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5 new messages, same topic. AM I the only one finding it difficult to pick apart a message thread???

edited April 2011 in Technical Questions
Howdy,
In the FUND discussion area, one recent message thread regarding HIGHBRIDGE has had a fair amount of activity over a long time period. When I find the new message "yellow flag" it may indicate 1 or 5 or how ever many add-ons or relies have been placed to the original message.
When I open the thread, I am not sure who or where is the ladder for a time/date stamp to find an orderly method to read what has been added. With the "reply" feature in place, we now have messages inserted in the middle of other conversations and not just at the end of a thread, for the newest message.

I find that I now leave the conversational thread and do not bother to read further.

I can imagine what fun this would be after being away from the board for a full week.

I also imagine this would not be a fun time method for someone new to this board, either.

Regards,
Catch

Comments

  • edited April 2011
    Hey there 22- I just checked out the Highbridge posts, which are now up to 19. I have to tell you that I don't really have a hard time figuring out the sequence: it's top to bottom, newest at the bottom. With respect to the individual "replies", they have a timestamp if they are new today, and a date if they are from yesterday or before. The same time/date switcheroo actually applies to all of the posts, not just the replies.

    To be honest, I actually prefer the presentation of the entire post, as I can quickly skim the gist of the replies without having to move from the page, and it's pretty easy to see how the conversation is developing. I think that was a lot more difficult on FA, because responding posters frequently just echoed an original poster's title line, with no clue as to the content of the response. Check out this recent thread on FA, for example. The timestamps are all over the place, and the tree format really doesn't present a clear picture of the timing of the responses-

    See: "Where are the posters?"

    I think that the trick is to get in the habit of using the "home" and "end" buttons on your keyboard to avoid endless scrolling up and down. "Home" to see the original post, "end" to go right to the bottom if I have already read most of the stuff on top.

    What we have to understand is that this software package is in the public domain, which means a great cost savings to the board. The flip side of that is that we are pretty much using the underlying primary code, so the ability to customize it is limited.

    I am quite heartened by the posting activity generated by my response to that WSJ post of Investor's the other day. Actually got things going pretty good there, and even incurred the very FIRST (as far as I know) "timeout in the icebox" for the new site. Now that's something to be proud of!

    OJ
  • I have pointed to this issue a while ago in another post and there was no feedback/reply. Yes, it is a serious issue as the thread gets bigger.

    I suggested when the discussion title on main listing show a yellow new (and site software does know what is new for each logged in user) upon clicking the discussion title, when the discussion is opened, the posts that are new can be further indicated with a yellow new as well.

    At least, technically it is possible (as myself a software engineer) but I am not sure if it is an already existing option that needs turning on, or some programming tweak is needed. If some PHP programming is needed, I do not know if Chip/Brad is capable of such tweaks.
  • edited April 2011
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Re: "timeout in the icebox" Nice phraseology there OJ. Lets remember that one.
  • edited April 2011
    Yep, I see your point Catch. Peekin at a three day old thread for the first time makes me wanta go grab another brew. Not much to do about it. Dont wanta give back the reply feature. Course part of thats related to increasing age here among some members and resultant poor attention spans. Hell, got trouble jus tying my shoes and zipping the fly somedays. Guess the trick is to get in early and follow her close. Than no problems. Good day.
  • Gentlemen (and the rest of you also): I've taken the liberty of bringing your concerns to the attention of the chief Snowball himself, and he's advised that he will consult with his technical wizards regarding this situation.

    Regards to all- OJ
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
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