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}).
33 @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/libav-user/, libav-user}:
34 For questions involving the FFmpeg libav* libraries (libavcodec,
35 libavformat, libavfilter, etc).
38 @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel/, ffmpeg-devel}:
39 For discussions involving the development of FFmpeg and for submitting
40 patches. User questions should be asked at ffmpeg-user or libav-user.
43 To report a bug see @url{https://ffmpeg.org/bugreports.html}.
45 We cannot provide help for scripts and/or third-party tools.
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?
50 All you have to do is send an email:
54 Email @email{ffmpeg-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
55 ffmpeg-user mailing list.
58 Email @email{libav-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
59 libav-user mailing list.
62 If you are not subscribed to the mailing list then your question must be
63 manually approved. Approval may take several days, but the wait is
64 usually less. If you want the message to be sent with no delay then you
65 must subscribe first. See @ref{How do I subscribe?}
67 Please do not send a message, subscribe, and re-send the message: this
68 results in duplicates, causes more work for the admins, and may lower
69 your chance at getting an answer. However, you may do so if you first
70 @ref{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?, delete your original message from the moderation queue}.
72 @chapter Subscribing / Unsubscribing
74 @section What does subscribing do?
76 Subscribing allows two things:
80 Your messages will show up in the mailing list without waiting in the
81 moderation queue and needing to be manually approved by a mailing list
85 You will receive all messages to the mailing list including replies to
86 your messages. Non-subscribed users do not receive any messages.
89 @section Do I need to subscribe?
91 No. You can still send a message to the mailing list without
92 subscribing. See @ref{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?}
94 However, your message will need to be manually approved by a mailing
95 list admin, and you will not receive any mailing list messages or
98 You can ask to be CCd in your message, but replying users will
99 sometimes forget to do so.
101 You may also view and reply to messages via the @ref{Where are the archives?, archives}.
103 @anchor{How do I subscribe?}
104 @section How do I subscribe?
106 Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with the subject
109 Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page}
110 and refer to the @emph{Subscribing to ffmpeg-user} section.
112 The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
114 @section How do I unsubscribe?
116 Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with subject @emph{unsubscribe}.
118 Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page},
119 scroll to bottom of page, enter your email address in the box, and click
120 the @emph{Unsubscribe or edit options} button.
122 The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
124 Please avoid asking a mailing list admin to unsubscribe you unless you
125 are absolutely unable to do so by yourself. See @ref{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
127 @chapter Moderation Queue
128 @anchor{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?}
129 @section Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?
131 Some messages are automatically held in the @emph{moderation queue} and
132 must be manually approved by a mailing list admin:
138 Messages from users who are @strong{not} subscribed.
141 Messages that exceed the @ref{What is the message size limit?, message size limit}.
144 Messages from users whose accounts have been set with the @emph{moderation flag}
145 (very rarely occurs, but may if a user repeatedly ignores the rules
146 or is abusive towards others).
149 @section How long does it take for my message in the moderation queue to be approved?
151 The queue is usually checked once or twice a day, but on occasion
152 several days may pass before someone checks the queue.
154 @anchor{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?}
155 @section How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?
157 You should have received an email with the subject @emph{Your message to ffmpeg-user awaits moderator approval}.
158 A link is in the message that will allow you to delete your message
159 unless a mailing list admin already approved or rejected it.
163 @anchor{Where are the archives?}
164 @section Where are the archives?
166 See the @emph{Archives} section on the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/contact.html, FFmpeg Contact}
167 page for links to all FFmpeg mailing list archives.
169 Note that the archives are split by month. Discussions that span
170 several months will be split into separate months in the archives.
172 @section How do I reply to a message in the archives?
174 Click the email link at the top of the message just under the subject
175 title. The link will provide the proper headers to keep the message
178 @section How do I search the archives?
180 Perform a site search using your favorite search engine. Example:
182 @t{site:lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/ "search term"}
186 @section Is there an alternative to the mailing list?
188 You can ask for help in the official @t{#ffmpeg} IRC channel on Freenode.
190 Some users prefer the third-party Nabble interface which presents the
191 mailing lists in a typical forum layout.
193 There are also numerous third-party help sites such as Super User and
196 @anchor{What is top-posting?}
197 @section What is top-posting?
199 See @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting}.
201 Instead, use trimmed interleaved/inline replies (@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/2017-April/035849.html, example}).
203 @anchor{What is the message size limit?}
204 @section What is the message size limit?
206 The message size limit is 500 kilobytes for the user lists and 1000
207 kilobytes for ffmpeg-devel. Please provide links to larger files instead
210 @section Where can I upload sample files?
212 Anywhere that is not too annoying for us to use.
214 Google Drive and Dropbox are acceptable if you need a file host, and
215 0x0.st is good for files under 256 MiB.
217 Small, short samples are preferred if possible.
219 @section Will I receive spam if I send and/or subscribe to a mailing list?
225 The list of subscribed users is not public.
228 Email addresses in the archives are obfuscated.
231 Several unique test email accounts were utilized and none have yet
235 However, you may see a spam in the mailing lists on rare occasions:
239 Spam in the moderation queue may be accidentally approved due to human
243 There have been a few messages from subscribed users who had their own
244 email addresses hacked and spam messages from (or appearing to be from)
245 the hacked account were sent to their contacts (a mailing list being a
246 contact in these cases).
249 If you are subscribed to the bug tracker mailing list (ffmpeg-trac) you
250 may see the occasional spam as a false bug report, but we take measures
251 to try to prevent this.
254 @section How do I filter mailing list messages?
256 Use the @emph{List-Id}. For example, the ffmpeg-user mailing list is
257 @t{ffmpeg-user.ffmpeg.org}. You can view the List-Id in the raw message
260 You can then filter the mailing list messages to their own folder.
262 @chapter Rules and Etiquette
264 @section What are the rules and the proper etiquette?
266 There may seem to be many things to remember, but we want to help and
267 following these guidelines will allow you to get answers more quickly
268 and help avoid getting ignored.
272 Always show your actual, unscripted @command{ffmpeg} command and the
273 complete, uncut console output from your command.
276 Use the most simple and minimal command that still shows the issue you
280 Provide all necessary information so others can attempt to duplicate
281 your issue. This includes the actual command, complete uncut console
282 output, and any inputs that are required to duplicate the issue.
285 Use the latest @command{ffmpeg} build you can get. See the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/download.html, FFmpeg Download}
286 page for links to recent builds for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Or
287 compile from the current git master branch.
290 Avoid @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting, top-posting}.
291 Also see @ref{What is top-posting?}
294 Avoid hijacking threads. Thread hijacking is replying to a message and
295 changing the subject line to something unrelated to the original thread.
296 Most email clients will still show the renamed message under the
297 original thread. This can be confusing and these types of messages are
301 Do not send screenshots. Copy and paste console text instead of making
302 screenshots of the text.
305 Avoid sending email disclaimers and legalese if possible as this is a
309 Avoid using the @code{-loglevel debug}, @code{-loglevel quiet}, and
310 @command{-hide_banner} options unless requested to do so.
313 If you attach files avoid compressing small files. Uncompressed is
317 Please do not send HTML-only messages. The mailing list will ignore the
318 HTML component of your message. Most mail clients will automatically
319 include a text component: this is what the mailing list will use.
322 Configuring your mail client to break lines after 70 or so characters is
326 Avoid sending the same message to multiple mailing lists.
329 Please follow our @url{https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Code-of-conduct, Code of Conduct}.
334 @section Why am I not receiving any messages?
336 Some email providers have blacklists or spam filters that block or mark
337 the mailing list messages as false positives. Unfortunately, the user is
338 often not aware of this and is often out of their control.
340 When possible we attempt to notify the provider to be removed from the
341 blacklists or filters.
343 @section Why are my sent messages not showing up?
345 Excluding @ref{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?, messages that are held in the moderation queue}
346 there are a few other reasons why your messages may fail to appear:
350 HTML-only messages are ignored by the mailing lists. Most mail clients
351 automatically include a text component alongside HTML email: this is what
352 the mailing list will use. If it does not then consider your client to be
353 broken, because sending a text component along with the HTML component to
354 form a multi-part message is recommended by email standards.
357 Check your spam folder.
360 @anchor{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
361 @section Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?
363 Send a message to @email{ffmpeg-user-owner@@ffmpeg.org}.