test

Jim Flom j said:

Mozilla test number 1

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I would
like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For example, I'd
like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no interest in.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jim Flom j said:

Mozilla test number 1

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I would
like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For example, I'd
like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no interest in.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jeff Starr said:

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I would
like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For example, I'd
like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no interest in.

Been using Thunderbird [standalone Mozilla mail/groups client] for
email, myself, and seeing your message, I decided to give it a try. I
can't figure out how to delete messages at all, except dragging them
into a trash folder elsewhere.

However, ignoring a thread would suffice for threads in which you're not
at all interested. Else, you can mark the whole thread as read, and view
only unread messages.

I usually use Agent for my newsreader.
--
Rick "Using an obsolete version of Thunderbird anyway" Onanian

Jeff Starr said:

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I would
like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For example, I'd
like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no interest in.

If you want the ULTIMATE in control and flexibility, Xnews can't be beat.
http://xnews.newsguy.com/ You will however spend a lot of time learning how
to use it. Here is a recent post by an Xnews user explaining some of the
things he does with it. Check the bit about scoring, it gives you great
control over what you see and highlight and kill.

Subject: Re: Agent-XNews Wars Heat Up! -- Film At 11
From: Tech Zero <[email hidden]>
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.vcd.d
User-Agent: Xnews/06.01.10

The voice of "Dr. Mercury" drifted in on the cyber-winds,
from the sea of virtual chaos...

Quoted message said:

sittingduck said:

Dr. Mercury said:

As I recall, the only thing it offered over Agent was the
multi-server ability. Was there anything else?

Let the contest begin!

Quoted message said:

The interface is extremely flexible.

I would also call Agent's interface "extremely flexible". You can
arrange the tool bar any way you want, including creating your own
buttons from this mega-list of functions, and you can have the
layout (subject box, message box, group box) any way you want
them. Fonts can be proportional or non. There are boxes, like
the one with the Followup-To and sig file selections, which snap
closed when not required, leaving more window space for the other
boxes. All in all, I'd say it's very well thought out.

Tool bars? Yep, Xnews can do that.
Custom Buttons? Yes again... {From my Xnews.ini}

[ToolBars]
A1=-,bShowAllHeaders,bFixedFont,bRaw,bWrap,bArchive,-
,bAttach,bFollowUp,bMail,bRef,bPrevTh,bNextTh,bPrevUnread,bNextUnread,-
A2=bCatchUp,bStop,bDecode,bRefresh,bArchive,bSend,bEdit,bStorage
E1=bEdit,-,u1,-,u2,-,bUndo,-,bSave,-,bSend,-,bStop

[UserButtons]
u1=aceRewrapJoin|C:\Program Files\xnews\reformat.ico|Reformat
u2=aceROT13|C:\Program Files\xnews\rot13.ico|ROT-13

Fonts? Yep, we've got those too...
And you can set their colors:

http://www.dragonfur.ca/graphics/xnews/Display.gif

Fancy, "auto hiding" boxes? Well, I can set Xnews to just display the
headers I want to see, hiding those headers that aren't present.
IS that what you mean?

[Display]
VisibleHeaders=poster,message-id,nntp-posting-host,from,reply-
to,newsgroups,followup-to,user-agent,x-newsreader,x-mailer

But it's not like you need to "collapse things" with Xnews' interface:

Full Headers: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/XnVert2.jpg
Less Headers: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/XnVert1.jpg
Herz-Split: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/XnHerz.png
Editor: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/XnEditer.jpg
Subscribed: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/XnSubscrib.jpg

Yes... You do need to get your Hands Dirty and edit a few "INI" files,
but they are only simple text files after all. }:8P

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It also uses an IDToken to automatically high score replies to
your own posts. Scoring is very easy to use with right-click
and "Add to Score File".

Assuming you mean marking off threads, you can (M)ark threads for
later retrieval in Agent, (I)gnore threads, (K)eep threads so they
don't get accidentally deleted, and (W)atch threads, which I
gather is like your 'scoring'. Usually, we just use the term
'scoring' for sports events. And girls. 🙂

And with more complex Regex scoring, available on *ANY HEADER*, Xnews
you can control exactly what you see, hide, or kill...
(Scored & then filtered by Score)

http://www.dragonfur.ca/graphics/xnews/ColorTags.gif

Most of the time you only need to create an entry once, and it will
happly sit in their for an eternity scoring what you told it to.

Quoted message said:

later on, but first I'd like to ask you a few questions about
XNews, having never used it, myself:

1. Does it do Boolean searches? Search for {this} and {that}?
This is only about a hundred times more powerful than the old UNIX
asterisk 'wild card' search.

Searches where?

Within the article list you can use any Regex string search the Subject
or From headers (the quick search box). In any Archive folder you can
use "Find"(F2) to search the bodied of the messages within that folder.

And you can also do an XPAT search on the server to return articles of
"specific interest".

Quoted message said:

2. Does it have a Global Search that can search for keywords in
every message it's downloaded? This is, obviously, extremely
handy when trying to dig up some important message you read two
weeks before.

No... But it only takes seconds to find thing if you "marked it", or
remember a bit about the subject (Quick Score Box).

Quoted message said:

3. Do the filters have priorities? This is elemental for proper
filter usage.

Scores are added/set from the top down, and can be set "per group(s)".

So, I'd say that it's at least "highly probable" (others may differ).

Quoted message said:

4. Can the filters be made to work in just one group or globally
with the check of a gadget box? Ditto turning them on and off?

Why? Two more seconds and far more control when editing then directly.

Examples: http://www.dragonfur.ca/nowhere/score.ini.txt

Can Agent set a score to apply to just all "alt.binaries.*.d" groups,
or just "specific groups" with a single entry?

Quoted message said:

5. When you're typing a message, are you looking at a full-screen
editor, or are you typing scrunched down in some box? Agent
nicely opens a whole new window, giving you lots of elbow room.

New window, and Full Screen with F12...

Quoted message said:

6. Can you direct different binary groups to download to certain
folders, or is the 'downloads' folder global for all groups?

Yes. {From the history files}

% Lots of other entries...

[~(binaries|^Que_)]
% text groups stop here

[\.(d|requests)$]
OnLoaded=acvWordWrap+,acvShowGe0Score,acvShowThNew,!,acvRemoveFilter,acvSho
wThUnread
AltServers=Newscene
Archive=Media
SortOn=Score
SortOrder=-1
PostTo=Telus

[.*]
PostTo=Telus
MultiPartThreading=1
ColumnLayout=2
FullScreen=1
SortOn=Subject
SortOrder=1
continue=1

[media|movie|video]
OnLoaded=acvShowGe0Score,acvShowThUnread
AltServers=Telus|Euro|Astra|Newscene|BigGulp
AttachDir=D:\Downloads\Movies
DecodeDir=D:\Downloads\Movies
Archive=Garbage

[sound|music|mp3]
OnLoaded=acvShowGe0Score,acvShowThUnread
AltServers=Telus|Nanites|Euro|Korea|BigGulp
AttachDir=D:\Downloads\Music
DecodeDir=D:\Downloads\Music
Archive=Garbage

[anime|toon|comic]
OnLoaded=acvShowGe0Score,acvWordWrap-
AttachDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics\Anime
DecodeDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics\Comics
Queue=Que_Toons

[furry|dragon|disney]
OnLoaded=acvShowGe0Score,acvWordWrap-
AttachDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics\Furry
DecodeDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics\Furry
Queue=Que_Furry

[picture]
OnLoaded=acvWordWrap-
AttachDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics
DecodeDir=D:\Downloads\Graphics

Quoted message said:

7. Is it possible to flip back and forth, viewing the files by
either segments or by whole Rar parts?

Xnews (selectively)* threads it's binaries, so seeing an individual
segment is as simple as expanding a thread.

* That's what "MultiPartThreading=1" was for in my Groups.ini.

Quoted message said:

8. Does it have a 'Compact databases' feature, or do things just
kind of bloat-out forever?

Compact Address? I don't follow you there?

Quoted message said:

9. Does it let you view all types of common files right there
from the newsreader, like NFO, TXT, JPG, GIF, etc?

That depends on how it's encoded...

Generally all text-based types are displayed inline, but only single
part JPGs are displayed within Xnews. But Xnews does have the function
to automatically call an external program to view em (set by extension).

Whether that's a weakness or not is debatable... Some people like to
use discreet programs; those that are designed to perform certain tasks
better than any built in function.

Quoted message said:

10. Does it utilize the Message ID number? Like, you
double-click on a MID and it takes you to the message?
Ditto Web site links?

Both. They're not _Underlined_, but anything that looks like a
"clickable" link functions as such...

If you click on a MID anywhere in the message (including the headers),
Xnews will search for that MID on that server, and then on any other
servers you've set, and then Google if your server(s) don't have it.

There are limits...
MID's look like email links without their brackets, and you need to use
"Edit URL" to fix broken multi-line URLs. But everything works.

--
The Tech Zero, Maxx "What's That Score" Pollare...

--
7/8/2004
5:23 PM [GMT-8]

Jim Flom j said:

Mozilla test number 1

How about using a test group for testing?

--
7/8/2004
5:27 PM [GMT-8]

sittingduck said:

How about using a test group for testing?

No, I'm pretty sure test groups are for politics and marketing.

Tests should be in bicycle groups. Bicycle discussions should be in
automotive newsgroups. Auto stuff should be in camping newsgroups.
Camping stuff should be in jock itch newsgroups. Jock itch questions
should be in politics newsgroups. And, as I said before, politics...
--
Rick "Isn't that easy?" Onanian

Jeff Starr said:

Jim Flom j said:

Mozilla test number 1

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I would
like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For example, I'd
like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no interest in.

Multi-threaded NewsWatcher is free, and it works well.

<http://www.smfr.org/mtnw/>

--
Ted Bennett
Portland OR

Ted Bennett said:

Jeff Starr said:

Jim Flom j said:

Mozilla test number 1

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I
would like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For
example, I'd like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no
interest in.

Multi-threaded NewsWatcher is free, and it works well.

<http://www.smfr.org/mtnw/>

I'll second that. I used MT-NW for years in Mac OS 8, 9 and X and
always found it reliable and useful. Now I use Emacs/Gnus, but I
really wouldn't recommend those to just anybody- you need some
computer geekness to make a go of it. The learning curve is steep,
although the combination of a powerful text editor and powerful NNTP
and mail client is really very good. Emacs/Gnus runs on many
platforms- all flavors of Unix, there are versions for Windows, Mac
Carbon, etc.

Tim McNamara said:

Ted Bennett said:

Jeff Starr said:

Jim Flom j wrote:
> Mozilla test number 1

Hi, I just started using a news server and am using Netscapee's
newsreader. Can anyone recommend a better [free] newsreader? I
would like more flexibility with the threads and messages. For
example, I'd like a way to remove or delete threads that I have no
interest in.

Multi-threaded NewsWatcher is free, and it works well.

<http://www.smfr.org/mtnw/>

I'll second that. I used MT-NW for years in Mac OS 8, 9 and X and
always found it reliable and useful. Now I use Emacs/Gnus, but I
really wouldn't recommend those to just anybody- you need some
computer geekness to make a go of it. The learning curve is steep,
although the combination of a powerful text editor and powerful NNTP
and mail client is really very good. Emacs/Gnus runs on many
platforms- all flavors of Unix, there are versions for Windows, Mac
Carbon, etc.

Hi, I'm running Windows. My buddy recommended Agent and I am using the
"Free Agent" version, now. I briefly tried the full version of Agent
and it is more flexible. Even Free Agent seems better than the
Netscape version. But, then until a few days ago, I never used a
newsreader. I was doing all my reading and posting from the online
site. It took all day for a message to show up. So, my opinions on
newsreaders are based on very limited experience.

Life is Good!
Jeff

"Tim McNamara" wrote...

Quoted message said:

I'll second that. I used MT-NW for years in Mac OS 8, 9 and X and
always found it reliable and useful. Now I use Emacs/Gnus, but I
really wouldn't recommend those to just anybody- you need some
computer geekness to make a go of it. The learning curve is steep,

I'm too impatient and lazy for that. I want something easy to learn, easy
on the eyes, and probably some other computer things about security that I
don't know enough to articulate.

JF