These are some tips that I find extremely useful when managing newsgroups.
Tip 1—Elect to receive individual emails rather than a daily digest Some online groups such as Yahoo! Groups give you the choice of receiving emails individually or as a daily digest. On the face of it a daily digest would appear easier to manage but in practice it isn’t. Many messages include a copy of the original and so scanning through a single email to find the content is difficult. Individual emails let you scan the subject line quickly and decide what you want to read or delete.
Individual emails are also essential for effective organisation (see Tip 2). If you are a PersonalBrain user this is great because you can simply drag-and-drop a mail into your brain without the need to link back to the original.
Tip 2—Create individual folders for each newsgroup
If your mail software allows create an individual folder for each newsgroup under your inbox. Then configure a rule to scan the subject header and place all emails in the right folder. This sifts the grain from the chaff to clear your inbox for more important emails. It also then gives you the ability to focus attention on newsgroups one at a time.
Tip 3—Don’t reply online
For a while I was posting to newsgroups using the online form supplied. It has some problems. Inefficiency, web link creation (never worked out how) and the back button. Furthermore you can’t stop halfway through and save your post in draft mode. Instead, most groups have a mail address to which you can simply email.