Suggestion Threaded posts (within a thread)

[the_ocean]

Is there a way to make this forum show replies in a tree view within a thread? I have searched and I think there is no way to do it. I think this feature would immensely improve the flow of conversations on SB.

As we all have experienced, a long thread on SB quickly devolves into confusion and loses value:
* People miss valuable contributions because they're buried in 80 pages of posts
* Posts addressing the OP are mixed with off-topic banter, all linearly displayed.
* Mods have to come in and "break it up" by manually branching threads and such

The root of the problem is that posts don't point back back to parent posts, and there is not a way to visually display posts in a nested tree view (and collapse tree branches). A thread can branch off into many sub-conversations, all of which are collapsed into a linear flow sorted by time.

 

[diversteve]

Xenforo is a bought application and I don't believe they offer the option. Someone may have written a 3rd party plug-in that we could install but if it's like some we have installed, it becomes a "feature" everyone has to use - not an option.

Also some plug-ins are not written well or slow down the board performance so we're reluctant to use a lot of them. They aren't free either.

I'll look for anything likely on the developer's forum and post here if I find anything.

No one on our staff has the skills to code it for our use.

One thing that provides some discussion clarity is to quote the post you're replying to. Either using the links at the bottom of the post or if you just want a section - highlight it and use the pop-up option which will quote just that section in your reply.

 

[the_ocean]

I went looking and came across this very interesting collection of posters emphatically against threaded mode:
[No thanks] Threaded Mode?

Who knew? Not me. Then again, I spend a lot of time on reddit, which presents a very uncluttered and simple-to-use threaded interface.

People talk about "threaders" and "linear users". Amazing how the medium constrains our communication.

 

[diversteve]

thx for the link.

We had threaded mode when the board was under .vbulletin but I'm not sure it's in our version of Xenforo.

I'm also curious about "hybrid" mode now.

 

[diversteve]

After reading the entire thread you linked to I noticed Kier is not a fan.He's also one of the main Xenforo company developers - so I'd guess it's a non-starter for them - and likely us.

A quick google search didn't turn up anything promising.

 

[the_ocean]

If you've never ventured onto reddit, may I present a random post on /r/scuba:
Towing 4 days of gear! • r/scuba

I call attention to the crucial features that I feel SB could really use: each post is indented below its parent (and has a link to its parent), there are collapse [-] and expand [+] buttons next to threads, and finally the original poster's name is highlighted in bold/blue.

I can see it's looking impossible with Xenforo but thank you for looking into it!

 

[diversteve]

I know what a threaded forum looks like - it was an option when SB ran on .vbulletin.

Personally I didn't like it enough to use it all the time. I didn't find it any easier to follow discussions.

How many thousands of coders does reddit employ?
If we had a 10th of those resources we could consider it also. If there's any coding on SB it's done by volunteers. Not many of the staff have any programming experience - or desire.

crucial? maybe to you...

 

[the_ocean]

Vbulletin hybrid mode looks like linear mode but with a section at the top of each page of posts showing a tree of post subject lines. This forum has the feature enabled, you can switch between linear/threaded /hybrid mode:
Weight and balance numbers - VAF Forums

I can see why people might not use vbulletin threaded view, because it adds visual clutter. Hybrid mode adds a tree of subjects to the top of each page of linear posts, and the tree just shows subjects. It makes it look like an email client.

Reddit's threading display works because it's minimal. No giant signatures or pictures for each user, no tree index at the top of the page. Each message is simply displayed in full, indented below its parent, with the user name above it. Very easy to see who is talking to whom without a lot of visual clutter. Then again, newer folks might be turned off by an impersonal wall of text with no signatures or avatars or post counts. Or they might feel that there are a bunch of separate 1:1 conversations happening instead of one big shared conversation. Subtle things like that can affect how people interact.

I like the quote and multi quote feature here, since it lets you address several people or posts at once. That makes threads feel more like a group conversation. But if people come into a thread and just start talking without listening ("I didn't read the thread but..."), or bring up a new topic, they effectively "steal the mic" from the whole room and derail the conversation. With threaded mode, you can let that sub conversation happen in its own thread but still find your way back to the main topic, without needing mods to get involved to split off the new topic.

Not saying threading solves all issues.

Just sharing my thoughts, thanks for listening.

 

[diversteve]

As moderators we make an effort to limit thread hijacks when they appear to derail the thread topic. Minor ones we let pass.

Of course we have to see them or be notified - I'd guess more of the latter happens - members notice and report it. We have no more visibility to new posts than you do so rely on member support.

Often resolved by moving the hijack posts to their own thread.