Candy writes

Thankyou all for your help here, I'm going to swap sites now!! I'm not
usually one to read the small print so I appreciate your pointing it
out


Newsgroups are a different part of the internet, they are not websites.
If you want to read them directly (and the choice runs into the
thousands if not 10s of thousands) you need to install newsreader
software. Mine comes free with my ISP, but there are other free ones
available - others here will be able to advise.

The advantage of using newsreading software and reading the newsgroups
direct is that the articles are threaded correctly. Instead of all the
articles within one thread being listed one after another in date order.
They are threaded so if B and C reply to A, then D replies to B and E
replies to D, while F replies to C, the newsreader will present them to
you in order A,B.D,E,C,F - ie all the way down one argument before
moving across to the next - less confusing than the dodging about of
gardenbanter.

Newsreaders also give you options for 'killfiling' - so you can elect
not to see any more posts in a particular thread, or any more posts from
a particular individual. Very useful for dealing with the various
off-topic posts or posters that pop up now and again. And there are
other advantages like more choices on how the threads are laid out.

--
Kay