Hi Jo While I wholeheartedly agree that a good subject line helps immeasurably it should not hinder a search of the archives Its far better to search the archives for keywords in the body of the mail rather than subject line Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) Another reason for surnames/places in the subject line is for searching the archives. When you put in your surname/town in the archive search it will bring up those with your surname/town, something like "Help" or "searching for ancestors" in the subject line gives no clue.When new members join they often search the archives to check to see if perhaps a question they have has already been addressed, or