4.69. Why aren't my mm_cfg.py settings for DEFAULT_URL_PATTERN, DEFAULT_URL_HOST and DEFAULT_EMAIL_HOST effective?

This is covered in other FAQs, but it comes up often enough that it deserves a FAQ of its own.

Many things in Mailman are based on the value of a hidden list attribute web_page_url. These include URLs on the admin pages, URLs in archives, URLs in RFC2369 headers, etc., and when VIRTUAL_HOST_OVERVIEW has not been set Off, what lists appear on what 'overview' pages.

The web_page_url attribute is set at list creation time from DEFAULT_URL_PATTERN and DEFAULT_URL_HOST or in the case of virtual hosts, from the current or specified web host. Subsequent changes to DEFAULT_URL_PATTERN and DEFAULT_URL_HOST do not affect existing lists.

The same is true of the list's host_name attribute which is set at list creation time from DEFAULT_EMAIL_HOST or the current or specified email host, although the list's host_name is visible and settable on the web admin General Options page.

In order to change existing lists, you run fix_url. Run

 bin/fix_url.py

stand alone for it's help information, but briefly, to run fix_url on a single list, run

 bin/withlist -l -r fix_url <listname> [fix_url options]

To run it on all lists at once, run

 bin/withlist -l -a -r fix_url -- [fix_url options]

The '--' is only required if you specify fix_url options. It separates the fix_url options from the withlist options and isn't required in the first case as the list name does this in that case.

See also FAQ 4.45 at 4.45 The admin web interface is not saving my changes and may or may not ask me to re-enter my password -- what is wrong?, FAQ 4.65 at 4.65 Admin Web interface requires reauthentication (e.g., re-entering the password) at every step and doesn't save changes., and FAQ 4.71 at 4.71 Accessing the web admin interface or private archives via a framed page requires constant reauthorization (e.g., asking me to re-enter my password)..

This is one of many Frequently Asked Questions.

fixme: this and all those FAQ entries should maybe be merged?