Dear Ellen & Sarge: Thank you! I agree 1000%. It really helps us help each other when people follow the list etiquette: SMITH, James W.; b.1829; m.BROWN, Ann; PA>VA>TN>Smith Co., TX Sarge has the right idea: Hello Ellen, I agree 100%! Nothing is more frustrating than to see one of those "generic" subject lines like "Need Help", "My Family", etc. A format that I have always suggested to the users of the Lists I administer is this: SMITH, James W.; b.1829; m.BROWN, Ann; PA>VA>TN>Smith Co., TX This gives just about optimum subject line content in the shortest possible format. Of course there can be many variations, like: SMITH, James W.; 1840?-1880?; m.Unknown; Speedwell, Smith Co., TX And so forth. In the first example it lets other users know exactly what the original sender needs help on. Here's a couple other "tips" that help when formatting subject lines: 1) Put SURNAMES in ALL-CAPS. (Also applies to surnames in message bodies.) Makes it very easy to pick out names at a glance. 2) When replying, and the replier changes the subject, ALWAYS change the subject line !!!!! Just things I've picked up over the decades doing genealogy research on the Net/Web. Regards, Sarge