A few, random suggestions for features to add to the forum.

1. The option to "collapse" read messages in long discussions. Instead of displaying every message, only show the title and author for messages that have been read, while displaying in full messages that are unread.

2. An "ignore this user" option. There are a number of people currently floating round the forums whose posts I could happily never read again. Would be nice if I could click a button on their user page, and never see their posts again. (Or at least not until I un-ignore them.)

3. A link in each post to its parent. Sometimes it isn't easy to see who someone is replying to, at least in nested mode. I'd like to be able to click a link and read the post referred to.

Cheers,
Graham

	26% (5)	Telstar
	0% (0)	Albionsoft
	42% (8)	Gemstar
	15% (3)	Zamphir
	15% (3)	A large slice of salami

There already is a link to the parent message.

"In Response to [name] (#xxxxx):"

The number links to the parent post. Right click, view in new tab: Viola!

In Response to themysticalone (#22514):

"In Response to [name] (#xxxxx):"

I can't find any such link. Perhaps it only appears in whatever mode you use, but not my preferred nested mode?

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#22525):

it exists in flat mode, where it is needed.

In nested mode, the parent is the post above it, no?

In Response to jon (#22531):

In nested mode, the parent is the post above it, no?

Only for the first (I think) six levels of reply. After that they're all on the same level, and it can be a bit unclear. Sort of flat-mode by default. For short threads, there's no problem. But threads like this one [goats.com] (starting about 20% in, running till the third last post) get messy.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to jon (#22531):

Yes and no. I've replied to your message Jon. It will be under your message, nested in one level. If someone adds a reply to my message theirs is nested under mine.
Now if someone replies to your message it will be put below the reply to mine, unnested one level.

Jon Message
      Rich Reply Jon
          X Reply to Rich
      Y Reply to Jon

If a bunch of people start replying to my message the 'Y Reply to Jon' gets "pushed" down.

Jon Message
      Rich Reply Jon
          X Reply to Rich
          Z Reply to X
          X Reply to Z
          Rich Reply to Z
          etc...
      Y Reply to Jon

I think this is the request of a parent link. You can see how the 'Y Reply' gets "pushed" down.

Either you are calling me a slice of salami or you have omitted me. Either way, I am gravely insulted. Unless I am soprasetta. Yummy soprasetta.

In Response to deerboy (#22539):

Is that Kosher?

In Response to deerboy (#22539):

Deerboy I'm sure you would have been choice 6 but I think the poll option only has 5 choices. I guess Graham likes you better than salami.

In Response to Rich (#22546):

Thanks for the support. I'm touched, really.

In Response to deerboy (#22548):

Stop that, Michael.

In Response to deerboy (#22548):

touched by a salami?

ok.

In reverse order:

• I made (3) active for every mode of viewing, not just "flat". Let me know how it's working out for your preferred mode, as I decided it would be easier to do no testing.
• (2) may be possible but is a non-trivial amount of work. It also seems like it's the kind of thing that could be incorporated into a larger feature. Once we start tracking user-to-user relationships (this is undoubtedly the phrase that will derail this thread), we can probably add it into the scoring system somehow, e.g. youwould be able to set all my posts to get a +2, all of Zamphir's get a -5, etc. Then it would be up to you to not view all posts scored below 1. Thoughts on this idea, vs. other features that could be incorporated into this are welcome.
• I have to think about how (1) would work. RIght now, I store the last time you read a discussion in the db. I use this to mark all posts newer than that time as "unread". Theoretically, in non-flat views (we would have to think how to format this appropriately for flat, so better to just ignore the issue) I could add another condition to deciding whether to render a link vs the comment based on its time vs. that last-read time. I think that would work, but I want to give it a little time to percolate. As with the previous two requests, feedback on these thoughts are welcome too.

In Response to phillip (#22598):

I made (3) active for every mode of viewing, not just "flat". Let me know how it's working out for your preferred mode, as I decided it would be easier to do no testing.

Gahhh.

Thanks Graham.

I find it displeasing to the eye.

Would anyone else like to see it in the title section, to the right of the date posted in the same line, rather than cluttering up the body text?

In Response to zamphir (#22599):

Wherever it lives, it will live in the same place for all viewing modes. So if there are issues with that aspect, they should be taken up with jon.

I hereby absolve myself for all thought for today.

In Response to phillip (#22600):

Wherever it lives, it will live in the same place for all viewing modes. So if there are issues with that aspect, they should be taken up with jon.

I know that.

I thought I was taking them up with Jon. By way of taking them up with the rest of the community first.

Then, you know, the Whiskey Bottle of Enlightenment would follow.

I hereby absolve myself for all thought for today.

Ahhh... so you got the good end of the Whiskey Bottle of Enlightenment. And early for the day, too.

In Response to zamphir (#22599):

Being that I've lived in flat mode my whole time here, I might be a little biased on the matter, but I'm so used to the link being there that I don't notice it. It's small enough that it doesn't really clutter posts more than the contents of the posts do themselves. :)

In Response to themysticalone (#22610):

Would you object if it were moved to the title section, next to the date posted?

In Response to zamphir (#22599):

I find it displeasing to the eye.

I agree.

Would anyone else like to see it in the title section, to the right of the date posted in the same line, rather than cluttering up the body text?

Me too.

I kinda feel like trickster.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to zamphir (#22616):

I wouldn't object to moving the "in response to" line to the date area but would like to see what it would look like first. That way I could decide which looks less cluttered.

In Response to phillip (#22598):

(3) Thanks for the added functionality. Could be a little prettier, but now (?) I'm being petty.

(2) That sounds like it has possibilities. Lots of interesting possibilities. Would it be possible to assign a bonus to "everyone else"? That would be perfect for constructing an ignore list. (Everyone gets +1, except face of poop, and people specifically given a -5. Or whatever...)

(3) This was roughly the system I was imagining.

Oh, and I shoulda made this clear at the start - this is all speculative, when you have time requests. The forums are pretty damn fine as they are.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to zamphir (#22599):

I agree, it would be much better off in the dateline bar. It is quite distracting when it appears as part of the message body, especially since it is bold.

In Response to Rich (#22622):

would like to see what it would look like first.

No offense, but the GIMP is available for free...

You people are never fucking satisfied.

From a semantic point of view, I think the parent link needs to be associated closely with the body text, which is why it's in there. It's important information, especially for the flat view.

I suggest you give it more than ten minutes before you decide that the feature you asked for is too prominent. This is the layout we've been using in flat mode for a while and no one has complained yet. I'm not about to go fork the interface and make people become familiar with two sets of rules.

If you have any mental flexibility at all, I believe you'll find yourself automatically ignoring it after a few days of use. Except when you need it, and then it'll be right there in front of your face.

You do this on purpose, don't you?

In Response to jon (#22640):

You do this on purpose, don't you?

Yes.

It's just a thought that is more consistent with common UI approaches for forums. The "in response to" is a property of the message as a whole, like the dateline, not a property of the first line of text which is how it appears.

In Response to jon (#22640):

Actually, I'm curious about something now (a quick database search count can provide the answer). How many people use flat view vs. nested view? Nested is the default correct?