[misc.handicap] Subject Lines

Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman) (01/11/91)

Index Number: 12821

The main reason for the subject line problems is that some BBS systems make it  
nearly impossible to reply to a message and change the subject line.  In many  
cases, to leave a response with a different subject, you have to 1) write down  
the number of the message 2) go back through several menus 3) enter a new  
message 4) go back through several more menus and 5) pick up where you left  
off (by entering the message number you wrote down; on some systems, "read  
new messages" means "read messages that were posted since your last logon"  
rather than "read messages that you haven't read yet" and so once you drop  
out of the "read new messages" menu to write a response, you can't pick up  
with "read new messages again").  Often you can't quote unless you use the  
reply feature; while this helps discourage over-quoting, it often means that  
the writer will lose his train of thought and forget some point in the  
original message (it often helps to quote and then delete the quoted lines as  
each point is replied to).
 

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