Steve's Yahoo Username Blues . . .

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tim Regan" <dumbledad at g...>
wrote:

> Steve wrote:
> >>> I always post in the Web version of the group because I really 
> don't like my computer cluttered up by thousands of emails. That 
> means that I didn't archive any of the posts I made <<<
> 
> There are archives of posts so don't give up hope of your favourite 
> essays resurfacing.

Steve/Asian_lovr2:

You missed one small detail. When the username 'boybluemn' vanished so
did every single post I ever made. Believe me, I check very carefull,
but they were all GONE. When 'bboy_mn' vanished, my post in discussion
groups remained. 

I have since figured out that this happened because the 'boybluemn'
username didn't have a first name listed. If you look at the message
page in the groups, each person who posts is identified two ways, the
first is 'Name/Email' and the second is by 'Yahoo ID'. If you don't
have at least a first name listed in your Yahoo Profile, then user ID
is placed in both fields. When the username disappears, there is no
longer anything to reference the posts to, so they are lost. If you go
back to the very beginning of the group message list, you will see
many posts that have a first name (Name/Email) listed but don't have a
Yahoo ID. That because the Yahoo ID's they were posting under no
longer exist, but the Groups archieve still has that first name that
it can use to reference the post to. So my advice is, at least put a
first name in your Yahoo User Profile.

> 
> I'm also confused by your reasoning here. I think (though I may well 
> be wrong) that one can set one's membership to "Special notices" 
> or "No email", thus receive no or few email from the list, use the 
> web view for reading the list, and still post from an email client 
> using the email address in your membership profile. ...edited...
> 
> At least, that's how I think it works.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Dumbledad.

Asian_lovr2/Steve:

The drawback to reading on-line and using a local email client program
to respond is that you break the thread. That is, your reply is not
direct at the post you are replying to, and is not part of the thread.
It shows up in the group as a stand-alone post. 

While that is not a disaster, there is a reason why posts are group
into related threads, and why replies are attached to the post you are
replying to. That is to keep the discussion contained, easily
accessable, and easy to follow. There are posts all the time in the
groups that break the thread, and again life goes on; no disaster. 

So, it is a judgement call, I prefer to be included in the threaded
structure of a discussion.

What I wish Yahoo had is the ability to add a CC: (copy to) address to
a post. That way I could email myself a copy. 

It would also be nice if there was an option for Forward a post. That
way I could forward any intersting posts to my email box. True, I can
cut and paste, but it would be convinient to let my email program
manage the storing and viewing of these saved posts. That way they are
all accessable in once place and managable by a single user interface.
Or alternately, you could forward copies to friends who might be
interested. 

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/asian_lovr2 (who hope to be 'bboyminn' soon.)