"Paul Narramore" wrote in
message ...

Hello
This is my first post here but already I'm a bit puzzled. The note at
the top of the page states the post I'm about to reply to will be
quoted below. Why? Other message boards I write on simply lists the
posts as it is always obvious what the writer is referring to.
[...]

This isn't a message board, of course; newsgroups may have different
protocols from what you are accustomed to. When you type your reply, you can
always snip any irrelevant parts of the quoted material, as I have just
done.

Actually it isn't "always obvious what the writer is referring to", since
the newsgroup messages are listed in a random order. Even if you are able to
set your newsreader to show messages by subject, your reply post may refer
to a previous message a long way down the stack, and threads often wander a
long way from the initial point. It's easier for readers if the context is
immediately apparent and doesn't need to be hunted down.

Alan Jones