Thread Protocol (semi-long)

[Larry Mittell <lmittel@ibm.net>]

At 03:24 PM 2/7/96 PST, Cameron Duncan wrote, in part:

>Thread protocol:
>I often rename the "Subject" title of many of the threads so I can 
>catorigize/retrieve them better later. Other lists begin the "Subject" with 
>the car type (ex....Subject: <5k> Brakes...or Subject: <90q> Timing belt). 
>It sure makes finding info. on a topic or vehicle type a quicker search. How 
>'bout it? thoughts? Dan?

I'd like to get my $0.02 in here, too. If we could instill the collective
discipline to start subject lines with some consistent nomenclature, it
would sure make life easier for those of us using Eudora Pro, Pegasus, or
any other email program with filtering capability. I receive around 500
email messages daily. Eudora pigeonholes all my Jeep List messages in my
Jeep mailbox, because it knows that the subject line begins with "[JEEP".
Similarly, Labrador List messages are plucked out of my inbox because
Eudora's filters have been set to detect any of the several categories that
each such message begins with. I'm out of luck when it comes to the other
lists I subscribe to (including the Quattro List). I've got to laboriously
pick the wheat from the chaff manually, which is very time-consuming. Also,
as Cameron points out, even if you don't have automatic filtering, it makes
it a lot easier to categorize and keep track of stuff after the fact.

What I envision is something like this: begin each subject line with
QUATTRO, then a category, like MAINTENANCE, TIRES, PERFORMANCE, CHAT,
EVENTS, MISC.... well, you get the idea. The hard part, once everyone's
happy with the list of categories, is to get folks to start using a new
protocol in the first place. Harder yet is to *keep* them doing it. I
wouldn't like to burden Dan with becoming the Subject Line Policeman, so it
would take a few stalwart volunteers to remind folks of the protocol from
time to time.

Whadaya think? Too much hassle? Too structured? Not worth it? If most of us
subscribe to just this one list, then it probably isn't.

Larry
87 5kcstq