No the faqs request wasn't a joke, it's a reasonable request as birchbox threads have an FAQ on the first page of the thread. We're getting the same questions each month "how do I track by reference question?" Comes up every single month.
The answer is easily found I past threads with an easy search, yet it'll be asked every month on every page mostly since it's too time consuming to go search for the answer.
I'm aware how to track by reference but not everyone is, so the answer to this question and other repeated questions are easily answered by directing everyone to the first page of the thread, much like mods reference those talking of trades to the TOS and rules pages.