[ic] Hijacking Threads (Was: __DOCROOT__ value in UserTag)

[Doug Alcorn]

Andy Mayer <andy@andymayer.net> writes:

>> and please start a new thread instead of
>> answering to a unrelated one.
>
> Sorry about that... am not sure how that happened when I entered a new
> Subject line.. my mail client is trying to be clever ;)

The subject line is only loosely related to the threading.  Every mail
message has a message-id.  When you "reply" or "followup" to a
message, you client is supposed to put a References header with the
message-id of the message you are replying to.  This isn't "being
clever", it's following standards.  If you simply replace the subject
line with something new, you are "hijacking" the thread.

The result is that your question is buried below unrelated
questions when looking at the mailing list in a threaded way.  Take a
look at

http://www.icdevgroup.org/pipermail/interchange-users/2003-April/thread.html

In this page, indentation indicates threading.  Messages indented to
the right are in reply to the messages above them and to the left.
Notice how your message is indented below "[ic] Single widget matrix
options."  Also notice how the archives are only able to track four
levels of nesting.  That means all the threading information on your
question is lost.  You can't see that Stefan has replied to your
message.  It looks like Stefan has replied to Jamie Neil's message
with a weird subject.

Hijacking threads causes information to be lost and you'll be less
likely to get an answer.  In my mail client, all messages in the same
thread are collapsed to a single line in my subjects list until i read
the first one.  That means I see a question on "single widget matrix
options".  If I don't read that thread, I would never see the question
on "__DOCROOT__ value in UserTag".

Relying on the subject line for threads takes away some of the power
of email and mailing lists.  Notice how this message is still in the
"single widget matrix options" but I've changed the subject to be more
meaningful.  It's perfectly fine to change the subject while still on
the same thread.  In fact, I encourage it.  Because of the References
message header, you don't have to rely on the subject line to know
what thread the message is in. Instead, you can use meaningful subject
lines to communicate subtle changes in your message subject from the
thread's original subject.

To start a new thread, compose a new message.  Hit the "new" button
(or whatever button your client uses).  Type in the address of the
mailing list as the To address.  This is the only way to actually
start a new thread.  Some mail clients allow you to "post a new
message to group".  This is idealogically the same as composing a new
message and inserting the mailing lists' address as the To address.

I have had a hard time convincing people this is a bad thing.  It
seems obviously bad to me.  I'm sorry that most people don't use a
mail client smart enough to display the mail messages in a threaded
way.  If I could, I would help every one of you unfortunate
individuals change over to a better mail client.  I realize that's
impossible.  For those of you that can't use a mail client that
displays threads properly, please quit penalizing those of us that
do.  Stop hijacking threads.  

I'm not intending this message as a flame.  I'm simply trying to
educate readers what "hijacking" the thread means and how it's
harmful.  If the majority of the list disagrees with me then we can
all leave this subject behind.  However, your message seems to
indicate an ignorance of threading.  I thought I would describe how
threading works and let the group make an informed decision on how
they want to treat threading.
-- 
 (__) Doug Alcorn - Unix/Linux/Web Developing
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