Newsgroup configuration

Zetnet Policy on Usenet Newsgroups

The list of newsgroups that are available with the installation disks is a sub-set of the full list. Zetnet have distributed a sub-set since many of the removed news groups are considered unsuitable for persons under 18 years of age. The full list of newsgroups is available to anyone over 18 on request.

To obtain the full listing an e-mail should be sent to:

request-18@zetnet.net

Please confirm that the user is over 18 and that they are prepared to be responsible for the material received. In certain cases Zetnet may check the validity of the request; in all cases a copy of the e-mail will be retained for our records.
Access to the full listing is made available the next time a newsgroup upgrade is sent out.

Currently Collecting Panel

Displayed in this panel are all the newsgroups that are subscribed to. Whenever a ZIMACS connection is made any new messages being held relating to these newsgroups will be downloaded to you.

Currently Holding Panel

The newsgroups displayed in this panel are those which are in the Currently Collecting panel or were in the Currently Collecting panel but still contain messages.

Newsgroups which are not in the Currently Collecting panel will remain here until they have either been deleted (in the newsreader), or have passed their expire date.

Note that the expire dates are only checked on the first occasion that the program is run each day, and then only if the Auto-expire option is selected. Otherwise all items will remain on this list.

Expire After

As each message is received the date of receipt is noted, allowing an expiry period to be assigned to messages.

Selecting Auto-expire by checking the box will delete messages from your system after a preselected period.

To set an expire period for a newsgroup in the Currently Holding panel:

1.Use the boxes to set the expire period. In the lower box the period can be set as either Days, Weeks or Months and in the upper box the number of periods can be selected.

2.Click on the appropriate newsgroup/s in the Currently Holding panel to apply the expire period.

Note: The expiry periods will remain set even if the Cancel button is clicked.

Note: This setting can be overridden from the Newsreader Toolbar Maintaining Newsgroups:

To maintain your newsgroups (select/deselect groups to be collected) click on the Maintain button. Due to the several thousand newsgroups available it may take a few moments for the details to appear.
The Selected Groups panel on the left shows a list of newsgroups you have chosen to collect, clicking the Exit button will store this selection in the database.

The Available groups panel on the right contains the names of all the groups available. The listing on the current page can be scrolled using the scroll bar. You can move between pages by using the < or > buttons at the head of the page. The View Groups button allows you to toggle between viewing New and All group listings.

The New listing contains all the additional newsgroups which were added to your system on receipt of the last newsgroup upgrade. The All listing contains all the newsgroups available on your system including those in the New listing.

Adding a New Newsgroup:

Note: When a new newsgroup is added the next time you make a ZIMACS connection your request is received, but it will not be until the following connection that any messages relevant to the groups will be received on your system. Allow at least 20 minutes for the change to take effect.

Tip:The list of available newsgroups should be updated automatically on a weekly basis.

Alternatively, use the Files option in ZIMACS and press the 'Update newsgroup list' command button. The appropriate list (restricted or full) will be updated on the next connection.

Warning

Subscribing to several new groups at once can cause problems. When a new group is requested there will be a larger than normal amount of messages in the first download, thereafter only new messages will be received. Many groups can be very busy and large downloads are possible, also binary groups can carry very large files. Requesting several new newsgroups at once can sometimes result in many Megabytes of data to download.

If you have no knowledge of how active or what types of files are carried by a newsgroup then proceed with caution.

If you do not receive any messages in a newly requested newsgroup it may be that they are relatively inactive or for some reason access is denied to you.

1. Browse through the many pages of newsgroups listed in the Available Groups panel or alternatively use the Search button to find specific interest groups.

2. Click on the title of any newsgroup you wish to collect. Multiple selections can be made by holding down the Ctrl key whilst clicking.

3. When you have completed your selection click on the Add One/Some < button.

4. The names of the newly selected groups will now have been added to the Selected Groups list.

5. Clicking on Exit will save your selection and leave the Maintain Newsgroups page.