[Mailman-Users] (pipermail versus ...) To join a conversation from the web interface

[Edward Ned Harvey]

Presently, I'm using pipermail.  I'm open to suggestions.

This question is pretty complicated, so probably the best answer I could
possibly get is to know how pipermail gets called, so I can go try and read
its source and stuff.  So I can dig into it myself.  At present, I have no
idea what process generates the html from the mbox.

That being said, here's the complicated question:

Suppose there's a list,
People have conversations going in there.
A new user comes along, reads the archives, subscribes to the list.
He wants to jump into an already existing conversation.
Since he's newly subscribed to the list, he can't go click "reply" in his
mail client.

In the pipermail archives, he sees this link at the top of the message:
	Joe User joe.user at domain.com
He's going to think, "if I click that link, it's a new message to Joe User."

If he looks closely, he notices the URL of that link is:
	mailto:somelist at domain.com?Subject=[Somelist]An Interesting
Idea&In-Reply-To=
He's going to think, "if I click that, it's a new message to the list,
joining this conversation."

Neither of his thoughts are right.

I'm thinking the text of a mailto should always match the url address.
Otherwise it's misleading, because most people will only see the blue text.
If you see the link joe.user at domain.com then you think it generates mail
to joe.user, not to some other address.

I'm also thinking it should include the RE: and mimmick the behavior of an
actual mail client.
	?Subject=Re:[Somelist]An Interesting Idea

I'm also thinking there should be a Message-ID in the "In-Reply-To"

Is it possible my pipermail is simply misocnfigured somehow?  I'd like to
see this link, or another link, give users the ability to join a
conversation, just by clicking something in the web archive.