Forum discussion threads - what to do when you reach a reply limit

Bud Poll pointed out to us that a couple of threads lately have become difficult to follow because of a limit to the number of comments in a thread.

The limit is 8 comments threaded below an original comment. Once you hit this limit, the reply button no longer shows up. When this happens, you should move up to the last "reply" button to post your comment and your post will then fall at the bottom of the reply sequence that has run out of reply options. You may also want to quote or address your post to the previous comment to which you are replying. 

Thanks Bud for your helpful suggestions!

Views: 112

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Hi Diane and thanks,

There is another aspect of the reply sequence to consider.  Often on long threads there can be multiple replies to different comments, thus a later reply can end up buried somewhere within the original thread.  Someone joining the thread at a later date is faced with a real chronology problem.  I have had to copy and paste a thread piece by piece to a word doc to sort out the different conversations.  I guess in most cases the reality is, few will read an extremely long thread anyway :), we live is such an abbreviated world.

Bud

Bud, I know what you mean. I participate in another forum with a lot of good material on social communities and I really need to make sure that I follow the discussions I'm interested in so that I don't miss anything - especially if it's a popular topic. :)

Changing the order to chronological rather than threaded would make the "conversation" truly impossible to follow as there would be no way to determine which post was a reply to another.

A threaded order is the easiest to follow, and limiting the number of replies keeps the text from getting squeezed too tightly into a narrow box on the right. Going upthread to find the last reply button, as Diane suggests, works just fine.

I think the system is about as good as it can be just as it is.

Thank you Robert. We considered the option of the chronological ordering but felt that the threading feature is very useful and only presents a problem when there are lots of responses.

The system has some limitations but Bud's suggestion on how to deal with the thread limit is a good work around.

RSS

Home Energy Pros

Home Energy Pros was founded by the developers of Home Energy Saver Pro (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and brought to you in partnership with Home Energy magazine.

Latest Activity

Isaac Savage's event was featured
41 minutes ago
Craig Savage's video was featured

What is a Heat Pump Water Heater

A simple animation describing how a heat pump water heater works
46 minutes ago
Profile IconJeff Pello, Maxmam, Barbara Hall and 1 more joined Home Energy Pros
1 hour ago

John Abdo just added their location.
(via Member Map)

11 hours ago
Nick Helmholdt replied to Joshua Knittel's discussion Google Thermal View? in the group INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY USERS
"Any bets on how long it will take this company to land in court? A local energy efficiency group in…"
17 hours ago
Matthew Redmond posted a photo
18 hours ago
Matthew Redmond posted a status
"Full house for NYSWDA's ASHRAE 62.2 course today. A lot of discussion on implementing this standard on NY State's diverse housing stock."
18 hours ago
Paul Scheckel posted a blog post

Less oil, more courage: Energy and Art

Hard to admit, but I'm not all fun-facts all the time. Sometimes I even pay attention to things…See More
19 hours ago
Tom Delconte posted a blog post
21 hours ago
tedkidd replied to Jose Macho's discussion Why Are Energy-Saving Home Inprovements Down??
"Pat, I think you and I agree on a LOT of things.   One thing I don't want to see is more…"
yesterday
tedkidd commented on Tom Delconte's blog post Robert Shiller Says Retrofits Are Never Worth It!
"Bob B.   Buying a home is a good investment because it is forced savings more than a good…"
yesterday
Joe Huang posted a discussion

White Box Technologies launches Web-based weather data for building energy simulations

White Box Technologies is pleased to announce under agreement with ASHRAE the launch of WBT Weather…See More
yesterday

© 2013   Created by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service