Threads are a convenient way of narrowing down the areas of interest.
A thread is an input to a discussion you wish to see launched, a question you would like answered or a proposal for which you need support, etc. A new thread should only be opened if the topic has not already been launched. You can customize a number of options, such as notification of e-mail addresses. This option will allow you to be automatically notified of any messages posted to the particular thread in which you are interested. Extensive on-line help is available here .