Open
Bug 250162
Opened 21 years ago
Updated 2 years ago
Warn before posting a new newsgroup thread with the same subject line as an existing one
Categories
(MailNews Core :: Composition, enhancement)
MailNews Core
Composition
Tracking
(Not tracked)
NEW
People
(Reporter: smjg, Unassigned)
References
(Blocks 1 open bug)
Details
It happens from time to time that someone inadvertently posts a new message that
coincides in subject line with another, while trying to start a new thread.
There are a few reasons this should be avoided:
1. Many newsreaders (Mozilla included) automatically thread together messages
with the same subject line, even if they are not connected by References
headers. Consequently:
(a) two separate discussions (or so it was intended) will confusingly appear as one
(b) people who have ignored the previous thread with the same subject (possibly
including the very poster of the new 'original' message) will miss the new post
and its replies
(c) it becomes impossible to watch/ignore the two discussions separately.
2. Such a post can be symptomatic of the poster's failure to read the
pre-existing thread and hence possibly find an answer to his/her query before
reposting it.
3. It can also be symptomatic of user error leading to belief that the first
posting attempt didn't get through (though this is addressed to at least some
degree by bug 3746).
4. Subject lines that would come up again and again can tend to be inherently
unhelpful ones such as "help" or merely citing the topic of the whole newsgroup.
5. Alternatively, I think it happens sometimes that someone meant to post a
followup but instead ended up starting a new thread.
I therefore suggest that we introduce a feature to stop and warn the user before
posting if the subject line is identical to one of a header that's been
downloaded in the same newsgroup. Maybe the warning could look something like this:
There is already a thread in this newsgroup with
the subject line "help". It is recommended that
you check the existing thread to see if your
question has already been answered. If you still
wish to post the message, consider posting it as
a followup or changing the subject line.
[Post Anyway] [View Existing Thread] [Cancel] [Help]
Of course, it needn't have to be an exact match; mere capitalisation/punctuation
variations could be caught as well.
The only real complication I can see is considering if the 'existing thread' is
all expired stuff that hasn't been cleaned up yet. In which case changing the
subject line would be sensible, but offering to view the formerly existing
thread wouldn't.
There probably ought to be a way of switching the warning off. Periodic posts
such as FAQs often have the same subject over and over again, but as for whether
even this is a good idea, I'm not settled one way or another.
Reporter | ||
Updated•21 years ago
|
Severity: normal → enhancement
OS: MacOS X → All
Hardware: Macintosh → All
Reporter | ||
Updated•21 years ago
|
Blocks: usenetiquette
Updated•20 years ago
|
Product: MailNews → Core
Comment 1•18 years ago
|
||
sorry for the spam. making bugzilla reflect reality as I'm not working on these bugs. filter on FOOBARCHEESE to remove these in bulk.
Assignee: sspitzer → nobody
Updated•17 years ago
|
QA Contact: composition
Assignee | ||
Updated•17 years ago
|
Product: Core → MailNews Core
Updated•2 years ago
|
Severity: normal → S3
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Description
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