If an NNTP server is preceded by a colon such as `:Mail', the user's private directory `~/Mail' is used as the news spool. This makes it possible to read mail stored in MH folders or articles saved by GNUS. An active file for the directory is generated from files of which the file name consists of only numeric characters, and other files containing non-numeric characters in their file name are ignored.
A server specific startup file for each directory must be created before starting GNUS. For example, a startup file for the directory `~/Mail' is a file named `.newsrc-:Mail'. See section Startup File, for more information on the server specific startup file.