[Drake] Dadgumit! Subject lines are important

[ACI6@aol.com]

Fellow List Members:

I continue to be amazed at the number of poor subject lines that are used in 
posts made to this list. To me, the subject line is the most important part 
of the original message because, in many cases, it serves to persuade the 
reader to open, and read, the message instead of discarding it unread. 

I'd like to suggest the following:

If you . . . 

Are looking for an item, say so by using "WTB:", "Need", etc. along with the 
item description in the subject line.

Want to sell an item, say so and include as much info as possible in the 
subject line.

Need information, spell it out completely in the subject line.

Doing these things will cause those who have an interest in your post to open 
and read it while allowing those who don't to pass it by. That way, you will 
increase your chances of success without causing others to waste their time 
trying to figure out what you want to accomplish.

Here are some examples:

"MN-2000" is a poor subject line because there is no "WTB", "For Sale", "Need 
help with", etc.

"For Sale" guarantees that it will not read it by (at least) one list member!

"Drake Manual" is poor for two reasons. First, is it for sale, needed, lost, 
what? Second, a Drake Manual for WHAT?

Many times I have opened a message thinking I was about to learn something 
new only to discover that the sender was no better informed than I. For 
instance, when you see something like: "Different method for neutralization", 
you might think the post included just what was advertised. But, in this 
case, a question mark, or something like "Is there a", was missing from the 
subject line because the sender wanted to know if there was a different 
method. Things like this not only tend to frustrate the reader, if they 
happen often enough, they can also serve to cause the originator to be added 
to the "lid bin" by other list members. 

So, please give some thought to your subject lines since they are the most 
important part of your post! And, stay out of the lid bin.

Regards,

Bill