANUALS@LSOFT.COM, and mention which manual you are commenting on.

"Hot fix" revisions to this and other L-Soft manuals are posted as they are made to the master document, on the announcement-only mailing list:

LSOFT-DOC-UPDATES@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM

G.2. User-Created Documentation

LISTSERV began as a non-commercial product, with fairly-complete but terse documentation. Over time, list owners and LISTSERV maintainers found that it was necessary to amplify some of the documentation, and wrote their own manuals. Some of these manuals, while they may be dated, are still of value and are still available.

G.2.1. Documentation of new database functions

This document is in fact not dated at all; it is practically brand new. Norm Aleks has put together documentation of the new database functions (SEARCH and GETPOST) available in 1.8c. You can get a copy by sending the command

INFO DATABASE

to LISTSERV@LIBRARY.UMMED.EDU .

G.2.2 LSVOWNER package available from UBVM

The LSVOWNER package contains some handy LISTSERV List Owner files created by Jim Gerland, gerland@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu. To have LISTSERV send you the files, send a GET LSVOWNER PACKAGE command to LISTSERV@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU.

Here are the files currently (13 December 1996) available:

  LSVOWNER READY     'Your List is Ready' boilerplate 
  LSVOWNER WELCOME   'Welcome to this list' boilerplate 
  LSVOWNER TXT       Generic List Owner Instructions 
  LSVOWNER NEW-LIST  New List Announcement boilerplate 
  LSVOWNER GATEWAY   USENET News Gateway boilerplate 
  LSVOWNER HEADERS   List header instructions 
  LSVOWNER FIL-LIST  FILELIST instructions

Jim adds: "You can subscribe to the package by sending an AFD ADD LSVOWNER PACKAGE command. You will then receive a new version of the filelist as updates are received by the server, with only the updated files being sent to you. You can also subscribe to File Update Information notices for the package by sending a FUI ADD LSVOWNER PACKAGE command."

G.2.3 LISTSERV TIPS

LISTSERV TIPS is a document with the formal title "List Management Tips for LISTSERV Postmasters and List Owners". It was compiled in 1991 by Lisa Covi. LISTSERV TIPS can be retrieved from the LISTSERV hosts at SEARN and UBVM (among others) with the usual GET command.

The basic document has never been updated and is very BITNET-oriented, but is still quite useful as a basic information source on running a list. To view LISTSERV TIPS on the World Wide Web, see Holly Stowe's LISTSERV FAQ.

You can also go directly to LISTSERV TIPS.

G.2.4. FSV GUIDE

FSV GUIDE (formal title: "Setting Up the LISTSERV File Server - A Beginner's Guide") is really aimed at LISTSERV maintainers, but it is a handy guide for list owners who have filelists on VM systems as well. Ben Chi (bec@albany.edu) is the author of this fine document about the VM LISTSERV file server system. You can get a copy from LISTSERV@ALBANY.EDU.

G.2.5. NetNews Gatewaying

The following files are available from LISTSERV@AMERICAN.EDU (and also by anonymous ftp to american.edu (cd netnews)) relating to the NetNews gatewaying service there.

NETGATE POLICY Procedure for Establishing a Gateway
NETGATE GATELIST List of Gatewayed LISTSERV Lists
NETGATE MODLIST Similar to news.admin Post

You can subscribe to the package by sending an AFD ADD NETGATE PACKAGE command. You will then receive a new version of the file as updates are received by the server, with only the updated files being sent to you. You can also subscribe to File Update Information notices for the package by sending a FUI ADD NETGATE PACKAGE command.

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