> I've been using the rtfm.mit.edu FAQ server to post a FAQ on a regular basis.
>
> One reader has commented to me that all of the portions of the FAQ appear
> within one message thread on his newsreaders. [...]
>
> [That reader wrote:]
> >While this may make it easier to reference the sections while in newsgroup
> >format, with some readers it may not be obvious that there's more than one
> >section; some newsreaders show the title only on the first new message in a
> >thread.
> >
> >Perhaps the folks at rtfm can make a suggestion; this seems to originate at
> >the posting, rather than being part of the FAQ itself as you submitted it to
> >them.
>
> If I wanted to, how could I get the FAQ server to post each section of the
> FAQ as a separate message thread?
As your correspondent mentioned, most newsreaders use the "References:"
header to determine what's in a thread. The faq-server only sets this
header for postings which have parents: if you make part2 the child of part1,
part2's References: is set to the Message-ID of part1 when they're posted.
This is deliberate, so that related postings stick together in a newsreader
and (with some software) can be saved or printed as a unit.
To avoid having References: headers inserted by the faq-server, make sure
your postings aren't children of other postings.
Personally, I don't think there's much risk that new readers will forget
to read parts after part 1, especially if part 1 makes it clear that the
full posting contains several articles. Besides, in my experience, most
newsreaders show every different Subject in a thread, and only omit the
Subject when it's exactly the same as the one before. (Others base their
decisions on how much of the Subject is the same, so you can try putting
your part numbers near the beginning if you want.) Still, it's a matter
of personal preference; there are no official news.answers requirements.
- Pam Greene
one of the *.answers moderators, news-answers-request@mit.edu
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