The Highway Forums Resources HELP Forum How do you handle long threads?

Hi,

I'm just curious how you handle long threads. After a thread gets long enough with lots of sub-branches, it gets very frustrating to follow all the particular subranches and see where the new posts are. Of course, flat mode is good for reading all the posts, but for longer threads with multiple subthreads it's too easy to get lost in what sub-thread you are in. If you use threaded mode, I keep having to go forward and backwards as I read one post at a time. And for longer threads when I go back to the thread list, I have a hard time figuring out which was the last post I read. This is especially true when there are a lot of back and forth replies between two people, e.g., Pilgrim-John-Pilgrim-John-Pilgrim..... The ideal solution would be like a usenet newsreader does and have a two-paned window. One pane has the thread list and the other pane has the currently viewed post. I guess this is difficult to achieve in a web browswer though.

There have been several interesting discussions that I wanted to continue to participate in but after they got too long I just gave up. Not because of lack of interest, but because of frustration with following the discussion.

Suggestions would be welcome.

John

John,

I feel your pain! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" /> In Threaded Mode, all new replies are color-coded (see the bottom of the page), so they are easily found. As to the difficulty finding the last post you read, well.... it can be found, but admittedly it is difficult to see. Generally, the text will be a different color than all the others. But, it is not so easy to see, IMHO. In fact, this was something I was trying to improve over the past two days but without success. Some of the stylesheets will be better than others in this regard. So, you might try another stylesheet which is similar to the one you are using now but renders the text for the subject of the post you are currently viewing differently and more easily seen. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" />

I can tell you that there may be a nice improvement coming with the next upgrade. There might be a third option to view threads called, "Nested", which some other Board's software use already. You get the best of both worlds as the threaded view is retained but the posts are all displayed at the same time. No promises, but it is under serious consideration right now by the developers. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In His Grace,

John:

I second your observations.

I work full time and sometimes don't have time to read all the new post's since the last visit which means when I come back all the posts are "old" and I miss some. Also, sometimes it is hard to tell who someone is responding to as there is no way to tell other than to go back and forth searching for the acutual quote. It seems that before the board at least kept track of who the reply was too, if not which post it was to.

I dont' have time to sort through all of it and make meaningful posts too, so sometimes, though I am interested, for fear of responding incorrectly, I just give up in frustration.

I find myself reading more and participating less, still very worthwhile, but a bit of a frustration.

In Him,

Gerry

Gerry,

IF you are using "Threaded Mode", the it is very easy to see who is responding to whom, unless of course the replier clicks on the wrong post to reply to. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> That's one of the advantages of using Threaded Mode over the Flat Mode. However, in Flat Mode, on the post "header" the post/person who is being replied to is displayed.

Threaded Mode used to have the "re:username" displayed as well, but the developers somehow forgot to include this little string in the code. There was a "hack" to add it back in, but after inserting it there was a problem; some kind of incompatibility. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rolleyes2.gif" alt="" /> Perhaps I'll try and get on someone's nerves so that they correct the error! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rofl.gif" alt="" />

I'm curious about this statement! It should be that any new posts are still "color coded" or "labeled" as new until you read them. Is this not the case? Again, in Threaded Mode, the row will be a different color to indicate that they are new. In Flat Mode, the word "new" will be displayed in each message's header. Also, if you click on the little icon next to "The Highway Discussion Board" (it looks like a globe), you will get two very useful menus, which may be something you might want to avail yourself of? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> (see the screenshot below or click the "attachment" link above for a larger view)

In the meanwhile, I am constantly trying to improve the Board to meet the needs of all the members here. It's these type of complaints which help me tremendously. In most cases I can effect the change(s) desired. But there are some which are beyond my capabilities or not feasible to implement. Soooooo, keep those cards and letters coming, folks. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the response Pilgrim.

I'm switching to flat mode because it is easier to tell which response the person applies to for me. Threaded mode you still have to scroll down and look especially if you go directly to the post, or if you're not sure of the respondee due to content or some other reason. Flat mode has the persons name, much better, no confusion, no guessing.

As to the color difference, if I'm not mistaken what seems to change the color for me is just visiting the forum, not reading all the new posts in the forum. At least that is what I have surmised because frequently I will visit and not read all the new posts because of time and then when I return the posts I've not read aren't "highlighted" like other new posts that have appeared. Then you have to remember which ones you've read and so on and it gets too confusing, especially with limited time.

I know that you do all you can to make the board easy to use Pilgrim and I hope my observation wasn't taken as a complaint, I appreciate what we have available to us and all the work that goes into it.

In Him,

Gerry

But I did take it as a complaint.... and one that I share with you! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> As I mentioned before, previous versions DID have the notation of "re: username" on each post's header so you could easily see which post was being replied to. But for some reason, the developer(s) forgot to include it and the previous coding which enabled that won't work due to some significant changes in the overall code.

Hopefully, with the next upgrade, this matter and several others will be resolved, i.e., if I am able to keep the Board online. It is all in the Lord's hands at this point; His will be done. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In His Grace,

Gerry,
I use Blue Daze large font in the flat mode and even if I don't read all the threads with new posts, I can go back later and they are still in blue. If I don't pay attention to how many new posts there are, I sometimes will miss new posts if there is another page that I didn't see. You can also try the link at the bottom of the Main page "View recent messages Past 24 hours" so you won't miss any new ones.

Pilgrim,

One thing that would be a big improvement is if the the box in which you type your posts was bigger (wider and higher). It's so small, that only about 5-6 lines will fit. Sometimes when I am typing a long post, it's easy to lose my train of thought and then difficult to see what I have already written.

Changing the size of the post box may be something that is easy to fix.

John

Easier than you might think! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

• Go to your "My Home" page.
• Scroll down to the "Main Configuration" section.
• Click on "Edit" for Display Preferences, number of shown threads, languages, colors...
• Scroll down the page and find the settings for "TextArea columns?" (controls the width) and "TextArea rows?" (controls the height).

If you are using Internet Explorer, you might try using 70 for the "TextArea columns" and 10 or 15 for the "TextArea rows" to get you going. If you are using a Mozilla-based browser, e.g., Netscape, then those figures will be smaller due to the way the browser handles those parameters. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

IF that doesn't change the textbox size for you, for some odd reason, tell me what stylesheet you are using and perhaps I can adjust the textbox size in the .css file. However, that will effect everyone who uses that stylesheet, so it would be better to first change your individual display settings.

Pilgrim,

Thanks, that makes all the difference in the world. I've got a nice, large box to play in now <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> .

John

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[color:"blue"]Glad to be of service![/color]</p>