Threaded discussions
I don't know how the rest of you are finding the multilevel threaded discussions but I am finding them frustrating to follow . In an attempt to make these easier to follow I suggest adding these things to your lower level comments :
Include the name of the commenter you are replying to . In these multipage discussions
it becomes an effort to backtrack to previous pages to determine who is being responded to . Also I think it is
a good idea to include the level of indentation of the comment you are responding to . I suggest the following convention :
Level 0 : the 1st comment that starts a thread . It abuts the border of the page .
Level 1 : any comment directly responding to a level 0 comment . It has an arrow which directly abuts the border .
level 2 : any comment directly responding to a level 1 comment . It has a single space which directly abuts the border and then an arrow .
Level 3 etc. : Other lower levels . They follow the same rules as the above higher levels .
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I too have found it frustrating.
Thanks Terry . In this simple case including these additional pointers is unnecessary but just to demonstrate what I am talking about I would have prefaced my response with :
Terry @ L0
What do you think about my suggestions for making it easier to follow ? Do you have other proposals to suggest ?
OK, I can change it at any point, so let's see what people say.
Perrie @ L2 ,
What other alternatives are there ?
What we had at grouply. But I am not sure if the comments are numbered or not, since I have never tried it. Let me do some research on it, and I'll get back to you.
OK, this is what I found out. Both threaded and non-threaded discussions are unnumbered. I found some very complicated coding that can be added to threaded discussions only and it only adds numbers 1-9 to each thread and nothing more.
Most people used threaded discussions because with unthreaded unnumbered discussions there is there is no way to reply.. you just keep adding to the line. Now I can add the numbers, if you think it can help... although I am not sure how long it will take me, since it is very complicated, but that is the best I can do.
I don't see the point in doing all that work unless others are concerned about this . So far there is almost no interest ...
Well, there has not been a lot of activity tonight so until I see more people, I wouldn't jump to conclusions.
No I'm also interested. I have been actually using my E-mail to help track conversations, but it isn't very easy.
Larry ,
What do you think about my idea of adding pointers especially when your reply has become far separated from the comment you are answering ? Would that make it clearer to you ?
Larry,
There is a much easier way to track conversations. Go to your homepage. You will see on the left side a link called "My Discussions". Click on it, and you can see all responses to your comments and to which articles they came from. You can use this list to link to the actual discussion.
If you have any more questions on it's functions, let me know.
I hear ya Randy. I think it's interesting that NV gave that up. It seems that the coding and memory issues were a nightmare.
Rich,
I'm thinking that we could place something that would make it easier. It doesn't really matter to me what the system is, I'm just about consistency ( ok, lab tech, analness LOL).
Perrie, That does help and thanks!
:~)
Randy ,
Just think of all the effort you can save by not having to though !
I'm not a big fan of voting comments up. It tends to get groups of like minded people to ban together and have a posse. I like voting articles up. It shows acknowledgment for hard work.
Works 4 me !
Hey, cute idea Randy. I like it!