[ POLL ] Flooding a Thread.
I seem to remember it being to a minimum of four at one time. I think it was on the old style WP site before it changed.
It's a shame when you have to just ignore almost a complete thread because the quotes tree is too overwhelming to even consider reading.
I've tried also going back to the start of the thread to read it from there but it gets so complicated.
In the end I just end up responding to either the opening question or the last post and that almost certainly is not in sync with the rest of the conversation.
I do admire anyone who can read all the quotes though. I wish I could.
Oh well C'est la vie.
_________________
We have existence
When I said I'd asked on a thread to reduce the quotes, that was actually with the earlier version.
_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.
Also, as I just did with your post, picking out only the exact sentence to which a reply is posted -- instead of quoting what was originally posted in its entirety -- may be a good habit for anyone to acquire.
funeralxempire
Veteran
Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,456
Location: Right over your left shoulder
Also, as I just did with your post, picking out only the exact sentence to which a reply is posted -- instead of quoting what was originally posted in its entirety -- may be a good habit for anyone to acquire.
I'd agree, but there are posters who will act like doing this to their posts is out of the bounds of reason and unfair (even though all that's been done is removing the irrelevant and off-topic bits before responding).
_________________
Watching liberals try to solve societal problems without a systemic critique/class consciousness is like watching someone in the dark try to flip on the light switch, but they keep turning on the garbage disposal instead.
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
funeralxempire
Veteran
Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,456
Location: Right over your left shoulder
Really? There's one or two guys I roast so much I half expect any PM's I get to be from mods telling me to knock it off.
Unless you're just seen as saying what many of us would like it.
_________________
Watching liberals try to solve societal problems without a systemic critique/class consciousness is like watching someone in the dark try to flip on the light switch, but they keep turning on the garbage disposal instead.
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,416
Location: Long Island, New York
This is better than
Reply 1
Reply 2
Reply 3
Reply 4
Reply 5
Reply 6
Reply 7
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 30 Oct 2021, 5:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,416
Location: Long Island, New York
This
Like many, I find the interminable quote trees a real distraction and almost impossible to read - I've seen them as deep as fifteen quotes. On a mobile platform, where manipulating threads and responses is already tricky enough, this must be virtually impossible to handle.
This situation isn't helped by the forum post layout, where the most obvious button which indicates it will initiate a response to a post is the "Quote" button. Many posters don't seem to associate the "Post Reply" button at the end of a post list as a viable means of responding to the post immediately above and that, plus the "Quote" button, often results in a tree of what would have been better handled as a series of individual responses addressing relevant, quoted parts of posts.
In the past I've tried asking on a thread that the quotes are kept to a minimum and quote exactly what the response addresses, to no avail. Sometimes "it preserves the context" is given as a reason - which is reasonable for maybe two or three quotes, but there's no reason to continually repost what often amounts to a significant portion of the entire thread, where the context already exists.
I have sometimes edited the more lengthy quote trees so a post quotes only what it is responding to from the tree - but it's a lengthy process and quite honestly, I have other things to do.
I can't do anything about the post/buttons layout but there is this, under Posting Specifications in the site rules:
"Posts which disrupt the page format may be edited or deleted by the Moderators."
I feel that many of these quote trees often do disrupt the page format, to the point of it being unusable.
It's something of a (further) shortcoming of the forum software in that it allows these trees to grow indefinitely - but, there is an option available to limit the depth.
I am considering making that limit the depth of quotes to eight, and this seems a useful thread on which to canvas opinions.
So, have at it...
Reply 1. Reply 2. Reply 3. Reply 4. Reply 5. Reply6. Reply7.
_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
Reply 1
Reply 2
-snip-
This style of reply, which is my preferred method, is definitely a throwback to early times, and is sometimes called "fisking", or a point by point response. Some people really object to it for some reason, there was one guy in particular here years ago who called me psychotic (among other things) for breaking down his posts like that, and he was just the most spectacular objector. I think a lot of posters are just lazy, I can think of more than a few here who I know can do a line by line breakdown, but instead repost the entire thread quote tree every time they respond to a single point in the most recent reply, and agree that it's annoying and renders mobile almost unusable.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
I am, however, also completely in favor of multiple posts to address multiple posters, or even for random short thoughts that occur later rather than an ETA, I just think it reads better that way.
_________________
“The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.”
-- Robert Anton Wilson
Oh, well ... back to Square One ...
Mobiles are awkward at the best of times and usually I'm away from home (and the laptop).
On the laptop I usually at a bare minimum edit quote "stacking" out. With my stumpy fingers doing that on a mobile, while possible, is just laborious.
Now we know why some people do it one way, and some people do it another.
I, for one, rarely use my mobile phone to access this website, so your experience is news to me.
I am dyslexic also and prefer "bite-sized" posts.
I tend to avoid walls of type.
I just skip over them.
No biggy.
I do wonder why some people can't do this.
"It makes more sense to address each statement in a separate post."
It makes sense, it's easier to avoid captcha with fewer quotes, and it prevents posts getting too long and text wall-y. Text walls are a pain to read.
I also find quote trees a pain to keep track of.
_________________
#bringthemhomenow
No terror, no war. No sympathy for terrorists or their supporters and sympathizers
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Casual sex poll |
16 Mar 2024, 10:39 pm |
Autistic burnout discussion thread |
05 Apr 2024, 10:42 am |