1 \input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
2 @documentencoding UTF-8
4 @settitle FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ
6 @center @titlefont{FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ}
13 @chapter General Questions
15 @section What is a mailing list?
17 A mailing list is not much different than emailing someone, but the
18 main difference is that your message is received by everyone who
19 subscribes to the list. It is somewhat like a forum but in email form.
21 See the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user archives}
24 @section What type of questions can I ask?
28 @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user}:
29 For questions involving unscripted usage or compilation of the FFmpeg
30 command-line tools (@command{ffmpeg}, @command{ffprobe}, @command{ffplay},
34 @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/libav-user/, libav-user}:
35 For questions involving the FFmpeg libav* libraries (libavcodec,
36 libavformat, libavfilter, etc).
39 @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel/, ffmpeg-devel}:
40 For discussions involving the development of FFmpeg and for submitting
41 patches. User questions should be asked at ffmpeg-user or libav-user.
44 To report a bug see @url{https://ffmpeg.org/bugreports.html}.
46 We cannot provide help for scripts and/or third-party tools.
48 @anchor{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?}
49 @section How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?
51 All you have to do is send an email:
55 Email @email{ffmpeg-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
56 ffmpeg-user mailing list.
59 Email @email{libav-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
60 libav-user mailing list.
63 If you are not subscribed to the mailing list then your question must be
64 manually approved. Approval may take several days, but the wait is
65 usually less. If you want the message to be sent with no delay then you
66 must subscribe first. See @ref{How do I subscribe?}
68 Please do not send a message, subscribe, and re-send the message: this
69 results in duplicates, causes more work for the admins, and may lower
70 your chance at getting an answer. However, you may do so if you first
71 @ref{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?, delete your original message from the moderation queue}.
73 @chapter Subscribing / Unsubscribing
75 @section What does subscribing do?
77 Subscribing allows two things:
81 Your messages will show up in the mailing list without waiting in the
82 moderation queue and needing to be manually approved by a mailing list
86 You will receive all messages to the mailing list including replies to
87 your messages. Non-subscribed users do not receive any messages.
90 @section Do I need to subscribe?
92 No. You can still send a message to the mailing list without
93 subscribing. See @ref{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?}
95 However, your message will need to be manually approved by a mailing
96 list admin, and you will not receive any mailing list messages or
99 You can ask to be CCd in your message, but replying users will
100 sometimes forget to do so.
102 You may also view and reply to messages via the @ref{Where are the archives?, archives}.
104 @anchor{How do I subscribe?}
105 @section How do I subscribe?
107 Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with the subject
110 Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page}
111 and refer to the @emph{Subscribing to ffmpeg-user} section.
113 The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
115 @section How do I unsubscribe?
117 Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with subject @emph{unsubscribe}.
119 Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page},
120 scroll to bottom of page, enter your email address in the box, and click
121 the @emph{Unsubscribe or edit options} button.
123 The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
125 Please avoid asking a mailing list admin to unsubscribe you unless you
126 are absolutely unable to do so by yourself. See @ref{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
128 @chapter Moderation Queue
129 @anchor{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?}
130 @section Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?
132 Some messages are automatically held in the @emph{moderation queue} and
133 must be manually approved by a mailing list admin:
139 Messages from users who are @strong{not} subscribed.
142 Messages that exceed the @ref{What is the message size limit?, message size limit}.
145 Messages from users whose accounts have been set with the @emph{moderation flag}
146 (very rarely occurs, but may if a user repeatedly ignores the rules
147 or is abusive towards others).
150 @section How long does it take for my message in the moderation queue to be approved?
152 The queue is usually checked once or twice a day, but on occasion
153 several days may pass before someone checks the queue.
155 @anchor{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?}
156 @section How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?
158 You should have received an email with the subject @emph{Your message to ffmpeg-user awaits moderator approval}.
159 A link is in the message that will allow you to delete your message
160 unless a mailing list admin already approved or rejected it.
164 @anchor{Where are the archives?}
165 @section Where are the archives?
167 See the @emph{Archives} section on the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/contact.html, FFmpeg Contact}
168 page for links to all FFmpeg mailing list archives.
170 Note that the archives are split by month. Discussions that span
171 several months will be split into separate months in the archives.
173 @section How do I reply to a message in the archives?
175 Click the email link at the top of the message just under the subject
176 title. The link will provide the proper headers to keep the message
179 @section How do I search the archives?
181 Perform a site search using your favorite search engine. Example:
183 @t{site:lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/ "search term"}
187 @section Is there an alternative to the mailing list?
189 You can ask for help in the official @t{#ffmpeg} IRC channel on Freenode.
191 Some users prefer the third-party Nabble interface which presents the
192 mailing lists in a typical forum layout.
194 There are also numerous third-party help sites such as Super User and
197 @anchor{What is top-posting?}
198 @section What is top-posting?
200 See @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting}.
202 Instead, use trimmed interleaved/inline replies (@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/2017-April/035849.html, example}).
204 @anchor{What is the message size limit?}
205 @section What is the message size limit?
207 The message size limit is 500 kilobytes for the user lists and 1000
208 kilobytes for ffmpeg-devel. Please provide links to larger files instead
211 @section Where can I upload sample files?
213 Anywhere that is not too annoying for us to use.
215 Google Drive and Dropbox are acceptable if you need a file host, and
216 0x0.st is good for files under 256 MiB.
218 Small, short samples are preferred if possible.
220 @section Will I receive spam if I send and/or subscribe to a mailing list?
226 The list of subscribed users is not public.
229 Email addresses in the archives are obfuscated.
232 Several unique test email accounts were utilized and none have yet
236 However, you may see a spam in the mailing lists on rare occasions:
240 Spam in the moderation queue may be accidentally approved due to human
244 There have been a few messages from subscribed users who had their own
245 email addresses hacked and spam messages from (or appearing to be from)
246 the hacked account were sent to their contacts (a mailing list being a
247 contact in these cases).
250 If you are subscribed to the bug tracker mailing list (ffmpeg-trac) you
251 may see the occasional spam as a false bug report, but we take measures
252 to try to prevent this.
255 @section How do I filter mailing list messages?
257 Use the @emph{List-Id}. For example, the ffmpeg-user mailing list is
258 @t{ffmpeg-user.ffmpeg.org}. You can view the List-Id in the raw message
261 You can then filter the mailing list messages to their own folder.
263 @chapter Rules and Etiquette
265 @section What are the rules and the proper etiquette?
267 There may seem to be many things to remember, but we want to help and
268 following these guidelines will allow you to get answers more quickly
269 and help avoid getting ignored.
273 Always show your actual, unscripted @command{ffmpeg} command and the
274 complete, uncut console output from your command.
277 Use the most simple and minimal command that still shows the issue you
281 Provide all necessary information so others can attempt to duplicate
282 your issue. This includes the actual command, complete uncut console
283 output, and any inputs that are required to duplicate the issue.
286 Use the latest @command{ffmpeg} build you can get. See the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/download.html, FFmpeg Download}
287 page for links to recent builds for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Or
288 compile from the current git master branch.
291 Avoid @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting, top-posting}.
292 Also see @ref{What is top-posting?}
295 Avoid hijacking threads. Thread hijacking is replying to a message and
296 changing the subject line to something unrelated to the original thread.
297 Most email clients will still show the renamed message under the
298 original thread. This can be confusing and these types of messages are
302 Do not send screenshots. Copy and paste console text instead of making
303 screenshots of the text.
306 Avoid sending email disclaimers and legalese if possible as this is a
310 Avoid using the @code{-loglevel debug}, @code{-loglevel quiet}, and
311 @command{-hide_banner} options unless requested to do so.
314 If you attach files avoid compressing small files. Uncompressed is
318 Please do not send HTML-only messages. The mailing list will ignore the
319 HTML component of your message. Most mail clients will automatically
320 include a text component: this is what the mailing list will use.
323 Configuring your mail client to break lines after 70 or so characters is
327 Avoid sending the same message to multiple mailing lists.
330 Please follow our @url{https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Code-of-conduct, Code of Conduct}.
335 @section Why am I not receiving any messages?
337 Some email providers have blacklists or spam filters that block or mark
338 the mailing list messages as false positives. Unfortunately, the user is
339 often not aware of this and is often out of their control.
341 When possible we attempt to notify the provider to be removed from the
342 blacklists or filters.
344 @section Why are my sent messages not showing up?
346 Excluding @ref{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?, messages that are held in the moderation queue}
347 there are a few other reasons why your messages may fail to appear:
351 HTML-only messages are ignored by the mailing lists. Most mail clients
352 automatically include a text component alongside HTML email: this is what
353 the mailing list will use. If it does not then consider your client to be
354 broken, because sending a text component along with the HTML component to
355 form a multi-part message is recommended by email standards.
358 Check your spam folder.
361 @anchor{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
362 @section Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?
364 Send a message to @email{ffmpeg-user-owner@@ffmpeg.org}.