[Vision2020] question

[Kenneth Marcy]

On Thursday 18 September 2008 19:03:05 joekc at roadrunner.com wrote:
> How do I post so that my posts are listed under the topic, as opposed to
> off on their own?

The exact steps you need to take may depend on the e-mail software you are 
using, but the general idea is to open, or at least to select, the message to 
which you want to respond, and then choose at least Reply, or perhaps Reply 
All. The result should be a new message with the To: line of the message 
already addressed to the list address.

When the message arrives in someone's or your InBox, the threading function of 
your software should align it with other messages in the same thread. 
Threading is an option that can be turned on or off, so make sure it is on if 
you want to see threads within a particular e-mail box on your machine.

If you chose Reply All then any other addressees of the message to which you 
are replying should also be Cc: (courtesy copy) recipients of the message you 
send. If those addressees are also members of the mailing list, they should 
get two copies of your message, unless they have an e-mail configuration that 
catches and holds subsequent copies of an original message. However, the copy 
of the message that does go through should be threaded with others if 
threading is turned on for that e-mail folder.

If you choose to create a new message without hitting the Reply button to a 
previously-selected message in that thread, the new message will not be a 
part of the thread. You can type in the same subject name, but it still won't 
be a part of the thread. If you, or your recipient(s) choose to sort their 
e-mail folder by subject, your new message may be listed with the others with 
the same subject heading, but your message still won't be part of a thread 
(other than its own thread, of course). Many e-mail recipients will chose to 
turn on threading, then sort their messages by date received, so that the 
oldest threads are listed first, with newer messages in the thread listed 
later in the thread, but perhaps before an earlier message in another, later, 
thread.

The way to have the most control over how your messages are managed is to 
chose an e-mail client that does everything you want it to do. Web-based 
e-mail systems usually do not have as rich a set of features as mail clients 
on a local personal computer.

You can have even more control over your entire e-mail process if you choose 
to run your own e-mail server software in addition to an e-mail client. While 
this has control advantages, it has the disadvantage that when the mail 
server needs attention, you get to call up yourself and complain to yourself 
as e-mail manager that your e-mail service is unsatisfactory. Many people us 
an ISP for e-mail management to avoid these self-to-self service calls.

> What am I doing wrong?

Dunno. Could it be that you're not running an open source Linux box so you can 
be in charge of what you want to be, and outsource the rest to an ISP for 
them to manage? The Mandriva Spring 2008.1 Linux distribution is a great 
place to start learning and appreciating the power and benefits of open 
source software, if you are of a mind to begin that great adventure.


Ken