21. Reception mode

21.1 Message topics

A list can be configured to have message topics (this notion is different from topics used to class mailing lists). Users can subscribe to these message topics in order to receive a subset of distributed messages : a message can have one or more topics and subscribers will receive only messages that have been tagged with a topic they are subscribed to. A message can be tagged automatically, by the message sender or by the list moderator.

21.1.1 Message topic definition in a list

Available message topics are defined by list parameters. Foreach new message topic, create a new msg_topic paragraph that defines the name and the title of the topic. If a thread is identified for the current message then the automatic procedure is performed. Else, to use automatic tagging, you should define keywords (See (20.4.13, page ) To define which part of the message is used for automatic tagging you have to define msg_topic_keywords_apply_on list parameter (See 20.4.14, page ). Tagging a message can be optional or it can be required, depending on the msg_topic_tagging list parameter (See (20.4.15,page ).

21.1.2 Subscribing to message topic for list subscribers

This functionnality is only available via ``normal'' reception mode. Subscribers can select message topic to receive messages tagged with this topic. To receive messages that were not tagged, users can subscribe to the topic ``other''. Message topics selected by a subscriber are stored in Sympa database (subscriber_table table).

21.1.3 Message tagging

First of all, if one or more msg_topic.keywords are defined, Sympa tries to tag messages automatically. To trigger manual tagging, by message sender or list moderator, on the web interface, Sympa uses authorization scenarios : if the resulted action is ``editorkey'' (for example in scenario send.editorkey), the list moderator is asked to tag the message. If the resulted action is ``request_auth'' (for example in scenario send.privatekey), the message sender is asked to tag the message. The following variables are available as scenario variables to customize tagging : topic, topic-sender, topic-editor, topic-auto, topic-needed. (See (13, page ) If message tagging is required and if it was not yet performed, Sympa will ask to the list moderator.

Tagging a message will create a topic information file in the /home/sympa/spool/topic/ spool. Its name is based on the listname and the Message-ID. For message distribution, a ``X-Sympa-Topic'' field is added to the message to allow members to use mail filters.