I'm not a big fan of threaded view either, but I'm glad it exists. I think for many people it has a very valid purpose. For me, however, I much prefer flat view. You never know when someone will say something worth reading about a topic so when I go into a thread I expect to read everything within it. I'm blessed with the ability to read extremely fast though, so I wouldn't expect everyone to make such a commitment to every thread they venture into.
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Why does this forum have the dreaded Threaded View?
- Thread starter itaa
- Start date
M
Mark B.
Guest
Sorry, you're mistaken. At the top of every reply even in threaded view, it tells you who is being replied to. The difference is that it's far easier to see what sub-thread it is in.On the contrary, in flat view you can see within each post who is being replied to ("In reply to itaa"), whereas this information is not given within the post in threaded view, and you usually have to scroll down to see it.Click here:
This is what it looks like:
It loses all structure, so you lose where the sub-threads are and who is replying to whom.
First, apologies for my mistake about threaded view (and also apologies for not replying sooner. I had things to do in real life).This is simply not true. See below.On the contrary, in flat view you can see within each post who is being replied to ("In reply to itaa"), whereas this information is not given within the post in threaded view, and you usually have to scroll down to see it.Click here:
This is what it looks like:
It loses all structure, so you lose where the sub-threads are and who is replying to whom.
Second, it is still true that that you can see who is being replied to in flat view, and usually there is enough (or usually far too much!) quoted to see a larger part of the exchange.
First, apologies for my mistake about threaded view (and also apologies for not replying sooner. I had things to do in real life).The same is true in threaded view – unless dpr has given you a special editor.
Are you honestly telling us that the "In reply to . . . " field does not appear on the posts in threaded view on your computer/browser? Here is your reply to Mike_PEAT as seen in my computer in threaded view:
Post as seen in threaded view
What happened was that I clicked on the threaded view button to check, and didn't realise that I'd been sent back to the start of the thread. The OP, of course, doesn't have "In reply to <poster's name>". Apologies for missing this.
gollywop
Veteran Member
First, apologies for my mistake about threaded view (and also apologies for not replying sooner. I had things to do in real life).The same is true in threaded view – unless dpr has given you a special editor.
Are you honestly telling us that the "In reply to . . . " field does not appear on the posts in threaded view on your computer/browser? Here is your reply to Mike_PEAT as seen in my computer in threaded view:
Post as seen in threaded view
What happened was that I clicked on the threaded view button to check, and didn't realise that I'd been sent back to the start of the thread. The OP, of course, doesn't have "In reply to <poster's name>".
Definitely accepted.
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gollywop
I am not a moderator or an official of dpr. My views do not represent, or necessarily reflect, those of dpr.
I agree that there are poor implementations of flat view on other sites.
As to my comment, I was mistaken in thinking that you were referring to flat view on DPR. Apologies.
Threaded and flat view have different advantages and disadvantages, which means both formats have their fans. I'm glad that DPR has both.
Personally, I prefer flat view because it enables me to catch up on the whole thread by searching for the last unread post (especially easy if I have posted on the thread, because the red flag takes you there), and then read from there. Going through posts is fast as I keep my mouse finger depressed on the scroll bar so that I can scroll without looking back from the posts, and generally only have to move the mouse elsewhere every 20 posts. I don't have problems with posts jumping between sub-threads, and only rarely have to click back to the post replied to to understand what's going on. So flat view works much faster than threaded view - for me.
I agree that getting a reply that should have been aimed at a different poster could be annoying, although I don't remember ever having had it happen to me. The balancing annoyance is that some posts make arguments that have clearly been dispensed with upthread - and I suspect this happens more frequently when people limit their reading to particular sub-threads. I guess we all have our bugbears.
Personally, I prefer flat view because it enables me to catch up on the whole thread by searching for the last unread post (especially easy if I have posted on the thread, because the red flag takes you there), and then read from there. Going through posts is fast as I keep my mouse finger depressed on the scroll bar so that I can scroll without looking back from the posts, and generally only have to move the mouse elsewhere every 20 posts. I don't have problems with posts jumping between sub-threads, and only rarely have to click back to the post replied to to understand what's going on. So flat view works much faster than threaded view - for me.
I agree that getting a reply that should have been aimed at a different poster could be annoying, although I don't remember ever having had it happen to me. The balancing annoyance is that some posts make arguments that have clearly been dispensed with upthread - and I suspect this happens more frequently when people limit their reading to particular sub-threads. I guess we all have our bugbears.
zackiedawg
Forum Pro
On those rare occasions where I follow someone's flat-view link not realizing it's in flat view - and switch it to threaded to relieve my eyes and mind, I then go back to other threads and find my default has switched to flat view because of that link. Those are my 'dreaded' views. If the forum ever lost the threaded view and went all flat, I don't think I could comfortably use it anymore.
Yellow color, threaded view, compacted...that's the only way to view the forums for me.
Yellow color, threaded view, compacted...that's the only way to view the forums for me.
M
Mark B.
Guest
First, apologies for my mistake about threaded view (and also apologies for not replying sooner. I had things to do in real life).This is simply not true. See below.On the contrary, in flat view you can see within each post who is being replied to ("In reply to itaa"), whereas this information is not given within the post in threaded view, and you usually have to scroll down to see it.Click here:
This is what it looks like:
It loses all structure, so you lose where the sub-threads are and who is replying to whom.
Wait, are you insinuating that a discussion over which forum format is superior is not real life ;-)
John Sheehy
Forum Pro
Another bad thing is that when you get hijacked to flat view, every post on that flat page is marked "read", so if you don't have time to read all of the posts right there and then, you might not ever read them because they are already marked "read". The website should have a user setting to never mark flat-view pages as "read", or interpret such links to stay in threaded view.
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