1\input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*- 2@documentencoding UTF-8 3 4@settitle FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ 5@titlepage 6@center @titlefont{FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ} 7@end titlepage 8 9@top 10 11@contents 12 13@chapter General Questions 14 15@section What is a mailing list? 16 17A mailing list is not much different than emailing someone, but the 18main difference is that your message is received by everyone who 19subscribes to the list. It is somewhat like a forum but in email form. 20 21See the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user archives} 22for examples. 23 24@section What type of questions can I ask? 25 26@itemize 27@item 28@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user}: 29For questions involving unscripted usage or compilation of the FFmpeg 30command-line tools (@command{ffmpeg}, @command{ffprobe}, @command{ffplay}). 31 32@item 33@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/libav-user/, libav-user}: 34For questions involving the FFmpeg libav* libraries (libavcodec, 35libavformat, libavfilter, etc). 36 37@item 38@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel/, ffmpeg-devel}: 39For discussions involving the development of FFmpeg and for submitting 40patches. User questions should be asked at ffmpeg-user or libav-user. 41@end itemize 42 43To report a bug see @url{https://ffmpeg.org/bugreports.html}. 44 45We cannot provide help for scripts and/or third-party tools. 46 47@anchor{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?} 48@section How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list? 49 50First you must @ref{How do I subscribe?, subscribe}. Then all you have to do is 51send an email: 52 53@itemize 54@item 55Email @email{ffmpeg-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the 56ffmpeg-user mailing list. 57 58@item 59Email @email{libav-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the 60libav-user mailing list. 61 62@item 63Email @email{ffmpeg-devel@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the 64ffmpeg-devel mailing list. 65@end itemize 66 67@chapter Subscribing / Unsubscribing 68 69@anchor{How do I subscribe?} 70@section How do I subscribe? 71 72Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with the subject 73@emph{subscribe}. 74 75Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page} 76and refer to the @emph{Subscribing to ffmpeg-user} section. 77 78The process is the same for the other mailing lists. 79 80@section How do I unsubscribe? 81 82Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with subject @emph{unsubscribe}. 83 84Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page}, 85scroll to bottom of page, enter your email address in the box, and click 86the @emph{Unsubscribe or edit options} button. 87 88The process is the same for the other mailing lists. 89 90Please avoid asking a mailing list admin to unsubscribe you unless you 91are absolutely unable to do so by yourself. See @ref{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?} 92 93Note that it is possible to temporarily halt message delivery (vacation mode). 94See @ref{How do I disable mail delivery without unsubscribing?} 95 96@chapter Moderation Queue 97@anchor{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?} 98@section Why is my message awaiting moderator approval? 99 100Some messages are automatically held in the @emph{moderation queue} and 101must be manually approved by a mailing list admin: 102 103These are: 104 105@itemize 106 107@item 108Messages that exceed the @ref{What is the message size limit?, message size limit}. 109 110@item 111Messages from users whose accounts have been set with the @emph{moderation flag} 112(very rarely occurs, but may if a user repeatedly ignores the rules 113or is abusive towards others). 114@end itemize 115 116@section How long does it take for my message in the moderation queue to be approved? 117 118The queue is not checked on a regular basis. You can ask on the 119@t{#ffmpeg-devel} IRC channel on Freenode for someone to approve your message. 120 121@anchor{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?} 122@section How do I delete my message in the moderation queue? 123 124You should have received an email with the subject @emph{Your message to <mailing list name> awaits moderator approval}. 125A link is in the message that will allow you to delete your message 126unless a mailing list admin already approved or rejected it. 127 128@chapter Archives 129 130@anchor{Where are the archives?} 131@section Where are the archives? 132 133See the @emph{Archives} section on the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/contact.html, FFmpeg Contact} 134page for links to all FFmpeg mailing list archives. 135 136Note that the archives are split by month. Discussions that span 137several months will be split into separate months in the archives. 138 139@section How do I reply to a message in the archives? 140 141Click the email link at the top of the message just under the subject 142title. The link will provide the proper headers to keep the message 143within the thread. 144 145Note that you must be subscribed to send a message to the ffmpeg-user or 146libav-user mailing lists. 147 148@section How do I search the archives? 149 150Perform a site search using your favorite search engine. Example: 151 152@t{site:lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/ "search term"} 153 154@chapter Other 155 156@section Is there an alternative to the mailing list? 157 158You can ask for help in the official @t{#ffmpeg} IRC channel on Freenode. 159 160Some users prefer the third-party @url{http://www.ffmpeg-archive.org/, Nabble} 161interface which presents the mailing lists in a typical forum layout. 162 163There are also numerous third-party help sites such as 164@url{https://superuser.com/tags/ffmpeg, Super User} and 165@url{https://www.reddit.com/r/ffmpeg/, r/ffmpeg on reddit}. 166 167@anchor{What is top-posting?} 168@section What is top-posting? 169 170See @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting}. 171 172Instead, use trimmed interleaved/inline replies (@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/2017-April/035849.html, example}). 173 174@anchor{What is the message size limit?} 175@section What is the message size limit? 176 177The message size limit is 1000 kilobytes. Please provide links to larger files 178instead of attaching them. 179 180@section Where can I upload sample files? 181 182Anywhere that is not too annoying for us to use. 183 184Google Drive and Dropbox are acceptable if you need a file host, and 185@url{https://0x0.st/, 0x0.st} is good for files under 256 MiB. 186 187Small, short samples are preferred if possible. 188 189@section Will I receive spam if I send and/or subscribe to a mailing list? 190 191Highly unlikely. 192 193@itemize 194@item 195The list of subscribed users is not public. 196 197@item 198Email addresses in the archives are obfuscated. 199 200@item 201Several unique test email accounts were utilized and none have yet 202received any spam. 203@end itemize 204 205However, you may see a spam in the mailing lists on rare occasions: 206 207@itemize 208@item 209Spam in the moderation queue may be accidentally approved due to human 210error. 211 212@item 213There have been a few messages from subscribed users who had their own 214email addresses hacked and spam messages from (or appearing to be from) 215the hacked account were sent to their contacts (a mailing list being a 216contact in these cases). 217 218@item 219If you are subscribed to the bug tracker mailing list (ffmpeg-trac) you 220may see the occasional spam as a false bug report, but we take measures 221to try to prevent this. 222@end itemize 223 224@section How do I filter mailing list messages? 225 226Use the @emph{List-Id}. For example, the ffmpeg-user mailing list is 227@t{ffmpeg-user.ffmpeg.org}. You can view the List-Id in the raw message 228or headers. 229 230You can then filter the mailing list messages to their own folder. 231 232@anchor{How do I disable mail delivery without unsubscribing?} 233@section How do I disable mail delivery without unsubscribing? 234 235Sometimes you may want to temporarily stop receiving all mailing list 236messages. This "vacation mode" is simple to do: 237 238@enumerate 239@item 240Go to the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page} 241 242@item 243Enter your email address in the box at very bottom of the page and click the 244@emph{Unsubscribe or edit options} box. 245 246@item 247Enter your password and click the @emph{Log in} button. 248 249@item 250Look for the @emph{Mail delivery} option. Here you can disable/enable mail 251delivery. If you check @emph{Set globally} it will apply your choice to all 252other FFmpeg mailing lists you are subscribed to. 253@end enumerate 254 255Alternatively, from your subscribed address, send a message to @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} 256with the subject @emph{set delivery off}. To re-enable mail delivery send a 257message to @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with the subject 258@emph{set delivery on}. 259 260@anchor{Why is the mailing list munging my address?} 261@section Why is the mailing list munging my address? 262 263This is due to subscribers that use an email service with a DMARC reject policy 264which adds difficulties to mailing list operators. 265 266The mailing list must re-write (munge) the @emph{From:} header for such users; 267otherwise their email service will reject and bounce the message resulting in 268automatic unsubscribing from the mailing list. 269 270When sending a message these users will see @emph{via <mailing list name>} 271added to their name and the @emph{From:} address munged to the address of 272the particular mailing list. 273 274If you want to avoid this then please use a different email service. 275 276Note that ffmpeg-devel does not apply any munging as it causes issues with 277patch authorship. As a result users with an email service with a DMARC reject 278policy may be automatically unsubscribed due to rejected and bounced messages. 279 280@chapter Rules and Etiquette 281 282@section What are the rules and the proper etiquette? 283 284There may seem to be many things to remember, but we want to help and 285following these guidelines will allow you to get answers more quickly 286and help avoid getting ignored. 287 288@itemize 289@item 290Always show your actual, unscripted @command{ffmpeg} command and the 291complete, uncut console output from your command. 292 293@item 294Use the most simple and minimal command that still shows the issue you 295are encountering. 296 297@item 298Provide all necessary information so others can attempt to duplicate 299your issue. This includes the actual command, complete uncut console 300output, and any inputs that are required to duplicate the issue. 301 302@item 303Use the latest @command{ffmpeg} build you can get. See the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/download.html, FFmpeg Download} 304page for links to recent builds for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Or 305compile from the current git master branch. 306 307@item 308Avoid @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting, top-posting}. 309Also see @ref{What is top-posting?} 310 311@item 312Avoid hijacking threads. Thread hijacking is replying to a message and 313changing the subject line to something unrelated to the original thread. 314Most email clients will still show the renamed message under the 315original thread. This can be confusing and these types of messages are 316often ignored. 317 318@item 319Do not send screenshots. Copy and paste console text instead of making 320screenshots of the text. 321 322@item 323Avoid sending email disclaimers and legalese if possible as this is a 324public list. 325 326@item 327Avoid using the @code{-loglevel debug}, @code{-loglevel quiet}, and 328@command{-hide_banner} options unless requested to do so. 329 330@item 331If you attach files avoid compressing small files. Uncompressed is 332preferred. 333 334@item 335Please do not send HTML-only messages. The mailing list will ignore the 336HTML component of your message. Most mail clients will automatically 337include a text component: this is what the mailing list will use. 338 339@item 340Configuring your mail client to break lines after 70 or so characters is 341recommended. 342 343@item 344Avoid sending the same message to multiple mailing lists. 345 346@item 347Please follow our @url{https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Code-of-conduct, Code of Conduct}. 348@end itemize 349 350@chapter Help 351 352@section Why am I not receiving any messages? 353 354Some email providers have blacklists or spam filters that block or mark 355the mailing list messages as false positives. Unfortunately, the user is 356often not aware of this and is often out of their control. 357 358When possible we attempt to notify the provider to be removed from the 359blacklists or filters. 360 361@section Why are my sent messages not showing up? 362 363Excluding @ref{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?, messages that are held in the moderation queue} 364there are a few other reasons why your messages may fail to appear: 365 366@itemize 367@item 368HTML-only messages are ignored by the mailing lists. Most mail clients 369automatically include a text component alongside HTML email: this is what 370the mailing list will use. If it does not then consider your client to be 371broken, because sending a text component along with the HTML component to 372form a multi-part message is recommended by email standards. 373 374@item 375Check your spam folder. 376@end itemize 377 378@anchor{Why do I keep getting unsubscribed from ffmpeg-devel?} 379@section Why do I keep getting unsubscribed from ffmpeg-devel? 380 381Users with an email service that has a DMARC reject or quarantine policy may be 382automatically unsubscribed from the ffmpeg-devel mailing list due to the mailing 383list messages being continuously rejected and bounced back. 384 385Consider using a different email service. 386 387@anchor{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?} 388@section Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list? 389 390Send a message to @email{ffmpeg-user-owner@@ffmpeg.org}. 391 392@bye 393