Subject lines, threading

On Nov 6, 2011, at 9:24 AM, Dave A. wrote:

In case my subtlety is lost on you, lemme 'splain: if you start
writing about something other than what the conversation was
originally about, take a few seconds to change the Subject line of the
message.

For those who may not know (I didn’t always), don’t use “reply” in this
case either, because that preserves headers which will cause many mail
readers to put the message in the old thread, despite the change of
subject line… (I almost forgot for this message.)

But really, it’s all the same concept–being polite to the people whom
you’re asking for help. Take time to be clear with your question, use a
relevant concise subject line, quote helpfully not lazily in responses,
don’t hijack threads.

Top-post annoys me somewhat because of the backward flow when reading
those questions. But quoting a whole message with extensive quotes in it
already, and then posting some tiny new bit at the end–sheesh–I don’t
read those. If there’s multiple levels of quotes showing, and I have to
scroll to get to new content, I just move on instead because right then
I assume the poster is just too fucking lazy for me to bother with.


Scott R.
[email protected]
http://www.elevated-dev.com/
(303) 722-0567 voice


Scott R.
[email protected]
http://www.elevated-dev.com/
(303) 722-0567 voice

On Sun, Nov 6, 2011 at 12:00, Scott R. [email protected]
wrote:

don’t use “reply” in this case either, because that preserves headers
which will cause many mail readers to put the message in the old thread,
despite the change of subject line… (I almost forgot for this message.)

D’oh! Yes, I keep forgetting about that. It is a good bit more
effort than just changing the Subject line though, so I can’t really
fault anyone for not bothering with that.

But really, it’s all the same concept–being polite to the people whom you’re
asking for help.

Yup. esr may have an abrasive style, but his “smart questions” essay
contains a lot of excellent advice. For those who haven’t seen it
yet:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

I also summarized it on my “excellence” blog at
Dare2XL: Dare to Excel!: Help Wanted! .

quoting a whole message with extensive quotes in it already, and
then posting some tiny new bit at the end–

I assume the poster is just too fucking lazy for me to bother with.

/aol, +1, or whatever the latest equivalent is. :wink:

-Dave


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