This is ../info/gnus, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from gnus.texi.
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also
that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms
of a permission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions.
File: gnus, Node: Top, Next: Starting Up, Up: (dir)
The Gnus Newsreader
*******************
You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The
news can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of--NNTP, local
spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
luck.
This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.7.
* Menu:
* Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
* The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
* The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
* The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
* Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
* Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
* Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
* Various:: General purpose settings.
* The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
* Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
* Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
* Key Index:: Key Index.
File: gnus, Node: Starting Up, Next: The Group Buffer, Prev: Top, Up: Top
Starting Gnus
*************
If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting
Gnus and reading news is extremely easy--you just type `M-x gnus' in
your Emacs.
If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the
command `M-x gnus-other-frame' instead.
If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
variables in your `~/.gnus' file. This file is similar to `~/.emacs',
but is read when gnus starts.
If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
terminology section (*note Terminology::).
* Menu:
* Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
* The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
* The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
* Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
* Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
* New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
* Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---`.newsrc'.
* Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
* The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
* Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
* Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
File: gnus, Node: Finding the News, Next: The First Time, Up: Starting Up
Finding the News
================
The `gnus-select-method' variable says where Gnus should look for
news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
"how" and the second element says "where". This method is your native
method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign groups.
For instance, if the `news.somewhere.edu' NNTP server is where you
want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
(setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
(setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
certainly be much faster.
If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
`NNTPSERVER' environment variable. If that variable isn't set, Gnus
will see whether `gnus-nntpserver-file' (`/etc/nntpserver' by default)
has any opinions on the matter. If that fails as well, Gnus will try
to use the machine running Emacs as an NNTP server. That's a long
shot, though.
If `gnus-nntp-server' is set, this variable will override
`gnus-select-method'. You should therefore set `gnus-nntp-server' to
`nil', which is what it is by default.
You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
NNTP server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to `gnus' (i.e., `C-u
M-x gnus'), Gnus will let you choose between the servers in the
`gnus-secondary-servers' list (if any). You can also just type in the
name of any server you feel like visiting.
However, if you use one NNTP server regularly and are just
interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
better served by using the `B' command in the group buffer. It will
let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
to any of the groups you want to. This also makes `.newsrc'
maintenance much tidier. *Note Foreign Groups::.
A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
`gnus-secondary-select-methods' variable. The select methods listed in
this variable are in many ways just as native as the
`gnus-select-method' server. They will also be queried for active
files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
groups are.
For instance, if you use the `nnmbox' backend to read your mail, you
would typically set this variable to
(setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
File: gnus, Node: The First Time, Next: The Server is Down, Prev: Finding the News, Up: Starting Up
The First Time
==============
If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups
should be subscribed by default.
If the variable `gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups' is set, Gnus
will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
something useful.
Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
picked groups (i.e., `*.newusers'). ("Arbitrary" is defined here as
"whatever Lars thinks you should read".)
You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which
should help you with most common problems.
If `gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups' is `t', Gnus will just use
the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
special.
File: gnus, Node: The Server is Down, Next: Slave Gnusae, Prev: The First Time, Up: Starting Up
The Server is Down
==================
If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to
read your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
`gnus-no-server' command to start Gnus. That might come in handy if
you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
your primary server--instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
levels.)
File: gnus, Node: Slave Gnusae, Next: Fetching a Group, Prev: The Server is Down, Up: Starting Up
Slave Gnusae
============
You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at
the same time. If you are using different `.newsrc' files (e.g., if you
are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
`.newsrc' file.
To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the
Gnus Towers have come up with a new concept: "Masters" and "slaves".
(We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
me. Usage of the patent ("Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
Applications") will be much more expensive, of course.)
Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with `M-x gnus' (or
however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
`M-x gnus-slave'. These slaves won't save normal `.newsrc' files, but
instead save "slave files" that contain information only on what groups
have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus starts, it
will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all information
from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence they were
created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
information in the normal (i.e., master) `.newsrc' file.
File: gnus, Node: Fetching a Group, Next: New Groups, Prev: Slave Gnusae, Up: Starting Up
Fetching a Group
================
It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say "I want to read
this group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not".
This is perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users,
but the command `gnus-fetch-group' provides this functionality in any
case. It takes the group name as a parameter.
File: gnus, Node: New Groups, Next: Startup Files, Prev: Fetching a Group, Up: Starting Up
New Groups
==========
If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new
groups, you can set `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `nil'. This will
also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is `nil',
you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing `U' in the
group buffer (*note Group Maintenance::). This variable is
`ask-server' by default. If you set this variable to `always', then
Gnus will query the backends for new groups even when you do the `g'
command (*note Scanning New Messages::).
* Menu:
* Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
* Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
* Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
File: gnus, Node: Checking New Groups, Next: Subscription Methods, Up: New Groups
Checking New Groups
-------------------
Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing
the list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed
and dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
`gnus-check-new-newsgroups' is `ask-server', Gnus will ask the server
for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and cheaper.
This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed groups
altogether, so you may set `gnus-save-killed-list' to `nil', which will
save time both at startup, at exit, and all over. Saves disk space,
too. Why isn't this the default, then? Unfortunately, not all servers
support this command.
I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
server supports `ask-server'? No? Good, because I don't have a
fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
`ask-server' and see whether any new groups appear within the next few
days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work. I
could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server supports
`ask-server', but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
`telnet' to the server and say `HELP' and see whether it lists
`NEWGROUPS' among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
might work. (But there are servers that lists `NEWGROUPS' without
supporting the function properly.)
This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
issue an `ask-server' command to each of the select methods, and
subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
Use the mantra "dingnusdingnusdingnus" to achieve permanent bliss.
File: gnus, Node: Subscription Methods, Next: Filtering New Groups, Prev: Checking New Groups, Up: New Groups
Subscription Methods
--------------------
What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
`gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method' variable.
This variable should contain a function. This function will be
called with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
Some handy pre-fab functions are:
`gnus-subscribe-zombies'
Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse
the zombies later (with `A z') and either kill them all off
properly (with `S z'), or subscribe to them (with `u').
`gnus-subscribe-randomly'
Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means
that all new groups will be added at "the top" of the group buffer.
`gnus-subscribe-alphabetically'
Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
`gnus-subscribe-hierarchically'
Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between
this function and `gnus-subscribe-alphabetically' is slight.
`gnus-subscribe-alphabetically' will subscribe new groups in a
strictly alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter
groups into it's hierarchy. So if you want to have the `rec'
hierarchy before the `comp' hierarchy, this function will not mess
that configuration up. Or something like that.
`gnus-subscribe-interactively'
Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
you about *all* new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
will be subscribed hierarchically.
`gnus-subscribe-killed'
Kill all new groups.
A closely related variable is
`gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive'. (That's quite a mouthful.)
If this variable is non-`nil', Gnus will ask you in a hierarchical
fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus will ask you
for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the hierarchy or not.
One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
(`gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method') to
`gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive'. This is an error. This
will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
File: gnus, Node: Filtering New Groups, Prev: Subscription Methods, Up: New Groups
Filtering New Groups
--------------------
A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
subscribed (or ignored) is to put an "options" line at the start of the
`.newsrc' file. Here's an example:
options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual
scientific person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it
says that all groups that have names beginning with `alt' and `rec'
should be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with `sci' should
be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
subscribing these groups. `gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method' is
used instead. This variable defaults to
`gnus-subscribe-alphabetically'.
If you don't want to mess with your `.newsrc' file, you can just set
the two variables `gnus-options-subscribe' and
`gnus-options-not-subscribe'. These two variables do exactly the same
as the `.newsrc' `options -n' trick. Both are regexps, and if the new
group matches the former, it will be unconditionally subscribed, and if
it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
Yet another variable that meddles here is
`gnus-auto-subscribed-groups'. It works exactly like
`gnus-options-subscribe', and is therefore really superfluous, but I
thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
that come from mail backends (`nnml', `nnbabyl', `nnfolder', `nnmbox',
and `nnmh') subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable
to `nil'.
New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
`gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method'.
File: gnus, Node: Changing Servers, Next: Startup Variables, Prev: The Active File, Up: Starting Up
Changing Servers
================
Sometimes it is necessary to move from one NNTP server to another.
This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
very flaky and you want to use another.
Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
`gnus-select-method' to point to the new server?
_Wrong!_
Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between
different NNTP servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what
articles you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when
you change `gnus-select-method', your `.newsrc' file becomes worthless.
Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a `.newsrc'
file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
common--they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
functions more than absolutely necessary.
If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for
all the articles you have read and compare `Message-ID's and map the
article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The `M-x
gnus-change-server' command will do this for all your native groups. It
will prompt for the method you want to move to.
You can also move individual groups with the `M-x
gnus-group-move-group-to-server' command. This is useful if you want to
move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your
marks and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the `M-x
gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups' command to clear out all data
that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
File: gnus, Node: Startup Files, Next: Auto Save, Prev: New Groups, Up: Starting Up
Startup Files
=============
Now, you all know about the `.newsrc' file. All subscription
information is traditionally stored in this file.
Things got a bit more complicated with GNUS. In addition to keeping
the `.newsrc' file updated, it also used a file called `.newsrc.el' for
storing all the information that didn't fit into the `.newsrc' file.
(Actually, it also duplicated everything in the `.newsrc' file.) GNUS
would read whichever one of these files was the most recently saved,
which enabled people to swap between GNUS and other newsreaders.
That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
`.newsrc' and `.newsrc.el' files, Gnus also has a file called
`.newsrc.eld'. It will read whichever of these files that are most
recent, but it will never write a `.newsrc.el' file. You should never
delete the `.newsrc.eld' file--it contains much information not stored
in the `.newsrc' file.
You can turn off writing the `.newsrc' file by setting
`gnus-save-newsrc-file' to `nil', which means you can delete the file
and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster. However,
this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than Gnus. But
hey, who would want to, right?
If `gnus-save-killed-list' (default `t') is `nil', Gnus will not
save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will save
both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It will
also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old, so the
automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless. You
should always set `gnus-check-new-newsgroups' to `nil' or `ask-server'
if you set this variable to `nil' (*note New Groups::). This variable
can also be a regular expression. If that's the case, remove all
groups that do not match this regexp before saving. This can be useful
in certain obscure situations that involve several servers where not
all servers support `ask-server'.
The `gnus-startup-file' variable says where the startup files are.
The default value is `~/.newsrc', with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup file
being whatever that one is, with a `.eld' appended.
`gnus-save-newsrc-hook' is called before saving any of the newsrc
files, while `gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook' is called just before saving
the `.newsrc.eld' file, and `gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook' is called
just before saving the `.newsrc' file. The latter two are commonly
used to turn version control on or off. Version control is on by
default when saving the startup files. If you want to turn backup
creation off, say something like:
(defun turn-off-backup ()
(set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
(add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
(add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
When Gnus starts, it will read the `gnus-site-init-file'
(`.../site-lisp/gnus' by default) and `gnus-init-file' (`~/.gnus' by
default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files and can be used to
avoid cluttering your `~/.emacs' and `site-init' files with Gnus stuff.
Gnus will also check for files with the same names as these, but with
`.elc' and `.el' suffixes. In other words, if you have set
`gnus-init-file' to `~/.gnus', it will look for `~/.gnus.elc',
`~/.gnus.el', and finally `~/.gnus' (in this order).
File: gnus, Node: Auto Save, Next: The Active File, Prev: Startup Files, Up: Starting Up
Auto Save
=========
Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading
articles, catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added
to a special "dribble buffer". This buffer is auto-saved the normal
Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
`.newsrc' files, all changes you have made can be recovered from this
file.
If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
is saved.
If `gnus-use-dribble-file' is `nil', Gnus won't create and maintain
a dribble buffer. The default is `t'.
Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in `gnus-dribble-directory'. If
this variable is `nil', which it is by default, Gnus will dribble into
the directory where the `.newsrc' file is located. (This is normally
the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same file
permissions as the `.newsrc' file.
If `gnus-always-read-dribble-file' is non-`nil', Gnus will read the
dribble file on startup without querying the user.
File: gnus, Node: The Active File, Next: Changing Servers, Prev: Auto Save, Up: Starting Up
The Active File
===============
When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether
new articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very
large file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match
the regexp `gnus-ignored-newsgroups'. This is done primarily to reject
any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, *note New
Groups:: for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network,
you can set `gnus-read-active-file' to `nil' to prevent Gnus from
reading the active file. This variable is `some' by default.
Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups
that you actually subscribe to.
Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
variable to `nil' will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
present, having this variable `nil' will slow Gnus down considerably,
unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
This variable can also have the value `some'. Gnus will then
attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
support the `LIST ACTIVE group' command), on others this isn't fast at
all. In any case, `some' should be faster than `nil', and is certainly
faster than `t' over slow lines.
If this variable is `nil', Gnus will ask for group info in total
lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is `some' and you use an NNTP
server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and read all the
replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better performance,
but if the server does not support the aforementioned `LIST ACTIVE
group' command, this isn't very nice to the server.
In any case, if you use `some' or `nil', you should definitely kill
all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
secondary select methods.
File: gnus, Node: Startup Variables, Prev: Changing Servers, Up: Starting Up
Startup Variables
=================
`gnus-load-hook'
A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
times you start Gnus.
`gnus-before-startup-hook'
A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
`gnus-startup-hook'
A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
`gnus-started-hook'
A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
successfully.
`gnus-started-hook'
A hook that is run after reading the `.newsrc' file(s), but before
generating the group buffer.
`gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups'
If non-`nil', Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
startup. A "bogus group" is a group that you have in your
`.newsrc' file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources
it's best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus
groups once in a while from the group buffer instead (*note Group
Maintenance::).
`gnus-inhibit-startup-message'
If non-`nil', the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news
instead of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
`.gnus.el' is loaded, so it should be set in `.emacs' instead.
`gnus-no-groups-message'
Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
`gnus-play-startup-jingle'
If non-`nil', play the Gnus jingle at startup.
`gnus-startup-jingle'
Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-`nil'. The
default is `Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au'.
File: gnus, Node: The Group Buffer, Next: The Summary Buffer, Prev: Starting Up, Up: Top
The Group Buffer
****************
The "group buffer" lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
long as Gnus is active.
* Menu:
* Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
* Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
* Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
* Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
* Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
* Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
* Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
* Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
* Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
* Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
* Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
* Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
* Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy `.newsrc' file.
* Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
* Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
* Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
* Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
File: gnus, Node: Group Buffer Format, Next: Group Maneuvering, Up: The Group Buffer
Group Buffer Format
===================
* Menu:
* Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
* Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
* Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
File: gnus, Node: Group Line Specification, Next: Group Modeline Specification, Up: Group Buffer Format
Group Line Specification
------------------------
The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
Here's a couple of example group lines:
25: news.announce.newusers
* 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
Quite simple, huh?
You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
`news.announce.newusers'. There are no unread articles, but some
ticked articles, in `alt.fan.andrea-dworkin' (see that little asterisk
at the beginning of the line?).
You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
`gnus-group-line-format' variable. This variable works along the lines
of a `format' specification, which is pretty much the same as a
`printf' specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C. *Note
Formatting Variables::.
`%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n' is the value that produced those lines above.
There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves
to the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is
required--not even the group name. All displayed text is just window
dressing, and is never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real
information it needs using text properties.
(Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
instead of wasting time reading news.)
Here's a list of all available format characters:
`M'
An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
`S'
Whether the group is subscribed.
`L'
Level of subscribedness.
`N'
Number of unread articles.
`I'
Number of dormant articles.
`T'
Number of ticked articles.
`R'
Number of read articles.
`t'
Estimated total number of articles. (This is really MAX-NUMBER
minus MIN-NUMBER plus 1.)
`y'
Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
`i'
Number of ticked and dormant articles.
`g'
Full group name.
`G'
Group name.
`D'
Newsgroup description.
`o'
`m' if moderated.
`O'
`(m)' if moderated.
`s'
Select method.
`n'
Select from where.
`z'
A string that looks like `<%s:%n>' if a foreign select method is
used.
`P'
Indentation based on the level of the topic (*note Group Topics::).
`c'
Short (collapsed) group name. The `gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels'
variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group
name. The default is 1--this will mean that group names like
`gnu.emacs.gnus' will be shortened to `g.emacs.gnus'.
`m'
`%' (`gnus-new-mail-mark') if there has arrived new mail to the
group lately.
`d'
A string that says when you last read the group (*note Group
Timestamp::).
`u'
User defined specifier. The next character in the format string
should be a letter. Gnus will call the function
`gnus-user-format-function-'`X', where `X' is the letter following
`%u'. The function will be passed a single dummy parameter as
argument. The function should return a string, which will be
inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
specifier.
All the "number-of" specs will be filled with an asterisk (`*') if
no info is available--for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
group, or a bogus native group.
File: gnus, Node: Group Modeline Specification, Next: Group Highlighting, Prev: Group Line Specification, Up: Group Buffer Format
Group Modeline Specification
----------------------------
The mode line can be changed by setting
`gnus-group-mode-line-format' (*note Mode Line Formatting::). It
doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
`S'
The native news server.
`M'
The native select method.
File: gnus, Node: Group Highlighting, Prev: Group Modeline Specification, Up: Group Buffer Format
Group Highlighting
------------------
Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
`gnus-group-highlight' variable. This is an alist with elements that
look like `(FORM . FACE)'. If FORM evaluates to something non-`nil',
the FACE will be used on the line.
Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
background is dark:
(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
'((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
'((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
'((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
'((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
(face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
'((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
(setq gnus-group-highlight
'(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
(t . my-group-face-5)))
Also *note Faces and Fonts::.
Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
include:
`group'
The group name.
`unread'
The number of unread articles in the group.
`method'
The select method.
`mailp'
Whether the group is a mail group.
`level'
The level of the group.
`score'
The score of the group.
`ticked'
The number of ticked articles in the group.
`total'
The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER
minus MIN-NUMBER plus one.
`topic'
When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the
current topic being inserted.
When the forms are `eval'ed, point is at the beginning of the line
of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
functions for snarfing info on the group.
`gnus-group-update-hook' is called when a group line is changed. It
will not be called when `gnus-visual' is `nil'. This hook calls
`gnus-group-highlight-line' by default.
File: gnus, Node: Group Maneuvering, Next: Selecting a Group, Prev: Group Buffer Format, Up: The Group Buffer
Group Maneuvering
=================
All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave
as expected, hopefully.
`n'
Go to the next group that has unread articles
(`gnus-group-next-unread-group').
`p'
`DEL'
Go to the previous group that has unread articles
(`gnus-group-prev-unread-group').
`N'
Go to the next group (`gnus-group-next-group').
`P'
Go to the previous group (`gnus-group-prev-group').
`M-n'
Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
(`gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level').
`M-p'
Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
(`gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level').
Three commands for jumping to groups:
`j'
Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
(`gnus-group-jump-to-group'). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
like living groups.
`,'
Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
(`gnus-group-best-unread-group').
`.'
Jump to the first group with unread articles
(`gnus-group-first-unread-group').
If `gnus-group-goto-unread' is `nil', all the movement commands will
move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even the commands
that say they move to the next unread group. The default is `t'.
File: gnus, Node: Selecting a Group, Next: Group Data, Prev: Group Maneuvering, Up: The Group Buffer
Selecting a Group
=================
`SPACE'
Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display
the first unread article (`gnus-group-read-group'). If there are
no unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical
prefix to this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old
articles in this group from the server. If you give a numerical
prefix N, N determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If
N is positive, Gnus fetches the N newest articles, if N is
negative, Gnus fetches the `abs(N)' oldest articles.
`RET'
Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
(`gnus-group-select-group'). Takes the same arguments as
`gnus-group-read-group'--the only difference is that this command
does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
entry.
`M-RET'
This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with
the minimum amount of fuzz (`gnus-group-quick-select-group'). No
scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and
no expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and
have to enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to
this command (i.e., `0 M-RET'), Gnus won't even generate the
summary buffer, which is useful if you want to toggle threading
before generating the summary buffer (*note Summary Generation
Commands::).
`M-SPACE'
This is yet one more command that does the same as the `RET'
command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
(`gnus-group-visible-select-group').
`M-C-RET'
Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
doing any processing of its contents
(`gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally'). Even threading has been
turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in
this manner will have no permanent effects.
The `gnus-large-newsgroup' variable says what Gnus should consider
to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
(unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
number (`-n'), the `n' oldest articles will be fetched. If it is
positive, the `n' articles that have arrived most recently will be
fetched.
`gnus-auto-select-first' control whether any articles are selected
automatically when entering a group with the `SPACE' command.
`nil'
Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display
the full summary buffer.
`t'
Select the first unread article when entering the group.
`best'
Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
group.
If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to `nil' in
`gnus-select-group-hook', which is called when a group is selected.
File: gnus, Node: Subscription Commands, Next: Group Levels, Prev: Group Data, Up: The Group Buffer
Subscription Commands
=====================
`S t'
`u'
Toggle subscription to the current group
(`gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group').
`S s'
`U'
Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
(`gnus-group-unsubscribe-group').
`S k'
`C-k'
Kill the current group (`gnus-group-kill-group').
`S y'
`C-y'
Yank the last killed group (`gnus-group-yank-group').
`C-x C-t'
Transpose two groups (`gnus-group-transpose-groups'). This isn't
really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
`S w'
`C-w'
Kill all groups in the region (`gnus-group-kill-region').
`S z'
Kill all zombie groups (`gnus-group-kill-all-zombies').
`S C-k'
Kill all groups on a certain level (`gnus-group-kill-level').
These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command
should be used with some caution. The only time where this
command comes in really handy is when you have a `.newsrc' with
lots of unsubscribed groups that you want to get rid off. `S C-k'
on level 7 will kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have
message numbers in the `.newsrc' file.
Also *note Group Levels::.
File: gnus, Node: Group Data, Next: Subscription Commands, Prev: Selecting a Group, Up: The Group Buffer
Group Data
==========
`c'
Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
(`gnus-group-catchup-current'). `gnus-group-catchup-group-hook'
is called when catching up a group from the group buffer.
`C'
Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
(`gnus-group-catchup-current-all').
`M-c'
Clear the data from the current group--nix out marks and the list
of read articles (`gnus-group-clear-data').
`M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
If you have switched from one NNTP server to another, all your
marks and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this
command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
Use with caution.
File: gnus, Node: Group Levels, Next: Group Score, Prev: Subscription Commands, Up: The Group Buffer
Group Levels
============
All groups have a level of "subscribedness". For instance, if a
group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower (*note
Listing Groups::), or to just check for new articles in groups on a
given level or lower (*note Scanning New Messages::).
Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it
is.
`S l'
Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given,
the next N groups will have their levels set. The user will be
prompted for a level.
Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to `gnus-level-subscribed'
(inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed, `gnus-level-subscribed'
(exclusive) and `gnus-level-unsubscribed' (inclusive) (default 7) to be
unsubscribed, `gnus-level-zombie' to be zombies (walking dead) (default
8) and `gnus-level-killed' to be killed (completely dead) (default 9).
Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the same, but
zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles you have
read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living groups
isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for reasons
of efficiency.
It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on
quite low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some
care. Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet,
don't touch them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
Two closely related variables are `gnus-level-default-subscribed'
(default 3) and `gnus-level-default-unsubscribed' (default 6), which
are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
(un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
relevant valid ranges.
If `gnus-keep-same-level' is non-`nil', some movement commands will
only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In particular, going
from the last article in one group to the next group will go to the
next group of the same level (or lower). This might be handy if you
want to read the most important groups before you read the rest.
All groups with a level less than or equal to
`gnus-group-default-list-level' will be listed in the group buffer by
default.
If `gnus-group-list-inactive-groups' is non-`nil', non-active groups
will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is `t' by
default. If it is `nil', inactive groups won't be listed.
If `gnus-group-use-permanent-levels' is non-`nil', once you give a
level prefix to `g' or `l', all subsequent commands will use this level
as the "work" level.
Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about)
groups on level `gnus-activate-level' or less. If you don't want to
activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
to 5. The default is 6.
File: gnus, Node: Group Score, Next: Marking Groups, Prev: Group Levels, Up: The Group Buffer
Group Score
===========
You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that
scheme is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus
sort the group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps?
Within reason?
This is what "group score" is for. You can assign a score to each
group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
the level and the score is called the "rank" of the group. A group
that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
part and the score is the least significant part.))
If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups
you read seldom you can add the `gnus-summary-bubble-group' function to
the `gnus-summary-exit-hook' hook. This will result (after sorting) in
a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in action after
each summary exit, you can add `gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank' or
`gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score' to the same hook, but that will slow
things down somewhat.
File: gnus, Node: Marking Groups, Next: Foreign Groups, Prev: Group Score, Up: The Group Buffer
Marking Groups
==============
If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they
appear subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
bidding on those groups.
However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
with the process mark and then execute the command.
`#'
`M m'
Set the mark on the current group (`gnus-group-mark-group').
`M-#'
`M u'
Remove the mark from the current group (`gnus-group-unmark-group').
`M U'
Remove the mark from all groups (`gnus-group-unmark-all-groups').
`M w'
Mark all groups between point and mark (`gnus-group-mark-region').
`M b'
Mark all groups in the buffer (`gnus-group-mark-buffer').
`M r'
Mark all groups that match some regular expression
(`gnus-group-mark-regexp').
Also *note Process/Prefix::.
If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been
marked with the process mark, you can use the `M-&'
(`gnus-group-universal-argument') command. It will prompt you for the
command to be executed.