Oi! Who nicked my post reply butons?

[thatbloke]

I would say more often than not I am replying to the thread... Obviously there are occasions where it is more appropriate to reply to a specific post(s) though!

An example of the first instance can be found here:

http://games.thehavennet.org.uk/showthread.php?t=1276

In this thread, it is more appropriate simply to reply to the thread, rather than a specific post in that thread (other than the first - which is my point here, if the thread is 5 pages long, what's the point of going back 5 pages to press a certain reply button when there is one already in front of you?)

An example of the second issue is this thread:

http://games.thehavennet.org.uk/showthread.php?t=1266

In this thread new, valid points are being brought up all the time, and more often than not it is more appropriate to reply to a specific post rather than the thread as a whole...

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but I'm not seeing why people should be asked to change their viewing habits (as this is not the only forum I read) to cater for what I percieve as a small user base for threaded mode.

cue the flaming now...

 

[KillCrazy]

It's only small because too many people are refusing to learn it for, as I see it, lazy reasons.

If a thread starts to become large it is hard for someone in linear mode to see who has replied to what.
For someone who stumbles across a large thread for the first time and wants to reply to a post someone made near the beginning, they would easily do this in threaded mode, and those in threaded mode will be able to see this. Those in linear mode would be wondering what the heck this person is talking about.
If threaded mode or hybrid mode was being used, you wouldn't need to make a reference to the post you are replying to, as it would be blatantly obvious to you in the threaded mode's layout.

To me there are two basic principles using threaded mode where I either:

1. Reply to the thread as a whole (go to the very first post and make a reply)
2. Reply to a single post

In my opinion, threaded mode is a more advanced way of using a forum. It is good at keeping discussions neat as it adds that extra method of replying to certain posts and splitting off to separate discussions without the confusion.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Thanks for being persistent on this.

I'm not seeing why people should be asked to change their viewing habits [...] to cater for what I percieve as a small user base for threaded mode.

Mmm, sure. Let me respond to that in two parts, last first.

"Small user base for threaded mode". Sure, it's certainly smaller than the linear mode users, but I make a rough guess that around 1 in 4 users are using some form of threaded mode. (See [thread=1184]a poll[/thread] and [post=13539]my assessment[/post]). Small but, I feel, significant. Admittedly, I'm one of the threaded users so I understand that I will likely have some inner bias.

As to changing viewing habits... yep, that's a tricky one. Why shouldn't you just be able to do what you've always done on forums? I don't think I'm necessarily trying to force you either to use threaded modes, or that I'm wanting you to have to learn a new method of posting on forums, but I do believe that there are things to be done to cater to both communities.

Looking back a few threads, I [post=12106]posted a query[/post] that you may well have missed (I post a lot of queries ). I'll quote the relevant bit:

would a button visible at the bottom (& top?) of a thread that said something like "Reply to First Post" be a useful one to you?

Here's my theory:

If you want to reply to the last post you can see you can always click on the "Reply To" or "Quote" buttons on that post, when in linear mode. I assert that this is largely similar to clicking "Post Reply", especially as the button is generally in a useful position.

However, if you want to make a more general reply then, I assert, it's probably most "appropriate" to reply to the first post in the thread. With a "Reply To First" or similar button in the place of a "Post Reply" button I'm thinking that you'd get your general reply without needing to trawl back a few pages and, simultaneously, retaining a level of cohesion for threaded users.

Could that work for you, as a linear user?

Other threaded users, how does that sound to you?

 

[DocBot]

fantastic idea! go for it!

 

[thatbloke]

Do it Ronin

 

[Fuzzy Bunny]

I completly agree, but only those on threaded know to whom I'm agreeing with.

On a serious note, couldn't hybrid be made the default, thus giving a taste of both methods?

I like threaded better than hybrid Hybrid seemed like there was to much going on in the window.