MailBounce Preferences File:
Introduction

This file provides an introduction to the MailBounce Preferences settings. Refer to the main Preferences documentation file for formatting requirements and other general information on the Preferences file.

Note that some of the Preferences settings can be rather arcane. Anyone who is new to MailBounce is urged to leave many of the defaults in place. This file will describe only those settings that typically must be changed in order to run MailBounce properly.

Any settings that are not described in this file are italicized and linked to the appropriate locations in the Preferences_Advanced and Preferences_Expert files.

preferences version = '2.4'

name = 'Your Name Here'
organization = 'Your Organization Name Goes Here'
machine = 'Fill in Machine Type and Speed'

registration key = '<save this for later>'

use trigger file = 'NO'
trigger file name = 'mailbounce_trigger_file.txt'
delete trigger file = 'NO'

bounce file name = '<bounce filename goes here>'

This is the name of the file (including path to the file, if necessary) in which you have saved your bounces. NOTE: Since a path can be specified with any file name, the statement "including path to the file, if necessary" will be implied in the descriptions for the rest of the file names. ALSO NOTE: You must ensure that the file names you select are valid file names for your platform. For example, Macintosh filenames cannot exceed 31 characters (not including the path specification, if any).

bounce file format = 'TEXT'
bounce sensitivity = 'HIGH'
delete bounce file when finished = 'NO'
use verp = 'NO'
verp preamble = 'verp-preamble-string-'
verp address encoding string = '#'
use custom header = 'NO'
custom header = 'X-Custom-Header:'
process multiple bounce files = 'NO'
process multiple subscriber lists = 'NO'
multi-list configuration file name = '<multi-list licenses only>'
write unrecognized bounces to file = 'NO'
unrecognized bounces file name = 'unrecognized_bounces.txt'
use autoresponder rejection file = 'NO'
autoresponder rejection file name = 'mailbounce_AR_file.txt'
scratch file name = 'mailbounce_scratch_file.txt'

match bounce addresses to subscriber list = 'YES'

When set to YES, this instructs MailBounce to check all addresses against the subscriber list file, and to remove those addresses that either exactly match or fuzzy match subscriber addresses in the file.

fuzzy matching sensitivity = 'LOW'
reject unmatched addresses = 'YES'

subscriber list file name = '<subscriber list filename goes here>'

This is the name of the file in which you have saved the list of subscribers for your mailing list.

delete subscriber list when finished = 'NO'
subscriber list file format = 'TEXT'
formatted subscriber list = 'YES'
update subscriber list directly = 'NO'
subscriber list backup file name = 'Subscriber List Backup File'

server file name = 'MailBounce Server File'

This is arguably your most important output file; it contains all of the "unsub" or "delete" commands for all of the defunct addresses that MailBounce found during the run. Once MailBounce finishes processing, you must e-mail this file to you list server in order to have the defunct addresses removed from your mailing list.

redirects file name = 'Redirected Addresses'
formatted server file = 'YES'
separate fuzzy files = 'YES'
server fuzzy file name = 'MailBounce Server Fuzzy File'
redirects fuzzy file name = 'Redirected Fuzzy Addresses'
BCC fuzzy file name = 'MailBounce BCC Fuzzy File'

BCC file = 'YES'

When set to 'YES', this option instructs MailBounce to write BCC files (file names are selected above). When set to 'NO', MailBounce will not write the files, regardless of whether you have selected names for thm.

BCC file name = 'MailBounce BCC File'

This file contains a comma-delimited list of all the defunct addresses found during the current processing run. The BCC file is generated in a format suitable for placement on the BCC line of an e-mail "form letter," informing subscribers that they have been removed from the mailing list because e-mail to their addresses has been bouncing. (Refer to the MB_Description file for a more complete discussion of the BCC file.)

process redirects = 'YES'
separate server file for redirects = 'YES'
separate bcc file for redirects = 'NO'
BCC redirects file name = 'BCC_redirects.txt'
BCC redirects fuzzy file name = 'BCC_redirects_fuzzy.txt'

use ignored file = 'NO'
ignored file name = 'MailBounce Ignored'

use global remove file = 'NO'
global remove file name = 'global_remove_file.txt'

diagnostics file = 'YES'
diagnostics file name = 'MailBounce Diagnostics'

summary file = 'NO'
summary file name = 'MailBounce Summary'

error log file = 'NO'
error log file name = 'MailBounce Error Log'


list server type = 'Majordomo'

Self-explanatory. Supported servers are: MANUAL, LISTPROC, LISTSERV, MAJORDOMO, MACJORDOMO, NTMAIL, LISTSTAR, AUTOSHARE, LETTERRIP, LYRIS, MREPLY, POST.OFFICE, and EMERGE. Note that the name of the server is not case sensitive. Use 'Manual' if you are not using an automated server to maintain your mailing list. If your list server is not supported, then send me the information that I need in order to provide support; instructions for this are found in the file named New_Server, included in the documentation.)

Special notes for LISTSTAR list owners:

• Because the actual format of the subscriber file is variable, it is important that MailBounce knows how to parse the file when matching bounced addresses against your subscriber list. In particular, MB needs to know on which "side" of the file it should look for the subscribers' addresses. Thus, if your file format is such the addresses are left-justified (against the left margin), then use LISTSTAR-LEFT as the list server type. If the addresses are on the right side of the file, then use LISTSTAR-RIGHT. If you are not sure, then just use LISTSTAR, and MailBounce will do its best to find the addresses on its own (though this will be a little slower).

• There are several different valid formats for the server file. The two most common appear to use either (1) "unsubscribe address" (where "address" is the address to be removed from the list) or (2) just "address" (with no "unsubscribe " command). By default, MailBounce will create server files formatted per option (1). If your scripts require option (2), then set the "formatted server file" parameter (above) to 'NO'.

list name = '<no listname>'
list password = '<no password>'

Fill these in with your list name and password. Be sure to remove the angle brackets "<" and ">") first! (Note that not all list servers require a password and/or list name on the command line; for these servers, there is no need to fill in the password and/or list name fields, as they will just be ignored by MailBounce.) Leaving the tags as shown instructs MailBounce to fill in generic information when it constructs the output files; thus, if you prefer to not include this information in your Preferences file, your best bet is to leave the fields as shown above. (IMPORTANT NOTE: If you send me a copy of your Preferences file for debugging purposes, be sure to remove your password before sending the file!) Note that case is preserved in both the list name and password entries when creating the server files.

secondary list name = '<no listname>'
secondary list password = '<no password>'
address removal mode = 'UNSUB'
process unsub requests = 'NO'
extended unsubscribe checking = 'NO'
allow e-mail address with unsub = 'NO'

process soft bounces = 'YES'

enable soft bounce tracking = 'YES'

When set to YES, this option turns on soft-bounce tracking -- meaning that your soft bounces will not be removed from the list immediately, but will be tracked over time, and will be removed once they have exceeded the threshold that you set below. When set to NO, soft-bouncing addresses will be removed from your list immediately. Refer to the Bounce_Tracking file for more information on bounce tracking. (Pro version only)

soft bounce tracking file name = 'Soft Bounce History File'

soft bounce threshold = '4 times'

Here is where you select the threshold for marking soft-bouncing addresses as expired (defunct). Example settings: '3 TIMES', '2 weeks', '5 days', etc. Refer to the Bounce_Tracking documentation file for details on these settings and for pointers on selecting specific settings. (Pro version only)

incremental soft bounce tracking = 'NO'
soft bounce processing interval = '0 DAYS'
soft bounce interval offset = '0 DAYS'
use incremental soft bounce threshold = 'NO'
incremental soft bounce threshold = '5 TIMES'
percentage of consecutive soft bounces required = '100'
soft bounce tracking file rollover = '0 KBytes'

enable hard bounce tracking = 'NO'
hard bounce tracking file name = 'Hard Bounce History File'
hard bounce threshold = '2 times'
incremental hard bounce tracking = 'NO'
hard bounce processing interval = '0 DAYS'
hard bounce interval offset = '0 DAYS'
use incremental hard bounce threshold = 'NO'
incremental hard bounce threshold = '2 TIMES'
percentage of consecutive hard bounces required = '100'
hard bounce tracking file rollover = '0 KBytes'

sort addresses = 'NO'
reversed subdomain sort = 'YES'
engine only = 'NO'
track sites that are blocking mail from this list = 'NO'
mail block file name = 'mail_blocking.txt'
screen display = 'YES'
detailed display = 'YES'
display unprocessed bounces = 'YES'
notify when finished = 'NO'
notify if new server files created = 'NO'
quit when finished = 'NO'
next preferences file = 'next_prefs_filename.txt'
MacOS file type = 'TEXT'
MacOS file creator = 'ttxt'

END CONFIGURATION

Every Preferences file should end with an "END CONFIGURATION" statement.

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