PIATT-L Archives

Archiver > PIATT > 2004-08 > 1093177821


From: Christine Webb <>
Subject: Re: [PIATT] replies to list
Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:30:21 -0400
References: <082220040416.6319.41281E14000876EA000018AF21602806519B9B0E079F0E04@att.net>


Hello Laverne and everyone!

I just checked the settings for PIATT-L and we are already set to reply
to list. Here's what the listowner tools say:

Should replies be directed back to the list automatically?
This option adds a Reply-To header to any message that doesn't already
have one. If someone on the list replies to one of these messages, their
response will be sent back to the whole list by default.

However, SmartList will never overwrite a Reply-To if the person sending
the message included their own. That means that even if you select
reply-to-list, there will still be some messages where the reply only
goes to the sender. Mailing list administrators discourage the use of
reply-to-list; for more information, see Chip Rosenthal's essay Reply-To
Munging Considered Harmful. Caveat emptor!

~~~

The link goes to a rather long philosophical and technical discussion
about email and why Reply-To-List is bad...but it seems to have worked
for the PIATT-L list thus far. Perhaps because we are a smallish group
with some incredibly knowledgable folks? I can see where it might be a
problem for a less finely-focused list, such as a county mailing list.
While we've not had a problem with it on the county mailing list I tend,
we have had some folks hit "reply" and not realize that their comments
are destined for the entire list and not just the author of the original
message.

So, yes, clicking reply will send the message to the entire list, and
that message will be archived.

Thanks, and good luck!
Christine in Alexandria, VA



wrote:
>
> Some of you may recall that when the Piatt list was new the reply button was set to send the reply back to the list for everyone to see. This was great as it kept discussions on-list for everyone to read and for the benefit of future researchers who would find the information by searching the list archives.
>
> Other lists I have been on are absolutely worthless because their reply buttons from the beginning were set to send the reply to the poster and not to the list. Consequently, the list archives are empty of useful information and, therefore, worthless. Yes, the question about great-great-great-grandfather's capture by the natives and possible redemption 12 years later may appear in the list archives, but the answer? Nowhere!
>
> So, I wonder if I could persuade our list administrator to reset the reply button to reply to the list automatically. What are the feelings of other posters about this? In the meantime we can be sure that our posted information gets back to the list as well as to the poster by hitting the "reply to all" button in our browsers.
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Laverne Ingram Piatt
> Ontario, OH
>
>
>
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> such as wills, bios, deeds, and Bible records. Find it at
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>
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