This setting determines whether this mailing list will be
available as a newsgroup.
Lyris is capable of feeding your
mailing list as a secure, private newsgroup.
If your user has Netscape, or
Internet Explorer 4 (or newer), they can access the newsgroup with the URL
news://server-name/listname. Alternatively, they can get a list of mailing
lists and choose the lists they want to use by going to news://server-name. The
"server-name" is the Internet machine name of the machine running
Lyris, typically the same machine name users receive email from.
If your users do not have Netscape,
or Internet Explorer 4 (or newer) they can access your group by defining your
Lyris server as their default Newsgroup server. For example, Forte
"Agent" and Internet Explorer 3 use this method.
Note that Lyris implements all the
same security for newsgroups as apply to mailing lists. Thus, if your list is
set to "allow visitors", then non-members will be able to read your
newsgroup without joining. If your list is set to not allow visitors, only
members will be allowed to read.
If a user is using Netscape, and
they try to access a group which does not allow visitors, Netscape will automatically
prompt the user for their name (which is their email address) and their
password (if they have one). Lyris will then determine if they are a valid
user, and if they are allowed to read the group. If they are not, they will not
get any further access to the group. If they are, Lyris will determine for
which groups this name/password combination is valid, and allow them access to
these groups. If they try to access a group they are not authenticated for,
Netscape will again prompt them for a name and password.
Most news browsers do not ask for a
name or password as needed, but rather ask for this information as part of the
static configuration of the News browser. Agent and Internet Explorer 3 work
this way. If they are using one of these browsers, they will need to enter
their email address as their Newsgroup name, and their list password into their
News browser, and then Lyris will let them in. One problem with these browsers
is that if the user has different passwords on different lists, Lyris will only
let the user into the lists for which their name/password combination is valid.
Netscape is the only browser we know of which will ask for name/passwords as
needed. We recommend that most users use Netscape 4 for accessing Lyris
newsgroups, as this is currently the only Newsgroup browser that supports the
latest security, multi-server and full text searching features in the NNTP
protocol.
Lyris also allows posting via a
news browser. Postings via news browsers are treated exactly as if they came in
via email. They are subject to all the same moderation, membership and security
requirements that normal email is subject to. If a posting via a News browser
is rejected, the poster will receive notification of this via an email message.
Lyris also supports Newsgroup full
text searching. At current time, only Netscape 4 supports this feature. To use
it, right-click on the Newsgroup name, and choose "search". You will
be able to build a complex boolean search with multiple terms, and NOT terms as
well. Lyris will execute your search extremely quickly, thanks to its full text
index.
Note: the "Lyris List
Server" program includes a demonstration version of the Newsgroups
support. Long messages will be truncated, and each message viewed through the
Newsgroups interface will have a disclaimer footer appended to it. If you
decide that you want to have the full Lyris Newsgroups support, you can upgrade
to the Lyris MultiView List Server. The upgrade only requires a new serial
number -- no reinstallation is necessary.