Dont use 'reply' when posting a new thread here - it often wont be seen

[Kevin Hawkins <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

I know it's very tempting (=easy) when sending a new email to the
Yahoo group to choose an existing message - hit 'reply' and then change
the subject line to a new topic.  But it causes issues that will mean
your message is often not seen by list members....here's why..

Even though you have changed the subject doing it this way creates
a new message that is still a reply to the original message. Many people
use a 'threaded' news reader eg ThunderBird which means they see just
the first message of a topic and then have to expand that to read all
the later messages should they be interested in the 'thread' - indeed
this is very useful (recommended)  for a group like UKHA as the daily
posts get categorised automatically under topic headings often meaning
there are only half a dozen top level messages per day.  What this means
however is that your post is never seen as it is sitting hidden as a
reply under a collapsed topic header.
So if you do want to post a new a new topic then make sure you start
a 'new' message (copy paste the group email address if needs be) and
your message will be seen by the maximum audience.   Coversly - if you
are replying to an existing thread then always use 'reply' (rather than
creating a new message and copy pasting the old subject) as this doesn't
create the thread needed.

K

PS ...whilst  on my soapbox I may as well mention a couple of other
tips....

To avoid accidently posting to the group setup your list email address
with Yahoo to be different to your normal email address so that you
manually have to change it before posting to the group. This way if you
do reply to an individual but mistakenly send it to the group it will be
returned immediately unposted  - many group members use
list@xxxxxxx  for this , plus it also helps on 'spam' filtering.

Remember to not post long web links which don't work when they get
wrapped , the sort of things often associated with a  product deep in a
web site  - instead use a free service like
http://www.tinyurl.com    or even
*http://tinyurl.com/u    ;-)  this can
also automatically copy the
shortened url to the clipboard for you when installed in the toolbar.



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