Forums are a whirlpool of intellectualism, people’s feelings and ADD. If you post ANYTHING to an internet forum, expect discussion to waver from the original topic. I sometimes see individuals go off the deep end when their thread gets “derailed” by off-topic discussion. Forum threads are a means of discussion, not an assignment to answer the original question.

However, I will concede that it is always a good idea that if you feel you are straying into an entirely new topic - start a new thread! It just keeps the forums nice and tidy to have separate discussions in separate threads. If you are later trying to find some interesting discussion which was embedded within some other thread, it can be a royal pain to find that information.

Back on my original topic, I think people need to be less uptight about thread derailments and stop taking such things so personally. If you throw a hissy fit about your thread being derailed, expect the entire forum to knock their respect for you down a notch due to your whining.