(List note: this is a reply to a private mailing).
From what I understand I intended to use my own cgi because that way
I can use the original message id in the reply, which I assumed was the way
to ensure mhonarc gets its threading right.
Q. If I use the mailto method and the user does not change the subject, then
will mhonarc still get the threading right ?.
Yes, as long as the In-Reply-To and/or References header fields are
defined correctly. I believe the new mailto format is intended
to support this. The only gotcha may be that not all WWW clients
support the later mailto format.
Q. If he changes the subject in the reply (using the mailto) then there
is no way mhonarc can thread against the original. ?
Not true. In-Reply-To and References checks are always made first.
Subjects are only used when they are not present.
My users are not computer literate and will change the subject line and
may still expect threading.
As long as In-Reply-To and/or References are defined in the messages
properly, subjects are irrelevant.
You might want to check out the Threading section of the FAQ.
I now plan to use both ways !, a cgi for replying to messages, which
will allow the user to change the subject, and a general mailto link
link of the index pages which is not in reply to any particular
message, but to a particular mail address for each forum ( I need
multiple mail discussion groups ).
Obviously I could use a cgi for both, but using a mailto means I don't have
to do the posting from my server and there is less chance of the user
getting his email address wrong (my users are not computer literate!).
Am I off beam here ?.
I still think you have your balance. See
http://www.rosat.mpe-garching.mpg.de/mailing-lists/mhonarc/1997-04/msg00107.html
and related messages about mailto stuff.
http://www.access.digex.net/%7Easgilman/dev-access/2/headless.rc
This is a good example of using mailto. Just do a simple find
for "mailto".
--ewh
