Here's a new FAQ about mailing lists, handy and tested:
http://webdesign-l.com/policies

Quick paraphrases relative to this thread:

(Q) Why bother changing the SUBJECT: when the conversation changes?
(A) So readers don't miss a new discussion they may want to hear, and
don't waste time when they really want the old discussion.

(Q) Why start a new thread with a new message rather than replying to a
message in another thread and retitling?
(A) Because some software tracks threads by MESSAGE-ID, not just by
SUBJECT... I believe this is how the list archives are handled in some
cases, for instance:
http://listsearch.com/dreamweavertalk.lasso

(Q) Why avoid bottom-quoting?
(A) Some emailers default to quoting the whole preceding message and
putting your cursor at the top. A reader would have to scroll down to
figure out the context of your new text, then scroll back up to read it.
When several people in a thread use these defaults, madness results. It's
smarter and more polite to trim and format the exact lines to which you're
responding, and then put your reply immediately beneath this, so a reader
can follow the thoughts sequentially.
(Posts with multiple copies of the list footer are a key indicator here.)



For me, I was planning on referring other staffers to this "Why MX04
sales..." thread, but if I do so now I will be wasting their time with all
the off-topic material in the thread. I'd still like them to get the
information in some of these posts, but need to figure out a more effective
way to do so than to refer them to the archived thread.... :(


tx,
jd




John Dowdell, Macromedia Developer Support, San Francisco
(Best to reply on-list, to avoid my mighty spam filters!)
Technotes: http://www.macromedia.com/support/search/
Column: http://www.macromedia.com/desdev/jd_forum/
Technical daily diary: http://www.macromedia.com/go/blog_jd



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