elisp

(setq vetted-human-kfupm-emails
      '("hali" "mamohsin")
      )

(defvar vetted-human-kfupm-emails
      '("hali" "mamohsin")
      )

(format "%s" vetted-human-kfupm-emails) ;; to print
(message "%s" vetted-human-kfupm-emails) ;; to print
(setq query (concat "from:" (mapconcat 'identity vetted-human-kfupm-emails " OR from:")))

(setq vetted-query (concat "(maildir:/kfupm/Inbox) AND " "from:" (mapconcat 'identity vetted-human-kfupm-emails " OR from:")))
(message "%s" query)
(message "%s" vetted-query)

(defun jak/add-to-kfupm-vetted-emails-list (username)
  (interactive "sUSERNAME: ") ;; s -> string n-> number
;; USERNAME will be displayed in buffer
  (add-to-list 'vetted-human-kfupm-emails username)
  )

(defcustom jak/boss-emails nil
  ""
  :type '(repeat string)
  )

(defcustom jak/people-i-know-at-kfupm  nil
  ""
  :type '(repeat string)
  )

(defcustom jak/ictc-colleagues-emails nil
  ""
  :type '(repeat string)
  )

(defcustom jak/kfupm-colleagues-emails nil
  ""
  :type '(repeat string)
  )
  (setq jak/people-i-know-at-kfupm (append jak/boss-emails jak/ictc-colleagues-emails jak/kfupm-colleagues-emails))

(message "%s" jak/people-i-know-at-kfupm)

(defun jak/set-people-i-know-at-kfupm()
  (setq jak/people-i-know-at-kfupm (append jak/boss-emails jak/ictc-colleagues-emails jak/kfupm-colleagues-emails))
(message "%s" jak/people-i-know-at-kfupm)
  )
(jak/set-people-i-know-at-kfupm)

(defun jak/add-to-boss-emails (username)
  (interactive "sBOSS_USERNAME: ")
  (add-to-list 'jak/boss-emails username)
  (customize-save-variable 'jak/boss-emails jak/boss-emails) ;; ***** setq and
;; from here:https://stackoverflow.com/a/17473323/5305401
;; tried setq and other ways of settings variables
;; they did work: user variables were not getting stored
;; https://macowners.club/posts/setq-vs-customize-set-variable/
  (jak/set-people-i-know-at-kfupm)
  (jak/set-boss-query)
  )