On 2021-09-17 at 15:25, David Christensen wrote: > On 9/17/21 1:46 AM, Brian wrote: > >> However, a new discussion should be started in a*new* thread, not >> plonked willy-nilly into an existing thread. This is the second >> time recently that someone has done that. The first time it >> involved an experienced user! > > Guilty as charged. :-( > > Using Thunderbird, clicking "Reply List" and changing the Subject to > "new subject [was: old subject]" is NOT the way to do it. Clicking > "Write", and cutting and pasting the Subject and/or body into a new > message is what I should have done. I'm not so sure. I don't recall the exact case at hand here, but generally, if the new topic bears a close enough derived relation from the older one that it makes sense to use that "Was: [old subject]" notation in the Subject line, then IMO replying in-place *is* the correct way to do it. (Barring specific, case-dependent reasons otherwise.) That Subject-line notation is for the case when the topic of the thread has drifted, and you're adjusting the Subject line in your reply to reflect the new topic, but you're still going to be quoting the previous message in order to respond to it. If that's not what you're doing - if you're starting a new topic entirely, that bears no particular relation to the other message, including not quoting its contents - then using that type of Subject-line notation doesn't make sense, and neither does starting your message via a "reply" action. However, if that *is* what you're doing, then not only is that not inherently a reason to start a new thread from scratch, but IMO doing so would usually be inappropriate - because it separates the new message from proximity to the one to which its contents are a reply, thus making it harder to see the full context of the new message. -- The Wanderer The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw
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