January 13, 2000

After you install Microsoft Office 2000 Server Extensions (OSE), you can configure your OSE-extended web with a notification service for the Web Subscriptions feature. Users can subscribe to receive e-mail notification when another user adds a discussion item to a document or Web page, or when the contents of a folder or document changes.

To subscribe to a document or folder on an OSE-extended web, users open the document in Internet Explorer 5 and click the Subscribe button on the Discussion toolbar. A user can choose to receive notification when:

• A new document is added to a folder.
• A document is modified, moved, or deleted.
• A discussion item is added to or deleted from a document.
• Anything else in the folder changes (for example, a file is renamed).

When you enable Web Subscriptions, you can set the default intervals at which users receive e-mail notifications. When users request a subscription, they choose to receive updates When a change occurs, Once a day, or Once a week. You define these intervals more precisely on the OSE-extended web, where they correspond to the Immediate, Daily, and Weekly intervals, respectively.

The following settings are used by the notification service to send e-mail messages to registered subscribers:

• SMTP mail server

  Used by MAPI to distribute new e-mail messages to subscribers.

• From Address

  Allows users to see where the notification e-mail messages originate; may be a fictional address.

• Reply-To Address

  Allows users to send questions or comments about e-mail notifications to the administrator of the OSE-extended web; optional.

Requirements for Web Subscriptions

To enable Web Subscriptions in your organization, you need the following:

• Microsoft Windows NT® 4.0 Server or Microsoft Windows® 2000, and Internet Information Services (IIS)
• Administrator privileges on the server
• Office Server Extensions (OSE) installed on the IIS server
• Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) or SQL Server version 6.5 or 7.0, with administrative permissions
• Valid e-mail account and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server for distributing e-mail

Configure Web Subscriptions

Administrators can configure a notification service for users who enlist in Web Subscriptions.

To configure Web Subscriptions on an OSE-extended web

1. On the OSE Administration Home Page, click Configure Web Subscription Settings.

   The default location of the OSE Administration Home Page is http://<site_name>/msoffice/msoadmin, where site_name is the name of the OSE-extended web.

2. In the Web Subscriptions are box, click On.
3. In the SMTP Mail Server box, type the name of the SMTP mail server (usually the same name as the local server).
4. In the From Address and Reply-To Address boxes, enter the e-mail addresses you want to use for these settings.
5. Under Allow Web Subscriptions to, click the Folders and Documents or the Documents only option.

   You can use the Documents only setting to reduce the number of notifications generated on the server. This setting is also useful when you need to restrict notifications for folders with security-enhanced contents.

6. Under Times to Send Document Change Notifications, define the intervals at which users receive e-mail notifications.
7. Click Submit.

Related links

For more information about configuring and managing Web Subscriptions and automatic e-mail notifications, see Maintaining Office Server Extensions in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.

To maintain a security-enhanced server environment, administrators can monitor and delete inappropriate or outdated Web Subscriptions. For more information about managing security for an OSE-extended web, see Securing Your OSE-extended Web in the Office 2000 Resource Kit.