Don Daugherty wrote:
First of all, is this message the beginning of a properly started "New
Thread?" It was generated in Thunderbird by clicking Write and
addressing it to [email protected]
Yes, that's the right way. This forces a new key to be generated for the
thread, so people who are using a keyed threaded view (like what
Thunderbird uses) can follow the discussion as a single set of related
posts. Some email clients, though, may thread by the Subject rather than
a key, so changing the Subject is enough to start a new thread. It's
always safest, though, to assume that a key is used for threading.
I ask this question because, while I have apparently never hi-jacked a
thread, and I know this has been discussed before on this list, I
still don't "get-it."
How does the message obtained by using Reply and starting a fresh
Subject differ from one obtained by using
Reply and changing the Subject? The Reply-To header in most if not
all messages on the list contains [email protected], the same
address I used for the present message.
If you use reply at all, the key used for identifying the thread is not
changed -- looking at the list in a keyed threaded view will show this
(unrelated) subject indented from the message it "replied" to, and all
subsequent discussion from it will go deeper still. This has two
effects; those who are following the "replied" thread will see unrelated
messages, and those who might be interested in your post but are not
following the thread will not see your post, so they won't respond to you.
It isn't clear just what your distinction is between "starting a fresh
Subject" and "changing the Subject" -- most likely you are referring to
whether you just let the original Subject text stand but have new
(unrelated) material in the post, or whether you actually put a true
Subject for the topic you are raising. The second is always preferred,
with as useful a subject as possible without getting too long.
I, and I suspect many joining this list, don't understand how changing
the subject is not "Starting a New Thread." On one list I have been
on for years, this is a recommended way of avoiding being guilty of
the offense.
The use of a key for threading is probably newer than that particular
list, but it's really a matter of how the email client works. One other
possibility is that the list management process notices the change of
subject and generates a new key for the thread. The management software
used by this list (ezmlm) does not do that.
Does a Reply message have hidden baggage that distinguishes it?
Yes, the full message header is a wild and wonderful thing that contains
all kinds of information.
Hope this helps a bit.
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