1 GNUS NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
3 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
4 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
5 See the end of the file for license conditions.
7 Please send Gnus bug reports to bugs@gnus.org.
8 For older news, see Gnus info node "New Features".
11 * Installation changes
13 ** Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
15 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
16 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
17 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
18 `.marks' (nnml) and `.mrk' (nnfolder) files, so that flags are read from
19 your `.newsrc.eld' instead of from the `.marks'/`.mrk' file where this
20 release store flags. See a later entry for more information about
21 marks. Note that downgrading isn't save in general.
23 ** Lisp files are now installed in `.../site-lisp/gnus/' by default. It
24 defaulted to `.../site-lisp/' formerly. In addition to this, the new
25 installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which will shadow
26 the latest one are detected. You can then remove those shadows manually
27 or remove them using `make remove-installed-shadows'.
29 ** The installation directory name is allowed to have spaces and/or tabs.
31 ** New `make.bat' for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
33 Use `make.bat' if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the first
34 argument to the batch-program should be the directory where `xemacs.exe'
35 respectively `emacs.exe' is located, if you want to install Gnus after
36 compiling it, give `make.bat' `/copy' as the second parameter.
38 `make.bat' has been rewritten from scratch, it now features automatic
39 recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates `gnus-load.el', checks if
40 errors occur while compilation and generation of info files and reports
41 them at the end of the build process. It now uses `makeinfo' if it is
42 available and falls back to `infohack.el' otherwise. `make.bat' should
43 now install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
44 complete replacement for the `configure; make; make install' cycle used
47 The new `make.bat' makes `make-x.bat' and `xemacs.mak' superfluous, so
48 they have been removed.
50 ** `~/News/overview/' not used.
52 As a result of the following change, the `~/News/overview/' directory is
53 not used any more. You can safely delete the entire hierarchy.
55 ** `(require 'gnus-load)'
57 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add `(require
58 'gnus-load)' into your `~/.emacs' after adding the Gnus lisp directory
61 File `gnus-load.el' contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
62 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
66 * New packages and libraries within Gnus
68 ** The revised Gnus FAQ is included in the manual, *Note Frequently Asked
71 ** TLS wrapper shipped with Gnus
73 TLS/SSL is now supported in IMAP and NNTP via `tls.el' and GNUTLS. The
74 old TLS/SSL support via (external third party) `ssl.el' and OpenSSL
77 ** Improved anti-spam features.
79 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams using
80 a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
81 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks for
82 easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash are also
83 new. *Note Thwarting Email Spam::.
85 ** Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
87 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
88 complete Sieve script is generated using `D g' from the Group buffer,
89 and then uploaded to the server using `C-c C-l' in the generated Sieve
90 buffer. *Note Sieve Commands::, and the new Sieve manual *Note Top:
95 * Changes in group mode
97 ** `gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group' can be called interactively, using `G
100 ** Retrieval of charters and control messages
102 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (`H c') and
103 control messages (`H C').
105 ** The new variable `gnus-parameters' can be used to set group parameters.
107 Earlier this was done only via `G p' (or `G c'), which stored the
108 parameters in `~/.newsrc.eld', but via this variable you can enjoy the
109 powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the variable
110 in `~/.gnus.el' instead of `~/.newsrc.eld'. The variable maps regular
111 expressions matching group names to group parameters, a'la:
112 (setq gnus-parameters
114 (gnus-show-threads nil)
115 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
116 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
117 (to-group . "\\1"))))
119 ** Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
121 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
122 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
123 `nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news' from the
124 `gnus-setup-news-hook' (called on startup) and
125 `gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook'. (called after getting new mail). If
126 you have modified those variables from the default, you may want to add
127 `nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news' again. If you were happy
128 with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time when getting new
129 mail, remove the function.
131 ** Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
133 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
134 `gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist' and
135 `gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist' for customization.
137 ** `gnus-group-charset-alist' and `gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist'.
139 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
140 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these variables
141 should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
142 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
144 ** Old intermediate incoming mail files (`Incoming*') are deleted after a
145 couple of days, not immediately. *Note Mail Source Customization::.
146 (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
149 * Changes in summary and article mode
151 ** `F' (`gnus-article-followup-with-original') and `R'
152 (`gnus-article-reply-with-original') only yank the text in the region if
153 the region is active.
155 ** In draft groups, `e' is now bound to `gnus-draft-edit-message'. Use `B
156 w' for `gnus-summary-edit-article' instead.
160 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
161 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. *Note Article Buttons::.
162 The variables `gnus-button-*-level' can be used to control the
163 appearance of all article buttons. *Note Article Button Levels::.
165 ** Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
169 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs--some of the
170 previous options have been removed or renamed.
172 Picons are small "personal icons" representing users, domain and
173 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer. *Note
176 ** If the new option `gnus-treat-body-boundary' is non-`nil', a boundary
177 line is drawn at the end of the headers.
179 ** Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with `W p'.
181 ** The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
182 article. Use `(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)' to disable it.
184 ** Warn about email replies to news
186 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
187 the new option `gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news' is just the thing for
190 ** If the new option `gnus-summary-display-while-building' is non-`nil',
191 the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being built.
193 ** The new `recent' mark `.' indicates newly arrived messages (as opposed
194 to old but unread messages).
196 ** Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
197 related commands in mailing list groups. *Note Mailing List::.
199 ** The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud in
200 English. *Note Article Date::.
202 ** diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
203 `mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp'
205 ** Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
207 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
208 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
209 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
210 `gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp' matches the start of these
213 The new command `W Y f' (`gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article') allows
214 deuglifying broken Outlook (Express) articles.
216 ** `gnus-article-skip-boring'
218 If you set `gnus-article-skip-boring' to `t', then Gnus will not scroll
219 down to show you a page that contains only boring text, which by default
220 means cited text and signature. You can customize what is skippable
221 using `gnus-article-boring-faces'.
223 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that consist
224 of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed message cited
227 ** Smileys (`:-)', `;-)' etc) are now displayed graphically in Emacs too.
229 Put `(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)' in `~/.gnus.el' to disable
232 ** Face headers handling. *Note Face::.
234 ** In the summary buffer, the new command `/ N' inserts new messages and `/
235 o' inserts old messages.
237 ** Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press `W m'.
239 ** `gnus-summary-line-format'
241 The default value changed to `%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n'.
242 Moreover `gnus-extra-headers', `nnmail-extra-headers' and
243 `gnus-ignored-from-addresses' changed their default so that the users
244 name will be replaced by the recipient's name or the group name posting
247 ** Deleting of attachments.
249 The command `gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip' (bound to `C-o' on MIME
250 buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an external one.
251 `gnus-mime-delete-part' (bound to `d' on MIME buttons) removes a part.
252 It works only on back ends that support editing.
254 ** `gnus-default-charset'
256 The default value is determined from the `current-language-environment'
257 variable, instead of `iso-8859-1'. Also the `.*' item in
258 `gnus-group-charset-alist' is removed.
260 ** Printing capabilities are enhanced.
262 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with `O P' from the Summary and Article
263 buffers. Also, each individual MIME part can be printed using `p' on
266 ** Extended format specs.
268 Format spec `%&user-date;' is added into
269 `gnus-summary-line-format-alist'. Also, user defined extended format
270 specs are supported. The extended format specs look like `%u&foo;',
271 which invokes function `gnus-user-format-function-FOO'. Because `&' is
272 used as the escape character, old user defined format `%u&' is no longer
275 ** `/ *' (`gnus-summary-limit-include-cached') is rewritten.
277 It was aliased to `Y c' (`gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles'). The
278 new function filters out other articles.
280 ** Some limiting commands accept a `C-u' prefix to negate the match.
282 If `C-u' is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., `/ s', `/
283 a', and `/ x' (`gnus-summary-limit-to-{subject,author,extra}')
284 respectively, the result will be to display all articles that do not
285 match the expression.
287 ** Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
291 * Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
295 You can delay the sending of a message with `C-c C-j' in the Message
296 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
297 for sending yourself reminders. *Note Delayed Articles::.
299 ** If the new option `nnml-use-compressed-files' is non-`nil', the nnml
300 back end allows compressed message files.
302 ** The new option `gnus-gcc-mark-as-read' automatically marks Gcc articles
305 ** Externalizing of attachments
307 If `gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments' or
308 `message-fcc-externalize-attachments' is non-`nil', attach local files
311 ** The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
312 *Note Mail Variables: (message)Mail Variables.
314 ** Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
316 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
317 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
318 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
319 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
320 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead, see
321 another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by default.
322 See the variables `message-required-headers',
323 `message-required-news-headers', and `message-required-mail-headers'.
325 ** Features from third party `message-utils.el' added to `message.el'.
327 Message now asks if you wish to remove `(was: <old subject>)' from
328 subject lines (see `message-subject-trailing-was-query'). `C-c M-m' and
329 `C-c M-f' inserts markers indicating included text. `C-c C-f a' adds a
330 X-No-Archive: header. `C-c C-f x' inserts appropriate headers and a
331 note in the body for cross-postings and followups (see the variables
332 `message-cross-post-*').
334 ** References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
335 start composing messages and `message-generate-headers-first' is `nil'.
337 ** Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. *Note X-Face::.
339 ** Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
341 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
342 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
343 variables such as `gnus-message-archive-group' should no longer contain
344 quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if you are
345 using the string `nnml:foo, nnml:bar' (indicating Gcc into two groups)
346 you must change it to return the list `("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")',
347 otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted incorrectly. Note that returning
348 the string `nnml:foo, nnml:bar' was incorrect earlier, it just didn't
349 generate any problems since it was inserted directly.
351 ** `message-insinuate-rmail'
353 Adding `(message-insinuate-rmail)' and `(setq mail-user-agent
354 'gnus-user-agent)' in `.emacs' convinces Rmail to compose, reply and
355 forward messages in message-mode, where you can enjoy the power of MML.
357 ** `message-minibuffer-local-map'
359 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
360 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
363 ** `gnus-posting-styles'
365 Add a new format of match like
366 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
367 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
368 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
369 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
370 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
372 ** `message-ignored-news-headers' and `message-ignored-mail-headers'
374 `X-Draft-From' and `X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information' have been added into
375 these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you need add
376 those two headers too.
378 ** Gnus supports the "format=flowed" (RFC 2646) parameter. On composing
379 messages, it is enabled by `use-hard-newlines'. Decoding format=flowed
380 was present but not documented in earlier versions.
382 ** The option `mm-fill-flowed' can be used to disable treatment of
383 "format=flowed" messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
384 inline PGP signed messages. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
386 ** Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification
389 This is invoked with the `C-c M-n' key binding from message mode.
391 ** Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
393 In the message buffer, `C-c C-f C-i' or `C-c C-u' cycles through the
396 ** Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
398 This means a header `Cancel-Lock' is inserted in news posting. It is
399 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
400 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
401 you post a message, and saves it in your `~/.emacs' using the Custom
402 system. While the variable is called `canlock-password', it is not
403 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web will
404 not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do. The
405 behavior can be changed by customizing `message-insert-canlock'.
407 ** Gnus supports PGP (RFC 1991/2440), PGP/MIME (RFC 2015/3156) and S/MIME
410 It needs an external S/MIME and OpenPGP implementation, but no
411 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
412 Attachments menu, and `C-c RET' key bindings, when composing messages.
413 This also obsoletes `gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook'.
415 ** MML (Mime compose) prefix changed from `M-m' to `C-c C-m'.
417 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
418 `back-to-indentation', which is also useful in message mode.
420 ** The default for `message-forward-show-mml' changed to the symbol `best'.
422 The behavior for the `best' value is to show MML (i.e., convert to MIME)
423 when appropriate. MML will not be used when forwarding signed or
424 encrypted messages, as the conversion invalidate the digital signature.
426 ** If `auto-compression-mode' is enabled, attachments are automatically
427 decompressed when activated.
429 ** Support for non-ASCII domain names
431 Message supports non-ASCII domain names in From:, To: and Cc: and will
432 query you whether to perform encoding when you try to send a message.
433 The variable `message-use-idna' controls this. Gnus will also decode
434 non-ASCII domain names in From:, To: and Cc: when you view a message.
435 The variable `gnus-use-idna' controls this.
437 ** You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer. See
438 `mml-dnd-protocol-alist' and `mml-dnd-attach-options'. *Note MIME:
441 ** `auto-fill-mode' is enabled by default in Message mode. See
442 `message-fill-column'. *Note Message Headers: (message)Various Message
443 Variables. (New in Gnus 5.10.12 / Emacs 22.3)
447 * Changes in back ends
449 ** Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. *Note RSS::.
451 ** The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
453 ** Gnus supports Maildir groups.
455 Gnus includes a new back end `nnmaildir.el'. *Note Maildir::.
457 ** The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
459 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
460 separately of `~/.newsrc.eld', while preserving marks. It also makes it
461 possible to share articles and marks between users (without sharing the
462 `~/.newsrc.eld' file) within e.g. a department. It works by storing the
463 marks stored in `~/.newsrc.eld' in a per-group file `.marks' (for nnml)
464 and `GROUPNAME.mrk' (for nnfolder, named GROUPNAME). If the
465 nnml/nnfolder is moved to another machine, Gnus will automatically use
466 the `.marks' or `.mrk' file instead of the information in
467 `~/.newsrc.eld'. The new server variables `nnml-marks-is-evil' and
468 `nnfolder-marks-is-evil' can be used to disable this feature.
474 ** The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named "Misc" has been
477 ** The menu bar item (in Message mode) named "MML" has been renamed to
478 "Attachments". Note that this menu also contains security related
479 stuff, like signing and encryption (*note Security: (message)Security.).
481 ** The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
482 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: `M-x customize-apropos
483 RET -tool-bar$' should get you started. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
485 ** The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly in the group buffer,
486 see the variable `gnus-group-update-tool-bar'. Its default value
487 depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature in Gnus 5.10.9.
490 * Miscellaneous changes
494 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
495 and all nntp and nnimap servers from `gnus-select-method' and
496 `gnus-secondary-select-method' are agentized by default. Earlier only
497 the server in `gnus-select-method' was agentized by the default, and the
498 agent was disabled by default. When the agent is enabled, headers are
499 now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead of the back ends when
500 possible. Earlier this only happened in the unplugged state. You can
501 enroll or remove servers with `J a' and `J r' in the server buffer.
502 Gnus will not download articles into the Agent cache, unless you
503 instruct it to do so, though, by using `J u' or `J s' from the Group
504 buffer. You revert to the old behavior of having the Agent disabled
505 with `(setq gnus-agent nil)'. Note that putting `(gnus-agentize)' in
506 `~/.gnus.el' is not needed any more.
508 ** Gnus reads the NOV and articles in the Agent if plugged.
510 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
511 the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. `(setq gnus-agent-cache
512 nil)' reverts to the old behavior.
516 `gnus-dired-minor-mode' (see *Note Other modes::) installs key bindings
517 in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file using the
518 appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap entry.
520 ** The format spec `%C' for positioning point has changed to `%*'.
522 ** `gnus-slave-unplugged'
524 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
528 * For older news, see Gnus info node "New Features".
530 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
532 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
534 GNU Emacs is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
535 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
536 the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)
539 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
540 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
541 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
542 GNU General Public License for more details.
544 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
545 along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
546 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
547 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
552 paragraph-separate: "[
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