Can the Forum generate e-mails of threads?

[Michael Burer]

One of the things I have always liked about e-mail discussion lists as opposed to forums is that I can store the e-mails on my hard drive which I can then index and search with various tools. Is there any way the new Forum can produce an e-mail digest or the like which is sent out to people who request it? Would it even be possible to generate e-mails of threads or even individual postings?

In case you can't tell, I think I prefer the e-mail list format to the forum format (although I agree with everyone that the ads on Topica were rather unsightly and intrusive).

Michael Burer
Dallas Theological Seminary

[MTan]

This is a good question. See the Sticky added to the top of this forum.

[onefear]

Hi Michael. There seem to be a couple of other options for you on the indexing and searching front. First, vBulletin (the software that powers this contraption) has a pretty decent search facility here (this is a link). So, when you are connected to the internet, you should be able to find what you need.

Second, at the top of every thread within a forum there is a caption "Thread Tools," that brings down a list of options. If you want to import a thread into a more searchable environment (a word processor or other editor, for example), you can select "Show Printable Version" from this drop-down menu, and simply cut and paste the entire thread into another appliation. This method minimizes the non-text code (though some remains) on the page and also incorporates the entire thread. I don't know if this helps, but these may be your best options. Hope this helps a little bit.

Clay

[tomc]

Also, each thread has a unique URL generated by the database, so if you bookmark a particular thread it will always remain the same web address and will always be accessible.

[tcblack]

it will always remain the same web address and will always be accessible.

Well until the forums clog up and need compacting/ cleansing. (We've got a long way to go for that though.)

[wezlo]

One of the things I have always liked about e-mail discussion lists as opposed to forums is that I can store the e-mails on my hard drive which I can then index and search with various tools. Is there any way the new Forum can produce an e-mail digest or the like which is sent out to people who request it? Would it even be possible to generate e-mails of threads or even individual postings?

Yes, that's why I'm posting, as a matter of fact, to see if this is working.

In case you can't tell, I think I prefer the e-mail list format to the forum format (although I agree with everyone that the ads on Topica were rather unsightly and intrusive).

Forums, once they get implemented and people get used to them, will be pretty nice. But the switch is a pain and no to forums are run alike and certain things you want to do are in strange places....

Michael Burer
Dallas Theological Seminary