[thelist] Please don't just change Subject: line to start a new topic

[Timothy J. Luoma]

<tip author="Timothy J. Luoma" type="Why you should NOT use REPLY to start 
a new thread">

When you want to send a new message to the list (i.e. a message that is 
NOT a followup to another message), please *do not* just hit REPLY and 
change the Subject: line.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO OTHERS:
Doing so creates a "References:" header in your message which will cause 
it to be sorted under the message that you replied to.  This makes 
following the original thread difficult.

WHY THIS SHOULD MATTER TO YOU EVEN IF YOU DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO 
OTHERS.
Failing to properly start a new thread could mean that your message is 
never seen by some people.

Many mail clients will "collapse" threads, showing only the first 
message.  Busy people use this to make it easier to decide which messages 
to read and which to ignore. For example: I might read the first message 
and decide the thread doesn't interest me or I can't help with it, and 
therefore will ignore the rest of it.  I might even delete the entire 
thread.  If your message is in that thread, it might get tossed out.

That's only one possibility.  The other possibility is that replies to 
both messages are going to get mixed up, making it very hard for people to 
find just the messages they are looking for.

So when you want to start a NEW topic, make sure you are NOT using Reply.  
Open a new compose window and type the list address in. (Many mail clients 
will allow you to create a short 'alias' so you don't have to type in the 
whole thing.)  This will make sure the References: header is not created, 
and increase the chances of your message being seen.

</tip>

HTH

TjL