Avoiding unwanted threads

[Stuart]

Is there any way to switch off the Forum function that allows you to be notified if someone else posts into a thread that you have contributed to?

I enjoy this function and have used it on many occasions. However, there are times when the original thread gets hijacked (others would probably say "evolves") by a completely different topic.

For example, one of the recent Post Bag threads started out with "It seems from speaking to many locals that the english are now seen as extremely rich and looking to buy everything they can get their hands on and subsequently I suppose the french will push the property prices up even further to take advantage of this phenomenon." This lasted for a number of posts and has now turned into a general discussion on racism, with comments such as "its how we respond to rascism when we encounter it which defines how strongly we really feel. if we ignore it when a "friend" or that nice little old lady at the post-office makes a remark then things will never change".

Before anyone bites my e-head off, I should make it clear that, by this, I am not saying that racism should never be discussed - far from it. I am simply using this as an example of how a thread can change.

Stuart

[opas]

I could not agree with you more,there are several regular posters on this forum who seem to think that it is ok to hijack a posting,on more than one occasion I,ve made mention of this on the original posting only to have some smart alec(Mrs opas the censor say alec)comment that blah blah di blah,and when someone needs to do a search it becomes necessary to wade throught a load of irrelevant dribble.Hope whoever, can understand this posting!

[SaligoBay]

>from it. I am
>simply using this as an
>example of how a thread
>can change.

Au contraire, it's all part of the fun! It's chaos theory, it's a sign of life and vigour and energy, it's a direct result of LF's popularity.

To control it to the extent you're suggesting, you would need a full-time moderator to vet each post before it gets put on the forum. Fully-moderated forums may be more efficient in terms of finding information, but they're usually a lot less fun.

[Camille]

I just posted something else with forum technical problems on messaging. Probably the the only thing you can do is (and for future only obviously) don't tick the box, but keep a separate document file on your computer listing topics you've started and where they are in the forum, and then just keep checking back for new replies (the icon to the left will be colored whenever new postings are there) when you log on and scroll through. At least your inbox won't be overinundated. You'll still have to sift through replies.

Sorry it's not more helpful, but I wasn't even able to get an administrative response to my problem so I just had to find a way around it. Maybe there will be a poster who has found a way to have it "both" ways (to turn off after having turned on).

Camille
www.maisonquercy.com