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| <title>HOWTO : Help Moderate netbeans.org Mailing Lists</title> |
| <meta name="description" content="HOWTO : Use the shared moderator mailbox to help moderate netbeans.org mailing lists"> |
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| <h1>Help Moderate netbeans.org Mailing Lists</h1> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><a href="#intro">Introduction</A></li> |
| <li><a href="#apply">Who Should Apply?</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#setup">Setting up your mail client</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#firewall">Behind a Firewall ?</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#next">OK, What Next ?</a></li> |
| <li><a href="#spam">Spam</a></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <a name="intro"><h2>Introduction</h2></a> |
| |
| <p>Most top-level lists on netbeans.org (like nbdev, nbusers, etc) are |
| "discuss" lists, in the list server terminology. Discuss lists are lists to |
| which you must be subscribed to post messages to. Any messages coming from an |
| email address that is not subscribed are bounced to moderators for evaluation.</p> |
| |
| <p>This is a very good way of stopping spam from getting through to the list and |
| hence all subscribers. It's not worth the effort for a spammer to actually |
| subscribe to a list before spamming it. The spams are bounced to the moderators |
| where they can be stopped and junked before being sent on to the list.</p> |
| |
| <p>However this kind of moderation can also delay legitimate posts from real |
| NetBeans users. All of the following scenarios will result in a valid post being |
| bounced to the moderators for approval :</p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>A user does not realise they need to be subscribed to post to nbusers. |
| They post their question to the list. |
| |
| <p><li>A user has 2 email addresses, eg work and home. One of those addresses |
| is subscribed, and from that address they post freely. Sometimes they post |
| from the other address, forgetting it is not subscribed. |
| |
| <p><li>A user in a corporate environment is subscribed to a list, and posts |
| freely. The company mail servers are reconfigured, and the "From" address of |
| messages she sends changes, without her knowledge. Such a change might be |
| something like "From : <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"><!-- |
| var user = "Jane"; |
| var domain = "company.com"; |
| var at = "@"; |
| document.write(user + at + domain); |
| //--></script><noscript> |
| Jane |
| @ |
| company.com |
| |
| </noscript>" to "From : <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"><!-- |
| var user = "Jane"; |
| var domain = "server.company.com"; |
| var at = "@"; |
| document.write(user + at + domain); |
| //--></script><noscript> |
| Jane |
| @ |
| server.company.com |
| </noscript>". |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>As described in the FAQ, <a href="http://wiki.netbeans.org/wiki/view/FaqMessageTakesLongToShow">moderation will delay these valid posts</a>. |
| The more moderators there are, the less delay there will be, and of course, |
| the less work for other moderators. |
| |
| <P>If you'd like to help moderate, here's how. |
| |
| <P><a name="apply"><h2>Who Should Apply ?</h2></A> |
| |
| <br>Moderation is a serious responsibility. Some of the netbeans.org lists are |
| very large, with thousands of subscribers. Only people that are known on the |
| lists and long term subscribers can be considered as moderators. This is to |
| prevent for eg an unknown spammer signing up, spamming all lists with some junk |
| or a virus, and then using her moderator position to approve all those spams. |
| |
| |
| <p>If you think you qualify, and you'd like to help moderate, please <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> |
| <!-- |
| var user = "webmaster"; |
| var domain = "netbeans.org"; |
| var at = "@"; |
| document.write('<a href="mailto:' + user + at + domain + '">get in touch</a>'); |
| //--> |
| </script> |
| <noscript> |
| <a href="mailto:webmaster@netbeans.org">get in touch</a> |
| </noscript> |
| . |
| |
| <P><A NAME="setup"><h2>Setting up your mail client</h2></A> |
| |
| <BR>A shared Moderator account where all moderation messages are sent has |
| been set up for moderators use. By configuring your mail client to access this |
| mailbox, you can see the queue of messages waiting for moderation. If you |
| approve or reject those msgs in the queue, and delete them from the mailbox, the |
| next moderator to log in will only see any new messages that have not yet been |
| processed. |
| |
| <P>Following are instructions for setting up Mozilla and Thunderbird mail clients |
| to access this shared mailbox. If you are behind a firewall, also see |
| <a href="#firewall">the following section</a>. |
| |
| <P><A NAME="moz"><B>Thunderbird 1.0.* / Mozilla 1.x / Netscape 7.x</B></A> |
| |
| <P><UL> |
| |
| <LI>From the Edit Menu, choose Account Settings [Thunderbird] / Mail and Newsgroup Account Settings [Mozilla 1.x / Netscape 7.x] |
| |
| <p><LI>On the panel that opens, Click Add Account. Follow through |
| the wizard, using these settings : |
| |
| <P> Type of Acct : Email |
| <BR> Enter your real name and email as normal |
| <BR> Select IMAP |
| <BR> Server name is <TT>pop.netbeans.info</TT> |
| <BR> Username : <TT>moderator</TT> |
| <BR> Account Name : whatever you like, eg NetBeans Moderator |
| |
| <P>Click OK. You should now see the account listed on the left. |
| |
| <P><LI>Select "Server Settings" for the Moderator acct. |
| |
| <P> When I delete a msg : <tt>Move it to Trash</tt> |
| |
| <BR> Check <TT>Expunge Inbox on Exit</TT> |
| <BR> DO NOT CHECK <TT>Empty Trash on Exit</TT> |
| |
| <P><LI>Click Advanced. |
| |
| <P> Check <TT>Show only subscribed folders</TT> |
| |
| <BR> UNCheck <TT>Server supports folders than contain sub-folders and msgs</TT> |
| <BR> Leave Personal / Public / Other Namespaces fields blank |
| <BR> UNCheck <TT>Allow server to override these namespaces</TT> |
| |
| <P><LI>Select "Copies and Folders" |
| |
| <P>When sending msgs : Using the "Sent" on Moderator option will not work, you should check the |
| "Other" radio button, and via the combo-box choose <tt>Moderator -> Inbox -> Sent</tt> |
| |
| <P>Click OK to close the Account panel. You should see your new NetBeans |
| Moderator account listed under your normal account and folder list on the left. |
| |
| <LI>Select (click on) the new Moderator account. |
| |
| <p><LI>From the File menu, choose Subscribe |
| |
| <p><LI>You will be prompted for a password - enter the password you received when <a href="#apply">your moderator application</a> was accepted. |
| |
| <p><LI>From the list of mailboxes, check (subscribe to) : |
| <br> Inbox |
| <br> Sent |
| <br> Spam |
| <br> Trash |
| |
| <p><li>Outgoing Server (SMTP) - just use your default SMTP server here, your mail |
| client should automatically fill that in. Do not use pop.netbeans.info. |
| </li> |
| </UL> |
| |
| <P>You're done. See <a href="#next">OK, What Next</a> below to start moderating.</p> |
| |
| <a name="firewall"><h2>Behind a Firewall ?</h2></a> |
| |
| <p>If you are behind a corporate firewall it will not be possible to connect |
| directly to netbeans.info mail server. In this case you may be able to set up a |
| <i>port forwarding SSH tunnel</i> to the mail server. You will need a login |
| account on some SSH server, somewhere, it doesn't matter where.</p> |
| |
| <p><b>Setting up email client</b> |
| <br>Steps are almost the same as described in the previous section <a href="#setup">Setting up your mail client</a>, except : |
| |
| <br><ul> |
| <li>Server name is: <TT>localhost</TT></li> |
| <li>Server port is: <tt>4500</tt></li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <br>All other settings are the same.</p> |
| |
| <p><b>Setting up the SSH tunnel</b> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li><b><a name="lin">Linux users</a></b> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Open a new ssh connection to <tt>host</tt> with this command (where user is your login name, |
| and host is the host you have an account on) : |
| <p> <tt>ssh -L 4500:pop.netbeans.info:143 user@host</tt></li> |
| |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| |
| <li><b><a name="win">Windows users</a></b> |
| <ul> |
| <li>Use your favourite SSH client, or if you don't have one, download and install |
| <a href="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html">Putty</a> (free Win32 Telnet and SSH client). |
| Directions here are for Putty, but other clients should be similar.</li> |
| <li>Open an SSH connection using Putty |
| <ul> |
| <li>enter the hostname of the host you have an account on</li> |
| <li>port: <TT>22</TT>, Protocol: <TT>SSH</TT></li> |
| <li>in the left menu click: <i>Connection -> SSH -> Tunnels</i> </li> |
| <li>in bottom part of the form insert following - Source port: <TT>4500</TT>, Destination: <TT>pop.netbeans.info:143</TT> </li> |
| <li>leave <tt>Local</tt> radio checked</li> |
| <li>click <tt>Add</tt></li> |
| <li>click <tt>Open</tt></li> |
| <li>enter appropriate password</li> |
| </ul> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>You're done. As long as this tunnel connection is open, you will be able to |
| connect to the netbeans.info mail server. See <a href="#next">OK, What Next</a> below |
| to start moderating. |
| |
| <P><A NAME="next"><h2>OK, What Next ?</h2></A> |
| |
| <BR>Once your client is configured, and you can see the contents |
| of the moderator mailbox, you can start moderating. |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>Choose a msg. You'll see a standard message from the list server, with 2 |
| long email addresses in the body - one address including the word "accept", and |
| one including "reject". Attached to this is the message that has been |
| moderated. |
| |
| <p><li>View the attachment, and establish if it is a real message, |
| or spam, or something inappropriate for the list. Remember some "real" messages |
| are still not appropriate for delivery to lists - eg an unsubscribe reqeust should |
| be rejected. <I><B>Please be careful with your evaluation!</B></I> If in doubt, |
| leave the message alone. |
| |
| <p><li>If it is a valid message, you need to send a (blank) message to the |
| "accept" address. Exactly how to do this depends on your mail client - in |
| Mozilla, Netscape and Thunderbird it is as easy as clicking on the accept link |
| displayed in the message. Whatever you do, carefully verify that the address |
| you are about to send to is the real "accept" address, and only the real accept |
| address (no cc's), and send the message. |
| |
| <p><li>If it is spam, please move (drag-and-drop) the message to the Spam folder |
| - we are tracking spam to provide data to CollabNet. You do not need to explicitly |
| reject a spam message - without a response, the server will automatically reject |
| the message after 7 days. |
| |
| <P><LI>If it is a real message, but somehow not appropriate for the list it was |
| posted to, you might want to reject it, but give an explanation to the original |
| poster. To do this, send a message to the "reject" address (eg by clicking the |
| reject link in the message), and add your message between the following special |
| markers : |
| |
| <p><tt> %%% Start comment |
| <br> %%% End comment</tt> |
| |
| <p>Anything you write between these lines will be sent to the |
| original poster, so you could explain why you are disapproving |
| the msg and suggest an alternative list for them to post to. |
| |
| <p>Here's an example I use to reject unsubscription requests, feel free to |
| copy-paste it as a template : |
| |
| <p><pre>%%% Start comment |
| Hello, |
| |
| I'm a moderator for the netbeans.org mailing lists. I've just rejected the |
| "unsubscribe" message you posted recently, as such messages should not go |
| the lists themselves. |
| |
| There are unsubscribe links on the main lists page : |
| |
| https://netbeans.org/community/lists/top.html |
| |
| If you're having trouble, please see the the list FAQ, and the unsubscribe |
| guide : |
| |
| http://wiki.netbeans.org/wiki/view/NetBeansUserFAQ#section-NetBeansUserFAQ-MailingLists |
| https://netbeans.org/community/lists/unsubscribe.html |
| |
| If you're still having trouble please get back to me with details. |
| |
| Thanks, and |
| Best Regards, |
| -- |
| |
| %%% End comment |
| |
| </pre> |
| |
| <p><li><b>This step is critical!</B> Once you're done, no matter whether you |
| approved or rejected the message, <I>DELETE the message you have just |
| processed</I>. This way it is cleared from the queue, and the next moderator to |
| come along doesn't need to look at it again. |
| |
| <p> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p>That's it. Thank you for helping! Remember, if in doubt, just leave the |
| message along, someone else can evaluate it. Any problems or questions |
| please contact <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> |
| <!-- |
| var user = "webmaster"; |
| var domain = "netbeans.org"; |
| var at = "@"; |
| document.write('<a href="mailto:' + user + at + domain + '">webmaster@netbeans.org</a>'); |
| //--> |
| |
| </script> |
| <noscript> |
| <a href="mailto:webmaster@netbeans.org">webmaster@netbeans.org</a> |
| </noscript> |
| |
| <p><a name="spam"><h2>Spam</h2></a> |
| <br>It wont take long before you realise the huge volume of spam that moderating |
| stops getting to the lists. That's good for the lists, but of course more messages |
| for moderators to review. |
| |
| <p>More content to come. |
| |
| |
| </body> |
| </html> |
