May I suggest to all subscribers that they make sure that the
'Subject' line in their postings to the List is meaningful?
A number of us subscribe to Mailing Lists in their 'Digest' form,
such as MONMOUTHSHIRE-D(a)rootsweb.com rather than
MONMOUTHSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com , so that all the messages for that day
are batched together as attachments to a single message. This is
especially handy if you subscribe to a large number of Mailing Lists,
covering for example the various surnames and counties you are
researching, societies you belong to, specialist computer software
that you use.
Firstly, your mail-box would otherwise soon fill up, especially if
you're away from the computer for a few days. Secondly, by reading all
the messages for one particular specialist area at the same time, you
can re-focus your mind more easily.
"So what?", you may say. Well, in those circumstances, some
subscribers open their Digest message and then merely skim the subject
lines to judge whether it's worth devoting time to opening up the
individual messages concerned. I always read all the postings on the
main lists I'm interested in, such as Monmouthshire and my various
societies, but I must confess I only examine the subject lines for the
Lists for areas or surnames peripheral to my main researches.
A subject line such as 'MONMOUTHSHIRE-D Digest V00 #302' or 'Help
wanted' doesn't really catch your attention, does it? Far better, to
my mind, to make the subject more relevant to the message, such as
'St.Catherines Church, Crosskeys' or 'Blaenavon - World Heritage Site'
or 'Blenkinsops of Pontypool c1850'.
Please don't take offence at what you may feel is a criticism. My
sixpenn'orth, for what it's worth, is a suggestion as to how you can
give your message more impact and hopefully ensure it is more likely
to be read by someone who can help you. 8-)
Geoff Riggs, Chepstow, South Wales
riggs(a)one-name.org