I'm with David on this one. I do change subject lines on all of my boards to remove extra words (looking, help, searching, etc) and I make sure the full name, date, and location is in the subject line. I consider that a teaching tool and have even received 2 thank you notes. I have never heard any objection from anyone. I really believe that a post that only says "Help find my grandfather" won't get read by browsers. Having been a browser as a newbie I know that informative subject lines are a big help. Regards, Sharyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "David E. Cann" <decann@infionline.net> To: <BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 7:43 AM Subject: RE: [BAd] Help Question > Marilyn, > > I do, but you will get disagreements here on that subject. Particularly > when the subject line is so long and is also repeated in the message body. > The same applies to entering numerous surnames in the surname field with no > regard to the fact they do not appear in the message body either. > > > David E. Cann > decann@infionline.net > davidecann@gmail.com (alternate) > > -----Original Message----- > From: Tribehunter@aol.com [mailto:Tribehunter@aol.com] > Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 10:14 AM > To: BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [BAd] Help Question > > > I'd have to disagree with this to a point. I had a post that went on for > 3 lines, something like this: > > SUBJECT: John Smith, born 1845 in SC,married Jane Doe born 1850 in SC, > moved to NC in 1868, VA 1880, KY 1882 with 5 children; their son James is > my g-g-grandfather b. 1875 NC > > Then in the body of the message they repeated all of the exact SAME data > from the subject line and then listed the names and birthplaces and dates > of the 5 children, along with "Looking for anyone else searching this > line." > > The subject line was too cumbersome so I changed it to: > > John SMITH b. 1845 SC; wife Jane DOE b. 1850 SC > > Aren't we supposed to simplify the subject line, up to a point, so that > it's > more eye-catching? > > Marilyn > > ---------------original message--------------- In a message dated 7/22/2006 > 9:53:45 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, JYoung6180@aol.com writes: > > An admin should be very very > careful about changing subject lines. Especially in a case like this > where you are implying that the subject line WAS explanatory in relation to > the text of the message.