Next: September Gnus, Up: New Features

##### 11.2.9.1 (ding) Gnus

New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:

- The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables (see Group Buffer Format and see Summary Buffer Format).
- Local spool and several NNTP servers can be used at once (see Select Methods).
- You can combine groups into virtual groups (see Virtual Groups).
- You can read a number of different mail formats (see Getting Mail). All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme (see Expiring Mail).
- Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread (see Customizing Threading).
- Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read them as well (see Listing Groups).
- Gnus can do partial group updates—you do not have to retrieve the entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups (see The Active File).
- Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups (see Group Levels).
- You can score articles according to any number of criteria (see Scoring). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score articles for you (see Adaptive Scoring).
- Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have read if your machine should go down (see Auto Save).
- Gnus now has its own startup file (`~/.gnus.el`) to avoid cluttering up the `.emacs` file.
- You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform operations on all the marked items (see Process/Prefix).
- You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything (see Listing Groups).
- You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those servers (see Browse Foreign Server).
- Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the server (see Asynchronous Fetching).
- You can cache articles locally (see Article Caching).
- The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized (see Decoding Articles).
- You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature of gnus' past (see Uuencoding and Posting).
- Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without glitches (see Finding the Parent).
- Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (see Group Information).
- Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups (see Document Groups).
- Articles can be highlighted and customized (see Customizing Articles).
- URLs and other external references can be buttonized (see Article Buttons).
- You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame configuration (see Window Layout).