Introduction: accessing the Sympa page

Technical Manual for Moderating an e-Forum with Sympa Software

Please note: This manual is temporary and designed as a reference for all the technical aspects of managing an e-forum using Sympa. When the forum management system incorporated into the Awele database is ready, you will be informed and this manual will be replaced.

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In all that follows, when you see an example of an URL, remember that the domain name that will replace the domain name you are seeing will be your domain name.

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First and foremost, if you haven’t done so already, you need to subscribe to the support list, or hotline, for users of Awele methods and tools. Go to http://www.forums.awele.net/info/users and click on "Subscribe." You can use this forum to ask all the questions you need answers for and, where possible, share the solutions you have found to help other users with their problems.

A collective system has been set up to manage Awele forums.

• The forums are managed by Sympa software, which is used to create a forum and specify its technical characteristics, subscribe and unsubscribe participants, moderate messages, store all the messages, etc. One of the advantages of the Sympa software is that you can use it in two ways:
  • from your e-mail application, by sending e-mails with specially coded requests to Sympa (thus limiting your actual time on line);
  • on the Web, working from the Web page of your forum (much easier, but requiring you to work on line).

Please note: Opening an electronic list exposes you to the risk of receiving more viruses, and we strongly recommend that you install a good, updatable anti-virus software on your computer.

1. ACCESSING THE GENERAL SYMPA PAGE

The first time you access the page presenting the list of your forums, e.g. http://www.forums.awele.net/, if it is not displayed in English, scroll to the bottom of the page then select “English” from the pull-down menu on the bottom left-hand side of the page. For purposes of confidentiality, you then need to log in at the top left-hand side of the page. If you already have an Awele account and forum password, enter your e-mail address and password, and click “Login.” If you do not have a password, or have lost it, click on the appropriate link just below, and follow instructions. A password will be sent to your e-mail address, after which you con proceed to log in. You can then use the "Your preferences" link (underneath the login box) to change your password.

Click on the "list of lists" tab to access the list(s) that you are subscribed to. Those for which you have administration rights will appear with "admin" in a box to the left of the list address.

Creating a Sympa forum

Creating an e-forum / e-mailing list

This section explains the steps you need to take to create, or open your e-list. The following section provides all the configuration details, or what you have to do to determine how the Sympa system will manage your list automatically.

People who manage forums are divided into 2 categories:

• Owner(s): They can open and delete lists, subscribe and unsubscribe forum participants and define the list’s technical characteristics. There is a type of owner called “privileged,” who has slightly more extensive rights, such as adding other owners (non-privileged owners) to the list.
• Moderators: If the list is moderated, participants’ messages do not go directly to the list; they go first to the moderators, and one of them can post messages on the forum, either with or without changes (changes could include adding an abstract, improving the layout or translating the message, where necessary). In our internal language we call this role "technical moderation" to distinguish it from the role of moderating or facilitating the discussion itself.

If you are managing a list by yourself, you need to be both owner and moderator.

Creating your access

1. Go to http://www.forums.[your domain_name], for example, http://www.forums.alliance21.org/

2. Identify yourself (see previous section, "Introduction: accessing the Sympa page"). 

3. Next click on the "Your preferences" link in the left-hand column and fill in the first section with your name, the language you wish to use for your interface (the program was written in French, and the English and Spanish are sometimes a little unreliable, but don’t let that stop you from choosing the language you are most comfortable with), and the time you want the connection to last... then validate your choices by clicking on Submit.

4. We recommend that you also change your password if you haven't already done so. Click on Submit.

Creating the list

1. Click on the “Create list” tab.

2. Fill in the fields as follows:

   • List name: enter the name of your list (this is what will precede the @ in the list address).

   • List type: alliance (basic set-up for most Awele discussion forums), or news-letter (non-interactive), or private_working_group. These are basic set-ups, after which you will be able to fine tune your preferences.

   • Subject: describe your list in a few words (ideally in English, French and/or Spanish).

   • Topics: Choose the topic that best fits your forum.

   • Description: a more detailed, yet concise, description of your list topic (in English and/or French and/or Spanish in line with your list’s working languages).

1. Click on "Submit your creation request."

1. Next send a message to the users forum users indicating that you have completed this phase. This will mean that the Awele team, which provides technical support, validates list creations, and provides methodological support for the forums, will be informed, as will the other participants in the users forum, who will thus know that a new list has been created. In the Subject line of your message write: [tech] Creation of the (name of your list) list. In all your messages to the forum users, if you want to attract the list administrator's attention, you need to write [tech] at the start of the message subject.

The list administrator will then proceed to validating the creation of your list and inform you that the list is open by sending you a message on the forum users.

Configuration

List configuration

This section is about the options to be selected for the automatic management of your forum by the Sympa system. They are recommendations, but if you feel comfortable with the tool, you can set your own parameters, knowing that you can alwaysl change your parameters later. For items for which there are no recommendations, we suggest that you leave the default values.

Setting the technical parameters

1. Go to http://www.forums.[your domain name], for example, http://www.forums.alliance21.org and log in.
2. Click on the "admin" box to the left of your newly created forum under "Your Lists" in the left-hand column.
3. Click on "Edit list config" under "Admin" in the left-hand column, and select the following options in the following sub-sections. Please note: The sub-section names below are those found in the list under "Admin" in the left-hand column, which do not always have the same name in the list provided at the top of the page when you click on "Admin".

List definition

• Subject of the list
  Describe the list in 5 to 6 words; you will have already done so when creating your list, but you can make changes now if you like. Example: "Public debate on fair trade - debate público sobre el comercio justo."

• Visibility of the list
  This decides whether the existence of the list can be known to everyone (by being included in the list of lists/forums having the same domain name).
  - For forums that are designed to be public, choose "noconceal (noconceal)". 
  - If the list is for a workgroup and you woud prefer it to remain confidential, select "conceal except for subscribers (conceal)." However, even if your list is private, it could still be useful for all your partners to know that it exists (first option).

• Owner
  This identifies the list owners, who can manage subscribers and modify the basic features of the list; there can be a maximum of 4 owners.
  Your e-mail address is already entered. Complete the information by entering your name. Choose "mail" for "reception mode."
  You can add other people’s names and addresses. This could be useful, especially if you are away of if there is a problem with your email address, but you will remain the only “privileged” owner. As long as you are in charge of owner rights, you may select "no mail" for additional owners.

• Moderators
  This identifies the technical moderators; they receive messages that need to be screened or modified (changes in the layout, the addition of an abstract and/or translations) then post them on the forum.
  Enter the e-mail address and name of the moderator(s). It is not useful to have more than one person receiving messages for moderation, but you can change the name and/or address of the moderator whenever you wish. For a moderator to be able to manage subscriptions and unsubcriptions, s/he also needs to be registered as an owner.
  Instead of the moderator’s name, we recommend that you put the name of the forum, for example, "Fair Trade", "Forum Artistes" or "Foro Educación".
  Select “mail” as the reception mode for the acting moderator to receives the messages to be moderated directly in her/his mailbox.
  If you want to add one or more extra moderators, you need to validate your confirmation by clicking "Update" at the bottom of the page. Each time you validate, a new field will be displayed where you can register another moderator. You need to validate again after each modification. Select "no mail" for moderators who are not actually working on the forum, and change to "mail" if they are called upon to replace the acting moderator.

• Topics for the list
  This is the general topic of your forum. You selected it in the creation stage, but you may change it here if you like.

• Language of the list
  This iindicates the default language of the forum interface, but which can be changed by any participant. The language chosen does not in any way affect the forum configuration.

Click on "Update" to save your options.

Sending/reception

• Who can send messages
  

  This defines the people recognized by the server as authorized to post messages on the forum (moderators only, or moderators and participants).
  - For moderated lists, where messages do not go directly to the list but first to the moderator, choose "Moderated, even for moderators (editorkeyonly)." This means that every message sent to the forum, even by the moderator him/herself, will be presented for to the moderator for validation to be posted on the forum, or to be rejected. It is a safety net for the moderator to be able to make sure that whatever message even he/she sends, is fit for publication. This option is good for all discussion lists, where moderators change the message before posting it, as well as for public discussion lists, where moderators do not change the messages but will either validate them as such, or reject them.
  - For non-moderated lists, where messages from participants are posted directly on the forum without any checking, choose "restricted to subscribers (default)." This option is convenient for a work list where there is a single working language and the members are careful to apply netiquette rules for their discussions to be as easy to follow as possible.
  - We do not recommend selecting any option that is not restricted to subscribers.

• Message tagging
  Make sure the option selected is "optional."

• Reply address
  This specifies if, when you click on "reply" in responding to a message on the forum, the reply message is sent to the list or to the private address of the "real" sender of the message.
  - value: select "list" from the menu if it is not already selected by default, or, in the case of a non-interactive list (a newsletter, for instance), select "other_email" and enter in the field below, the contact e-mail address for the forum or the moderator's e-mail address, so that reactions to the information sent are received.
  - respect of existing header: select "forced" from the menu.

• Subject tagging
  This defines the "tag" which will appear automatically at the beginning of the subject line of all the forum messages, in square brackets, for example, [awele-users].
  Use this function: it allows subscribers to see that the message is from the forum as soon as they read the subject line. Keep the letters to a minimum, in lowercase, in order not to take up too much room on the subject line, but make it explicit and distinctive.

Click on "Update" to save your options.

Privileges

• Who can view list information
  This determines if the home page of the list can be seen by everyone.
  Choose "for anyone (default)". Even if your list is private, it can be useful for all your partners to know that your list exists and what its purpose is. 
  If you have reasons for keeping the very existence of your list strictly confidential, choose "restricted to subscribers (private)."

• Who can subscribe to the list
  For public forums, choose "requires authentification then owner approval (auth_owner)." This means that when someone asks to subscribe, the potential subscriber will first be asked to confirm his/her e-mail address (this excludes automatic spamming machines) and then the owner must  validate the subscription; you thus know who is subscribing and can, if necessary, reject subscription requests.
  For a private list, you may prefer to use the option "subscribe is impossible (closed)", where all subscription requests are rejected automatically.

• Who can unsubscribe
  Choose "authentication requested, notification sent to owner (auth_notify)". This means that participants who want to unsubscribe first receive a message asking them to confirm that they have asked to be unsubscribed, then you are informed of unsubscription.

• Who can review subscribers
  This defines who can consult the list of forum subscribers (names and e-mails).
  This is a delicate question. The more accessible the list is, the more exposed it is to spammers and people sending out information indiscriminately, etc. The option "only owner (and listmaster) (default)" avoids this problem, but prevents subscribers from knowing who is subscribed to the list. So long as you are the one validating the subscriptions, you may prefer to opt for "restricted to subscribers (private)." If you then see that a subscriber is using the list for spamming purposes, you can identify him/her and try to correct the problem.

• Shared documents
  This defines who has the right to view and/or edit any document that may be stored in the "Shared documents" section of the forum Web site.
  You can, for example, decide that the documents are public and only subscribers can add, delete or modify documents.

Click on "Update" to save your options.

Archives

• Web archives
  This determines who has access to messages posted on the forum and stored in the "Archive" section of your forum.
  If you are happy with everyone accessing the messages, choose "public (public)". If your discussions are confidential, select "subscribers only (private)".

• e-mail address protection method
  Select "javascript."

Click on "Update" to save your options.

Bounces

Leave all default values

Data sources

Unavailable

Miscellaneous

• Secret string for generating unique keys
  This is the "cookie" that you will need for your list so that you can use our internal method that allows the moderator to modify the message received (adding a summary, formatting, translations, etc.) and send it to the list under the name of the author’s message.

• Status of the list
  This indicates if the list is "technically" open or not (depending on whether its creation has been approved or not). If the list is already active, the value displayed will be "open", if not it will be "pending".

Each time you modify the options in one of the "Configuration" sub-menus, don’t forget to click on the "Update" button on the bottom of each page so that you save your changes

For changes that you make later on, for example, adding or deleting a moderator or owner (the “privileged owner” can never be changed, do not try to modify it as this can disrupt the entire configuration), you need to revalidate the parameters by clicking on the "Update" button. In the first sub-menu, List Definition, each time you validate a moderator or owner, a new field for adding a moderator or owner appears. So if you are adding several elements, you will have to validate several times.

Automatic messages in Sympa

Customizing automatic messages

This section deals with the messages that the Sympa system will send automatically to a subscriber when he/she subscribes/unsubscribes, when you add or remove him/her from the list, or when you accept or reject a message he/she has sent to the forum. Some you will need to write, for some you will simply paste and copy the message we provide, with or without some custumization.

1. Go to http://www.forums.[your domaine name], for example, http://www.forums.alliance21.org and identify yourself (Login).

2. In the "Your Lists" column on the left, click on "admin" to the left of your forum.

3. Under "Admin," click "Customizing." You now have a page with a drop-down menu and an "Edit" button on its right. Select each of the following options on the menu, click "Edit," and follow instructions. For options not mentioned below, there is nothing to do. 

• unsubscription message

This is the message subscribers will receive when they unsubscribe by clicking the "Unsbuscribe" button.

1. Click on "Edit." Delete the existing text, copy the text below, and paste it into the empty message field (make sure the first line, starting with "From," is also the top line in the field):

From: [% fromlist %]
Subject: [% FILTER qencode %][%|loc(list.name)%]Removed from/anulacion de/suppression de %1[%END%][%END%]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=[%|loc%]_charset_[%END%];
Content-Transfer-Encoding: [%|loc%]_encoding_[%END%]

[%|loc(user.email,list.name,list.host)%]

* Votre adresse (%1) a ete supprimee de la liste
%2@%3.
Merci d'avoir ete parmi nous et au revoir !

* Su direccion (%1) ha sido suprimida de la lista %2@%3.
Gracias por su participacion y hasta pronto!

* Your e-mail address (%1) has been removed from the
list %2@%3. Thank you for having been with us, and looking
forward to hearing from you again some time!

[%END%]

2. Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Custumizing" (left-hand column).

• list homepage

This is the text that will be displayed when subscribers click on the "Info" button in the left-hand column of the forum, which takes them to the home page of the forum. It is also the link that will be given in the "welcome message" for new subscribers to go to, so it needs to contain all the important elements of your forum, i.e., at least: 
* the purpose of the forum
* whether it is open to subscription
* the working languages
* the calendar, if it is a debate, or the URL to the "Shared documents" section where the calendar can be downloaded
* the URL to the "Shared documents" section or of the associated Web site where the discussion papers can be downloaded, if applicable
* the URL to the "Shared documents" section where participants can download the netiquette rules for the forum, with a strong encouragement to read them.
Still, you should remain relatively succinct, as you need to display the text in all the working languages.

1. Write your text under your text-processing software. Since this is a Web page, you must include a minimum of html code, otherwise everything you write will appear as a single block of text without paragraphs. To make the operation as simple a possible, simply write <P> at the beginning of each paragraph and </P></P> at the end of each paragraph.
Another solution is to edit your presentation using any html creation software. With Word, you can write it  with all the formatting you want, then, once you have finished, "save as" html format. You then have to close your document and open it as “Text” (for this you need to have the "Confirm conversions when opening" option checked under Tools->Options) so you can see your page with all the html code visible. Copy this document then paste it into the window where you need to enter your forum presentation (Customizing -> list home page -> Edit).

2.  Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

3. If you want to see what your message looks like, click on "Info" on the left of your screen then return to the "Customizing" window.

• list description

This is a short description of the forum. Among others, it will be picked up by the "welcome message". We suggest your write one sentence describing your forum, and a second one that says "To know all about this forum, click on the link at the end of this message". The URL is displayed automatically at the bottom of the welcome message.

1.Click on the "Edit" button.

2. Enter your text, and remember to write it in all the working languages. The current version of Sympa does not process “diacritic signs” very well (accents, umlauts, cedillas, or tildes), so we strongly suggest you avoid using them, as reading a message without accents is easier than reading one with weird symbols in the middle of the words.  Also, hit the "Enter," or paragraph key at the end of each line you can see in the field, or the message received will be one long line. 

Example:

* Discussions sur les activites autour de la notion de responsabilites
 et de la Charte des responsabilites humaines.
Pour tout savoir sur ce forum, cliquez le lien a la fin de ce message.

* Discusion sobre las actividades en torno a la nocion de
responsabilidades y de la Carta de las Responsabilidades Humanas.
Para saber todo sobre este foro, haga clic en el enlace al final
de este mensaje.

* Discussion on the activities related to the notion of responsibilities
and the Charter of Human Responsibilities.
To know all about this forum, click on the link at the end of this message.

3. Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

• message footer

A very practical option! It is where you enter the message "signature", in other words, the information that appears automatically on the bottom of all the messages posted on the forum.

1. Click on the “Edit” button.

2. Following is a recommended signature type; if you wish to use it, you need to customize it (replace everything within saure brackets and delete the brackets) with your the name of your forum, its e-mail address, etc. and then copy it (including the initial line made of asterisks) and paste it into the window. 

***********************

[forum name]
e-mail: [forum address]
Fax: [if applicable]
Forum Web site: [Web site URL]
[URL of associated Web site if applicable]
Information, subscriptions, unsubscriptions: [moderator’s e-mail if also owner, or owner's e-mail if not]

3. Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

• message header

This is the text that will appear automatically at the top of all the messages of the forum.

1. To avoid having the content of the messages being too close to the technical data that preceeds it, you can use the following as your message header:

- a blank line

- a separating line: ****************

- another blank line

2.  Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

• editor rejection message

This is the message sent automatically to the sender when the moderator rejects a message waiting for validation, when the list is configured to post, or not to post messages in the form they arrive in for validation. If you open a list of this type, you will sometimes have to reject messages. In that case, you will need the following automatic message to be installed.

1. Click on the “Edit” button;

2. If you do not find the following text, delete the existing text and replace it with the following one:

From: [% fromlist %]
Subject: [% FILTER qencode %][%|loc(list.name)%]Message rejected/rechazado/rejete pour %1[%END%][%END%]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=[%|loc%]_charset_[%END%];
Content-Transfer-Encoding: [%|loc%]_encoding_[%END%]

[%|loc(list.name,list.host,subject)%]

* Votre message pour le forum %1@%2
a ete rejete par le moderateur de la liste.

L'objet de votre message : %3

Verifiez les conditions de participation a cette liste :
[% conf.wwsympa_url %]/info/[% list.name %]

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

Su mensaje al foro %1@%2
ha sido rechazado por el moderador de la lista.

El asunto de su mensaje era: %3

Verifique las pautas de participacion en la lista:
[% conf.wwsympa_url %]/info/[% list.name %]

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

Your message for the forum %1@%2
has been rejected by the list moderator.

Subject of your message: %3

Check the guidelines for this forum at:
[% conf.wwsympa_url %]/info/[% list.name %]

[%END%]

3. Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

• deletion message

This is the message sent automatically to a subscriber when you delete his or her address from the list (unless you have checked the "quiet" option during deletion) in which case no message will be sent.

1. Click on the “Edit” button.

2. Delete the existing text and replace it with: 

From: [% fromlist %]
Subject: [% FILTER qencode %][%|loc(list.name)%]Removed / supprime / suprimido de %1[%END%][%END%]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=[%|loc%]_charset_[%END%];
Content-Transfer-Encoding: [%|loc%]_encoding_[%END%]

[%|loc(user.email,list.name,list.host)%]* Your address (%1) has been removed
from the list %2@%3, because you have asked us to, or we have received
non-delivery reports for your address. [%END%]

[%|loc%]You can subscribe again:[%END%]
[% FILTER escape_url %]mailto:[%conf.email%]@[%conf.host%]?subject=sub [%list.name%][% END %]

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

[%|loc(user.email,list.name,list.host)%]* Su direccion (%1) ha sido suprimida
de la lista %2@%3, porque nos lo pidio, o porque hemos recibido
mensajes de error para su direccion. [%END%]

[%|loc%]Puede volver a inscribirse:[%END%]
[% FILTER escape_url %]mailto:[%conf.email%]@[%conf.host%]?subject=sub [%list.name%][% END %]

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

[%|loc(user.email,list.name,list.host)%]* Votre adresse (%1) a �t� retiree
de la liste %2@%3, suite a votre demande ou parce que nous recevons
de messages d'erreur pour votre adresse. [%END%]

[%|loc%]Vous pouvez vous re-inscrire :[%END%]
[% FILTER escape_url %]mailto:[%conf.email%]@[%conf.host%]?subject=sub [%list.name%][% END %]

3.  Click "Save" (below, right) then on "Customizing" (left-hand column).

• welcome message

This message is sent automatically to everyone who subscribes or is subscribed to the list, thus confirming their subscription. It reproduces what you have entered into the list description option above, and adds the URL to the list homepage (see option above too), which contains everything that needs to be known to participate in the forum.

1. Click on the “Edit” button.

2. Replace the existing text with this one: 

From: [% fromlist %]
Subject: [% FILTER qencode %][%|loc(list.name)%]Welcome to / Bienvenue a / Bienvenida a %1[%END%][%END%]
Mime-version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="===Sympa==="

--===Sympa===
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=[%|loc%]_charset_[%END%];
Content-Transfer-Encoding: [%|loc%]_encoding_[%END%]

[%|loc(list.name,list.host)%]Welcome to / Bienvenue a / Bienvenida a
  %1@%2[%END%]
[%|loc(user.email)%]Your subscription e-mail / e-mail d'inscription / de suscripcion %1[%END%]

[% TRY %]
[% INSERT "info" %]
[% CATCH %]
[% END %]

[%|loc%]Everything about this list:[%END%]
[% conf.wwsympa_url %]/info/[% list.name %]

--===Sympa===
Content-Type: text/html; charset=[%|loc%]_charset_[%END%];
Content-Transfer-Encoding: [%|loc%]_encoding_[%END%]

3. Click "Save" (below, right). You have finished customizing the automatic messages.

Managing subscribers: (un)subscribing, reviewing, modifying

To manage your forum subscriptions, you can work:

• either from your e-mail application;
• or from the Sympa Web environment/interface.

Please note: If you choose to work from your e-mail application, you have to be extremely accurate in writing requests. The server that manages the discussion list will not be able to recognize requests if they do not correspond exactly to the elements that it can understand (a typing error, an extra space, etc. can cause the request to be rejected or not carried out by the server).

Below are three tables that detail the procedures to follow for the different operations that you will need to undertake in both cases (if you are working from your e-mail application or the Web environment).

Make sure that all requests you send by e-mail, and all messages in general, are in text-only format, and that your messages do not have a signature that is added automatically, since this will prevent the request being understood and executed by the Sympa system.

• Subscriptions

• Unsubscriptions

• Reviewing the list of participants

• Changing (or adding) participants’ names and changing participants’ e-mails

You may have a subscription to your forum with only an e-mail address and no name and find out the name later on, you may have made a mistake with a name, or a participant could tell you that s/he now prefers receiving messages at a different e-mail address.

If you are working from your e-mail application, these types of modifications require you to unsubscribe then re-subscribe the subscriber with the correct name or new address.

The operation is simpler when performed in the Web environment:

1. Log in.

2. Click on the “admin” button to the left of your forum name under "Your lists".

3. Click on "Manage subscribers".

4. Click on the address of the subscriber in question.

5. Modify the name/address.

6. Click on “Update”.

Moderating / posting messages

Preliminary remarks

1. As for managing subscribers, you can operate either in the Web environment with the Sympa interface, or in your e-mail application. However, the functions provided by Sympa ("Moderate" tab in the "List admin" menu) only allow the moderator to validate or reject messages but not to modify them before validating them. If you need to modify the messages, i.e. to improve their layout and add translations, we have created a special page at http://www.forums.[your list domain name]/approve , for example, http://www.forums.socioeco.org/approve where you can approve and send modified messages from the Web. This allows you to send a modified message with the original author as the sender in the "From" line.

2. All messages for the forum arrive at the moderator’s address with Sympa as the sender and with the Subject: "Confirm [a cookie corresponding to the message]".

Posting without changes

From your e-mail application: 

To validate publication of the message as such, follow instructions in the e-mail you've received.

If you wish to reject it, you need to go the Sympa interface.

From the Sympa interface:

1. In the left hand column, click "Message" under "Moderate."

2. Select the message you wish to post or reject. Click on the message Subject is you wish to read the message first.

Distribute: posts the message as such.
Reject: rejects the message and deletes it.
Notified reject: rejects the message, deletes it, and sends a message to the author of the message notifying him or her that the message has been rejected.

Posting a modified message

When you need to make changes (for example, by adding translations or changing the layout), copy and paste the message content to a word processor, such as Word, so that you can format the text and translate it (checking the title, adding an abstract, checking spelling, layout, etc. then adding one or more machine translations, revised for mistranslation only). 

You will need the "cookie" for your list, which is a string of characters for the exclusive identification your list. The cookie must remain confidential. Anyone who knows it can post messages to your forum. To find the cookie for your list, go to your forum administration page, click "Edit list" under "Admin" in the left-hand column, then "Miscellaneous."

From the Sympa interface:

Highly recommended: much safer and much easier than from your e-mail software. 

1. Go to http://www.forums.[your list domain name]/approve , for example, http://www.forums.socioeco.org/approve, 

2. Select your forum from the “Nom de la liste” pull-down menu. 

3. Fill in all the fields, then click on “Envoyer” at the bottom of the screen. 

From your e-mail application: 

Send a message to approve@[your forum domain name], for example, approve@forums.alliance21.org or approve@socioeco.org.

The message sender is not relevant.

Leave the "Subject" line empty. You need to have two sections in the message body:

• a first block of 5 lines followed by a blank line;
• the message sent by the participant now with your modifications.

In the first block you need to write, in identical form, the following headings:

From: enter the first name, last name and, between < >, the e-mail address of the participant who wrote the message;

To: enter the address of the list. You must only enter an email address, without any text/comments or typographical characters;

Subject: write the subject of the message (a "title" which will encourage participants to open the message)

Please note: Although we now recommend that you use accents and other diacritic marks in the message body, you must never use them in the "Subject", either here or anywhere else. This is the field that is most likely not to be able to interpret the codes for these signs or for accents, and the people receiving the message could thus get an illegible Subject line.

Approved: enter the e-mail of one of the list moderators. Do not write the name or <>, just the e-mail.

Cookie: enter the cookie for your forum (see above).

The first line must be the “From:” line. You must not leave a blank line at the top of the message. The fields can be written in lowercase or uppercase, it makes no difference at all, and there can be spaces at the beginning of the line and after, but never before the colon “ :”.

Example:

From: Mary SMITH <mary.smith@hotmail.com>
To: work@socioeco.org
Subject: Message approval procedure
Approved: pses-sp@alliance21.org
Cookie: e3dc1ad2e553e2722e2a4288d24578d

ENGLISH --> FRANÇAIS

** Message approval procedure: please follow instructions carefully**
by Françoise Wautiez, pses-sp@alliance21.org

* Abstract: Formatting messages....*
etc.

Please note: This forum format only accepts text-only format. No attached files, no html code and no formatting (bold, italics, colors, etc.) are allowed. Do not forget to check that your e-mail software is set up to send messages in text-only format.

Possible mistakes

If the system does not decode your message correctly, you will receive a message containing:

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- "|/usr/local/bin/sympa_moderation /etc/mail/sympa/cookies" (reason: 3) (expanded from: <approve@socioeco.org>)

The figure after the word reason (3 in this example) tells you what the problem is:

• 1 : problem during sending of the message to Sympa
• 2 : problem with the value in the From or To line
• 3 : cannot find the cookie corresponding to the list indicated in the To line, check this value
• 4 : internal problem
• 5 : internal problem
• 6 : problem with the Cookie field, incorrect value for this list

For codes 1, 4 and 5, please send a message to the [users] list so that the problem can be solved. For the other codes, you need to send the message again after correcting the errors indicated.

The Web interface described above generates more explicit and immediate error messages.

After the messages are sent

Depending on how you have configured your list, either the message will be posted directly on the list with the sender displayed as the message author, or the message will be sent to you for approval or rejection. In the second case, follow the instructions in the message received or go to the administration page for your list in the Web environment (Login > “admin” button to the left of your forum address), click on "Moderate", check the message in question, then click on "Distribute".

The message approved in this way will be published directly on the list, i.e. sent to all the addresses of the people subscribed to your forum.

If you have approved the message by e-mail, you will receive the following message, sent by sympa@[your forum domain name]:

the message bad3776abe5170934629f9d6b9a6fa30 for the list [list name] has been distributed.

Attached documents

The Sympa Awele lists are configured by default not to accept attached files. We therefore advise you to upload any documents you wish to circulate to the "Shared documents" section of your list’s Web interface and to send a message giving people the address of the Web page (URL) where the document is available.

Storing messages

What do you do with the original message? The one that Mary Smith sent you and which you translated.

• We advise you to store the message in your e-mail software in case of arguments over your modifications/translations.
• On the Sympa Web page (Login > “admin” button to the left of your forum address), click on "Moderate", check the message in question then click on "Reject". This means that the author, Mary Smith, will not receive the automatic rejection message from Sympa.