Subjects, Topics and Threading

[Dale H. Cook]

At 06:30 PM 9/14/2016, J. wrote:

>How is sending a new email any different than replying / changing subject line?

The message headers contain data that identify which thread a message is part of. Subscribers normally do not see that data because very few people have a reason to look at the full headers of a message. Replying to an existing thread without changing the subject maintains that data. Replying to an existing thread but changing the subject line also maintains that data, which identifies the reply as part of the original thread. In both cases the message appears in the list archives as part of the original thread.

Starting a new thread with a new subject assigns new data identifying the new thread. It appears in the list archives as part of a new thread, independent from the original thread. That is part of the way in which mailing list software, in general, works.

Dale H. Cook, Contract IT Administrator, Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA
http://plymouthcolony.net/starcityeng/index.html