[Mailman-Users] private lists with real name signatures

[Mark Sapiro]

Doug Gaff wrote:

>(Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I recently switched to a VPS, and now finally have access to the mailman install.)
>
>As mentioned in the old thread, I'd like add %(member_name) and %(member_address) as variables that can be used in the msg_header and msg_footer fields if desired by the list administrator. The idea is that messages sent to an anonymous mailing list could have msg_header set to this:
>
>%(member_name) writes:
>
>And in the subscription list, member_name would be the "handle" used by each person. This way, the email addresses stay anonymous, but the messages are still signed. Consider it "semi-anonymous". :)


Presumably these variables would be the poster's name and address, not
the recipient's since the latter would require personalized delivery
and are already available as

# user_address - The address of the user, coerced to lower case.
# user_delivered_to - The case-preserved address that the user is
subscribed with.
# user_name - The user's full name.

when delivery is personalized.


>I'm not totally getting the custom handler thing, and I need this only for one of the lists I host. Something the list admin could setup if desired. It seems like a handler would fire for everyone. A better solution, if a hack, would be to modify the mailman source code, but I could use some pointers on where to get started.


The handler as described at
<http://mail.python.org/pipermail/mailman-users/2010-May/069573.html>
will work for the poster's name. You would need to augment it if you
wanted to add the poster's address, but if you were adding the
poster's address, it seems it would be easier to just not make the
list anonymous in the first place.

I don't know why you think modifying the existing code would be better?
First, it is easier to make a custom handler operate on only one or a
few lists than it is to make code modification do so. See the FAQ at
<http://wiki.list.org/x/l4A9>. Second, all the handler would do is
make additional substitution variables available for msg_header and
msg_footer. It would still be up to the list admin to make use of them.

If you need more help with a custom handler than is in the FAQ at
<http://wiki.list.org/x/l4A9>, please try to ask a more specific
question and we'll try to help.

-- 
Mark Sapiro <mark at msapiro.net>        The highway is for gamblers,
San Francisco Bay Area, California    better use your sense - B. Dylan