Synchronet ListGate Installation/Configuration
==============================================

$Id: listgate.txt,v 1.1 2005/01/03 05:23:33 rswindell Exp $

Overview
--------
The Synchronet ListGate (exec/listgate.js) allows a sysop to gate one or more
sub-boards (message areas) with existing, remotely hosted, Internet mailing
lists.


Requirements
------------
The Synchronet ListGate requires Synchronet v3.12 or later.


How it works
------------
The Synchronet ListGate module (listgate.js) actually only handles the
"exporting" of new messages posted to the local sub-board to the mailing list
(sent as SMTP e-mail messages). The "importing" of messages from the mailing
list is handled by a special feature of the Synchronet SMTP server which
allows messages received for specific addresses to be posted to local
sub-boards.


Configuration
-------------
1. If you haven't already, create the message area (sub-board) in SCFG that
   you want to gate with an existing mailing list. Be sure to make a note
   of the configured "internal code".

   If you set the access or posting requirements, you'll need to append
   "OR USER=0" to the requirements string(s) to allow posts from
   unauthenticated SMTP clients.

2. Edit your ctrl/listgate.ini file, creating a separate section for
   each sub-board that will be gated. Example (if "mysub" is the internal
   code for the gated sub-board and "mybbs.com" is the BBS's public
   host or domain name for receiving e-mail):

   [mysub]
        to = listname@listserver.com
        from = listname@mybbs.com

   If the line "disabled=true" is included in the file, remove it to enable
   the listgate.

3. Edit your ctrl/alias.cfg file, adding a line to accept submissions from
   the mailing list as posts to the locally gated sub-board:

   listname sub:mysub

   This will redirect any SMTP e-mail messages received for 
   "listname@mybbs.com" as posts to the sub-board "mysub".

4. Configure your account on the list server (if you can) to not "echo back"
   any submissions received from you. This will prevent the dreaded "dupe
   loop" you would otherwise encounter.

   The listgate module will automatically not export any messages that were
   posted via SMTP (preventing any "dupe loop" from the BBS to the list).

5. Setup a timed event (in SCFG->External Programs->Timed Events) to run the
   command-line "?listgate.js" periodically. This will export any new messages
   in the sub-board(s) configured in listgate.ini as e-mail submissions to the
   mailing list.


Maintenance
-----------
The export pointers are kept in the file data/subs/code.listgate.ptr, where 
"code" is the sub-board's internal code.

You can execute "?listgate.js -u" to update the export pointers *without*
actually exporting any existing messages to the list, or you may execute
"?listgate -r" to reset the export pointers, so that *all* the existing
messages in the sub-board will be exported to the mailing list
(even if they were previously exported).

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