Do you prefer mailing lists or web based forums?

[Evan Leibovitch]

Daniel Armstrong wrote:

>Opinion here seems to heavily favour mailing lists over web-based forums.
>Why is that?
>
1) Web forums are active, you have to make an effort to get to them; you
have to keep coming back as you have no idea when new comments are left.
Mail is passive, the new stuff is delivered to you at the time it's created.

2) Through settings on your reader, mail can be downloaded and then read
when you're offline. Web forums generally require connections.

3) You can easily choose to archive interesting threads (or the whole
traffic). Archiving web forums isn't quite so easy. (OTOH, it's usually
easier to see and search old archives -- especially those that predate
your subscription -- on a web forum.)

4) Mail is generally lower bandwidth, as it has far less formatting data
embedded (and rarely any graphics) compared to web pages. That is,  this
assumes you're  looking at most if not all postings.

> The reason I ask is because I am setting up a Drupal-powered
>website and plan to offer a web-based forum. I know from my personal
>browsing habits that when I try out a new linux distro if the site offers
>a web-based forum it is usually the first place I bookmark - the Ubuntu
>Forum, for example, is a great searchable source of info that makes it
>very easy to post or browse around.
>  
>
Web forums are indeed easier for newcomers who haven't mastered mail
threading. They're also better for high-volume, high-participation
groups. But mail can't be beat for things like announcements, slow
connections, or working offline.

Have you looked at Drupal's "listhandler" module? Using it means you
don't have to choose between mail and web.

- Evan

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