Keeping track of which communications are related, or linked, in a series of communications is an important feature in many electronic document systems. As communication chains grow and branch, however, these systems require meticulous use of unique document identifiers to maintain those links. Systems and methods to create or restore these links in the absence or misuse of unique document identifiers are therefore provided. Responsive communications from parties are linked with the initial communications whose requests are answered by the responsive communications. Additionally, any requests not answered by the responsive communications may be automatically configured into a secondary communication which will be linked with the responsive communication and the initial communication so that its responsive communication may be built into the chain of communication.