Subject headers are the solution [was: Fire Hydrant for the Flames]

Hey.

There seems to be a feeling that "on-topic" messages are getting
drowned out by "off-topic" messages. Once upon a time we had a set of
somewhat standardized subject line tags which were to clearly
indicate the kind of message which followed -- things like CHAT,
THEORY, USAGE, etc. No one seems to be using these anymore. Also, as
threads drift from the descriptions provided in the subject line, the
subject headings don't always change to reflect the drift. I think
that if we were to be more diligent in using appropriate subject
headers, a lot of the burden in sifting the list content would be
eased, allowing those who want to get right to the grammatical nuts
and bolts of other's projects to do so, and those who want to discuss
the private habits of left-handed bearded gay Luxembourgians to do so
as well. I certainly don't want to squash discussion of ostensibly
"off-topic" threads, but I'm also not interested in reading them; my
time is limited, and I think I've already missed some good stuff
because it wasn't labelled appropriately.

Along with my new resolution to read and comment more carefully on
grammatical descriptions, I also now resolve to make better use of
the subject line so that you all will know right away when you want
to delete my posts.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga                  Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

Man deth swa he byth thonne he mot swa he wile.
'A man does as he is when he can do what he wants.'

- Old English Proverb

Replies