RE: Outline mode

[VinnieJones]

Ok, it recent was brought up that "outline mode" was a superior way of browsing the forums than ye old linear. I think I'm missing something though, because I just can't stand it. If clicking on a part of a thread maximized the original post and all the replies *under* the header you jsut clicked on, I think I could stand it. But honestly, I tried it for 20 minutes on the horror movie thread and all I did was get frustrated and get completely lost. Is there another way to configure it or something?

[Kevin]

Ok, it recent was brought up that "outline mode" was a superior way of browsing the forums than ye old linear. I think I'm missing something though, because I just can't stand it. If clicking on a part of a thread maximized the original post and all the replies *under* the header you jsut clicked on, I think I could stand it. But honestly, I tried it for 20 minutes on the horror movie thread and all I did was get frustrated and get completely lost. Is there another way to configure it or something?

Unfortunately no. I really wish there were, but this version of the forum software is actually one of the worst at showing threaded in way that doesn't require a billion clicks. I would prefer to use it, because when it's implemented better (like the older version of the lounge but take away all the database corruption bugs) or even the way some version if IBB (I think, I know I suggested it to Bolty way back when at one point) did it really does help with organization and flow. But this version just drove me nuts after the switch over and I changed to linear years ago. I still make sure I reply correctly to keep the threading working correctly but the view implementation on this board frustrates me.

I've messed with Linear+ as well but it doesn't work.

There are boards out there that work much more like you suggest, you can expand all the posts in a sub thread and they display in reply order and do some level of indentation or color coding to show order and stuff, but this version, yeah it doesn't work for me either. I still sometimes turn it on because it can still be helpful in keeping stuff organized but generally I'm in standard or linear or whatever it's called and wish I weren't.

[VinnieJones]

Ah ok, I'm not quite as retarded as I had though. This is good news.:D

[Frag]

Ah ok, I'm not quite as retarded as I had though. This is good news.:D

To some....:whistling:

~Frag

[--Pete]

Hi,

Is there another way to configure it or something?

I was a big supporter of threaded view, but these fora have broken me of that. First is the fact that threaded view breaks after a certain number of posts in one thread, so the constant switching back and forth was a bother. Second is that the option to reply to the thread as a whole causes a lot of people not to keep their reply in the thread it belong, adding to the confusion and reducing the value. And third is the poor way that the threads are displayed in threaded view by this forum software. By putting the thread outline at the bottom and showing all the posts in the chain down to the highlighted post, it makes it harder, not easier, to follow the discussion.

I much prefer the threaded view as it was in much of the newsgroup readers and in the old Blizzard fora. But, given a choice between threaded view done wrong and linear view, I've switched to linear.

Also, the horror movie thread is not a particularly good thread for threaded view. It doesn't really have sub-threads with diverging topics which is where threaded view really shines.

--Pete

[Nystul]

I like the outline mode here, but I do have a couple gripes with it. One problem, unless it has been fixed recently, was that extraordinarily long threads become impossible to follow (literally, you can't see all of the posted messages). That is a major drawback, especially since a threaded view would often be most useful for those complex political threads and such. On the bright side, by the time a thread gets that long, nobody has had anything useful to say on the subject for days or weeks. The other big gripe is that you can't title replies. It's not really a thread or outline without each post having a subject/title. Just getting the first few words of each post is often useless or deceiving.

One of the problems with giving people such different viewing options is that it affects posting behavior. There are several instances in the horror movie thread where people reply to multiple posts at once from different branches of the thread, or reply to a post that they are not actually replying to. These things are pretty common here amongst people using the linear view who probably don't realize how silly their posts look when they show up in the wrong place. That works both ways, as a person replying in threaded view may not think to quote the post they are replying to, and then when their post shows up on a completely different page in linear view people will have no idea where it is coming from.

[Griselda]

On the bright side, by the time a thread gets that long, nobody has had anything useful to say on the subject for days or weeks.

This is our "Godwin Feature" (not bug).;)

I still prefer threaded views overall, but it doesn't seem like they've caught on with most current forum software. I end up using the standard view because I find it easier, and only switch to outline if I need to check and see who's replying to whom.

[roguebanshee]

and only switch to outline if I need to check and see who's replying to whom.

And even that gets troublesome with the multi-quote feature. Of course, that does include the name of those you're quoting, but it won't fit into a threaded view nicely.