Jack, the easy answer is that you get as many spaces as you can fit into the box. Since this answer is obvious, I saw no need to put it into the FAX.
You get fewer spaces if you use ALLCAPS, and I think you get more spaces if your title favors the letter "i" and other narrow characters.
The moderators have a few extra spaces at their disposal for use in indexing, clarification, and the like. If the title you want doesn't fit, feel free to ask a moderator to add a few letters for you.
We often change thread titles for the sake of standardization and clarification, since we require that thread titles give a fair idea of what's inside a thread. We try to do this by adding to the thread title, rather than by changing the title completely. That way, we hope the thread originator can find the thread if the title has changed. Doesn't always work, but we try.
Please note that a "tag" at the beginning of a thread title is not required. There is a blank space among the dropdown list of tags - please use that one or make up your own tag if nothing on our list fits what you're trying to say.
In addition, do your best to ensure that your thread title is different from any thread title that has been used before - or consider adding your comments to an existing thread. The best tool for finding things by thread title is the Filter.
If you use [CTRL-F] to search the FAQ for Thread title, you will find that the term comes up 31 times. That seems to me to be an indication that the topic of thread titles is discussed at some length in the FAQ.
But the answer to your original question on how many spaces you are allotted in a thread title is this: it depends on a number of factors, but the easy answer is that you get as many spaces as you can type before you get to the end of the box. Oh...and you get a few more spaces in message titles.
You probably should have asked your question in the FAQ. Since we don't allow threads discussing Mudcat policy, I'm going to close this thread. You can argue all day about whether the title limit should be 40 or 42 spaces, and there's no answer. It's a totally arbitrary thing, based on Max's guess on how many spaces will fit without totally screwing up the display of the Forum Menu on a not-so-wide monitor.
-Joe-