Conversation Tracker and Pagination

News Type: Event — Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:33 PM EDT

technology, newsvine, books, conversation-tracker, pagination

Photo by Eneas De Troya. (License: Creative Commons Attribution)

In an effort to get the conversation tracker working with pagination, we recently released some changes that enable the "new" links to traverse from one page to the next. This is early on in the development stage, but we're hopeful that this is a positive step towards managing long threads (> 500 comments). We recognize that conversation management has been awkward since we added pagination.

Please feel free to provide feedback and/or suggestions. We've got some other improvements in the works (like showing what page you're on), but this is a big first step. You'll notice that as long as the last= parameter follows you around a conversation, your new links should remain. Paging through more/previous links, as well as using the "new" links should accomplish this behavior.

You're also greeted by a red "Final New" link to let you know there are no more new comments.

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What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

8.7

2.7

Jump to discussion page: 1 2

{"commentId":3067819,"authorDomain":"backroadsbubba"}

backroads

Sounds good on both counts.

{"commentId":3067819,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"backroadsbubba"}

1 vote

#1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:54 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069302,"authorDomain":"backroadsbubba"}

backroads

There do appear to be two apparent glitches. One is when clicking on reply, I'm sent back to the top of the article. The second is it appears you no longer can discern who seeded or wrote an article when you move the mouse over the list of articles.

{"commentId":3069302,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"backroadsbubba"}

4 votes

#1.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:32 PM EDT

{"commentId":3074281,"authorDomain":"chum"}

Chum

Yes, I hate this too--I liked seeing who seeded. I've got a limited amount of time for this, and I hate to waste time (and give page hits) on people who just annoy me.

{"commentId":3074281,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"chum"}

6 votes

#1.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:07 AM EDT

{"commentId":3080159,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

The domain name should now appear for seeds.

{"commentId":3080159,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

9 votes

#1.3 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:21 PM EDT

{"commentId":3080530,"authorDomain":"chum"}

Chum

Thanks. Dang, y'all are good. like fairy godfathers. Ask and you shall receive.

{"commentId":3080530,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"chum"}

2 votes

#1.4 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:32 PM EDT

{"commentId":3082093,"authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

Andy Min

One word:

API?

;-D

{"commentId":3082093,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

1 vote

#1.5 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:02 PM EDT

{"commentId":3085978,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

One word:

API?

Don't you mean three words?

{"commentId":3085978,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

3 votes

#1.6 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:49 PM EDT

{"commentId":3087877,"authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

Andy Min

OK, fine.

One acronym:
API?

{"commentId":3087877,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

2 votes

#1.7 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:11 PM EDT

{"commentId":3142157,"authorDomain":"SVForbes"}

ShaunV

Thanks, Mark.

{"commentId":3142157,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"SVForbes"}

1 vote

#1.8 - Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:20 AM EDT

{"commentId":3067919,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

Nice. I've found the paginated comments kinda annoying to navigate through previously, so hopefully this helps. I also like the "final new" marker, now I just don't get sent to the bottom of the page as I'm clicking the "new" marks and come to the end.

{"commentId":3067919,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

5 votes

#2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:01 PM EDT

{"commentId":3068301,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

I liked getting sent to the bottom of the page. The Top button was right there.

{"commentId":3068301,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

2 votes

#2.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:26 PM EDT

{"commentId":3068795,"authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

FDBryant3

I'm with Steve on this one. Now I have to scroll back to the top (or down to the bottom) to get back to my conversation tracker. Was much faster to jump to the bottom then back to the top (although ideal would be make the Final mark a jump to the top link).

{"commentId":3068795,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

2 votes

#2.2 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:57 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069049,"authorDomain":"Meloney"}

Meloney

Easier still is hitting the Home key to take you back to the top (a tip I learned in a discussion like this one). Now that you don't have to reach the bottom to get to the top you may also want to use the End key to get to the Track button at the bottom.

{"commentId":3069049,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"Meloney"}

2 votes

#2.3 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:15 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069275,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

That probably works great on a PC. What you got for a MacBook?

{"commentId":3069275,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

#2.4 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:30 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069549,"authorDomain":"deatienza"}

Eric Atienza

cmd+up arrow

{"commentId":3069549,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"deatienza"}

3 votes

#2.5 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:46 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070661,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

That's the ticket! Thanks Eric. Okay, I don't dislike the Final New thing anymore.

{"commentId":3070661,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

#2.6 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:23 AM EDT

{"commentId":3072631,"authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

FDBryant3

Thanks for the tip. Still would like to see the final new button take you to the top.

{"commentId":3072631,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

2 votes

#2.7 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:59 AM EDT

{"commentId":3072652,"authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

rottlady

FD, it does now.

{"commentId":3072652,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

4 votes

#2.8 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:01 AM EDT

{"commentId":3076278,"authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

FDBryant3

Yep - I just noticed that. Good Job.

{"commentId":3076278,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"fdbryant3"}

2 votes

#2.9 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:03 PM EDT

{"commentId":3068334,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

we recently released some changes that enable the "new" links to traverse from one page to the next.

I'm kinda confused. So, is it gonna start directly linking to the page the new comment is on? That would be delicious. Or do we still need to click through, but it will eventually jump right to the new comment once we're on the right page?

{"commentId":3068334,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

2 votes

#3 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:28 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070011,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

The new link should take you directly to the new comment on the next page that actually has new comments. It will use the time you last visited the article, not the time you visited the page you are on.

{"commentId":3070011,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

7 votes

#3.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:20 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070671,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

Okay, great! That's a great fix. I hope everything works!

{"commentId":3070671,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

1 vote

#3.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:23 AM EDT

{"commentId":3068427,"authorDomain":"nearing"}

nearing

Does this also fix the comment out-of-order problem mutli-page threads?

{"commentId":3068427,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"nearing"}

2 votes

#4 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:33 PM EDT

{"commentId":3078097,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

Newsvine shows the "new" links in linear order, not time order. For example, if you reply to the first comment on the thread, chances are this will be the first "new" link users see when clicking over to see new comments. This was originally done for simplicity, now it's a necessity since we must migrate from page to page. It wouldn't make sense to be continuously paging back and forth to maintain time continuity.

{"commentId":3078097,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

7 votes

#4.1 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:42 PM EDT

{"commentId":3068668,"authorDomain":"spiffie"}

spiffie

Hurray!

{"commentId":3068668,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"spiffie"}

3 votes

#5 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 9:49 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069061,"authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

lauhal

Yippie! Yahoo! Hooray! :)

{"commentId":3069061,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

3 votes

#6 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:16 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069233,"authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

rottlady

I'm so glad to see this. Thanks!

{"commentId":3069233,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

1 vote

#7 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:28 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069551,"authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

rottlady

Yes, there are a couple of bugs as backroads says, when I click to reply I get sent to the top of page and then back to where I started, but still have to click reply again. Also, I wish when you get to the red final new you could click it back to top of page.

{"commentId":3069551,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"bigmomma"}

4 votes

#7.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:46 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069462,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

FWIW I wrote a piece citing benefits and consequence of these changes and Viki did as well

Does this fix the comment numbers issue - i.e. multiple #1's (one per page)

I do like the "final new" part.

{"commentId":3069462,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

1 vote

#8 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070018,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

The correct comment numbers are coming...

{"commentId":3070018,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

2 votes

#8.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:21 PM EDT

{"commentId":3077393,"authorDomain":"sbutki"}

Scott (Scoop) Butki

excellent.

Once the bugs are out of this I think it'll be a great asset.

Quick question:
There's been grumbling elsewhere about some glitchy newsvine stuff - it ate two of my articles the other day, for example - and it says some of my friends aren't friends (including calvin and you). Often newsvine acting weird means changes are being worked on or are coming. Is this work possibly the cause of those problems or did Calvin spill something on the server?

{"commentId":3077393,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"sbutki"}

2 votes

#8.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:04 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069742,"authorDomain":"hemphill"}

hemphill

Now if only the new final was clickable and would take us to the top of the page, I think it would be perfect...

{"commentId":3069742,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"hemphill"}

1 vote

#9 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 10:59 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070183,"authorDomain":"nearing"}

nearing

yes, that would be excellent!

{"commentId":3070183,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"nearing"}

2 votes

#9.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070856,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

dang whiners...

{"commentId":3070856,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

8 votes

#9.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:43 AM EDT

{"commentId":3071001,"authorDomain":"mike"}

Mike D.

Yep, great idea. We'll get that wired up...

{"commentId":3071001,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mike"}

3 votes

#9.3 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:01 AM EDT

{"commentId":3071081,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

I don't like it now :-(

When I reach the end of a comment thread, a lot of times I like to do this silly little thing called adding my comment, which is at the bottom of the page not the top ;-)

There's already a link to the top of the page at the bottom of the page, plus keyboard shortcuts. When I'm clicking through comments, I want to pay attention to the comments, not if the "new" thing I'm clicking on will do an action different than every single other thing "new" thing I clicked on previously. Linking the last "new" to the top of the page is counter-intuitive.

{"commentId":3071081,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

#9.4 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:09 AM EDT

{"commentId":3073600,"authorDomain":"hemphill"}

hemphill

I could see an argument for both the top and bottom of the page. Depends on which flow you use as to which makes more sense. If you have already read the article and are familiar with the discussion then the top makes more sense. If you are new to the article, then I think you'd be ignoring the new buttons and reading the entire thread.

{"commentId":3073600,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"hemphill"}

#9.5 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:24 AM EDT

{"commentId":9851124,"authorDomain":"eric24"}

Simplistic Reality

Cool.

{"commentId":9851124,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"eric24"}

#9.6 - Fri Oct 2, 2009 11:40 PM EDT

{"commentId":3069766,"authorDomain":"drbacon"}

drbacon

As with most upgrades I'm sure it will take some time to get all the bugs out. It is still a little awkward navigating around but I am confident that in the end it will work to the advantage of all.

I would like to see a way to click to your way through your own comments to check for replies, plus a quick way to get to the end of the thread to view the latest comments.

Thanks for the improvements.

{"commentId":3069766,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"drbacon"}

2 votes

#10 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:00 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070027,"authorDomain":"mark"}

mark

That's a good idea, we'll see if we can make that work.

{"commentId":3070027,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"mark"}

4 votes

#10.1 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:22 PM EDT

{"commentId":3072237,"authorDomain":"acidreflux"}

AdipicAcid

What I'd love to see, and may have missed, is the ability to get to the next new comment, skipping over ignored comments. Right now, using the ignore feature is the only thing that makes using this place tolerable for me, but it does mean manually scrolling the big stories when the usual suspects appear.

However, that might not be possible, in which case I will suck up and deal.

{"commentId":3072237,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"acidreflux"}

1 vote

#10.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:43 AM EDT

{"commentId":3074044,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

Curious. They've already gotten it to skip new comments within collapsed threads (it used to just kinda sit there and blink at you as if to say, "...the heck?") so I don't know how big of a deal that would be. Definitely skip ignored comments!

{"commentId":3074044,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

#10.3 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:52 AM EDT

{"commentId":3104579,"authorDomain":"blerten"}

Barney Lerten

Would an "oldest first/newest first" toggle a la USA Today work here? The more tools we have on huge threads, the better;-)

{"commentId":3104579,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"blerten"}

1 vote

#10.4 - Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:31 AM EDT

{"commentId":3069788,"authorDomain":"aine"}

Aine MacDermot

Thank you, Mark. :)

{"commentId":3069788,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"aine"}

3 votes

#11 - Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:02 PM EDT

{"commentId":3070511,"authorDomain":"barbara474"}

Barbara in Houston

Whoo Hoo, great improvement! Thanks Mark.

{"commentId":3070511,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"barbara474"}

1 vote

#12 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:08 AM EDT

{"commentId":3071564,"authorDomain":"psdevards"}

psdevards

needed: further simplification of newsvine threads.

{"commentId":3071564,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"psdevards"}

#13 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:27 AM EDT

{"commentId":3071924,"authorDomain":"GolaYing"}

Gola YingDeleted

{"commentId":3072206,"authorDomain":"lesuss"}

Lisa in CA

My conversation tracker keeps dropping the conversations that I've been commenting on for the past couple days. I've gone back to articles I've lost and hit the Track button at the bottom, but it doesn't listen!!

{"commentId":3072206,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"lesuss"}

1 vote

#15 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:34 AM EDT

{"commentId":3072640,"authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

lauhal

Have you tried hitting the Track button really hard? ;)

{"commentId":3072640,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

7 votes

#15.1 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:00 AM EDT

{"commentId":3073009,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

Raat ki Raani

Look. It's the laugh all-a-minute show:-)

{"commentId":3073009,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}

5 votes

#15.2 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:40 AM EDT

{"commentId":3095559,"authorDomain":"lesuss"}

Lisa in CA

Have you tried hitting the Track button really hard? ;)

No, but I did put my laptop under cold running water for 30 minutes, and it DIDN'T HELP!! POOP!!

{"commentId":3095559,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"lesuss"}

1 vote

#15.3 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:17 PM EDT

{"commentId":3095934,"authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

SteveHouse

POOP

Is this what your lappy is now?

{"commentId":3095934,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"stevehouse"}

#15.4 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:26 PM EDT

{"commentId":3097495,"authorDomain":"lesuss"}

Lisa in CA

Yeah, I'm at a wi-fi hotspot right now, so I could check for new comments on Newsvine.

{"commentId":3097495,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"lesuss"}

1 vote

#15.5 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:07 PM EDT

{"commentId":3073212,"authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

Andy Min

Yes!!! Thank you so much!

{"commentId":3073212,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"onlineapps"}

1 vote

#16 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:58 AM EDT

{"commentId":3083375,"authorDomain":"bazards"}

KRich

Along with the "previous comments" and "more comments" links, a way to jump to specific pages would be nice. Click-able page numbers or a drop down between the two links as a suggestion. Other than that it's definitely an improvement on have a mile long of comments.

{"commentId":3083375,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"bazards"}

1 vote

#17 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:17 PM EDT

{"commentId":3084127,"authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}

Chris from MN

I've been seeing bugs all day today with regard to building the URL parameters and the #last_1 attribute.

For example, after submitting a comment, the generated URL might be like:

.....?last=1222277946#last_1&threadId=324073&cmt=3078337c3078337

So the anchor parameter looks huge and the threadId and cmt parameters are lost.

I've also noticed that sometimes the clock URLs are so broken they reload the page rather than jumping to the next comment. The Back To Top link has also reloaded the page a number of times.

(Also, twice today submitting doesn't do anything. Happened when I submitted this comment, but by now I've learned that if Newsvine hesitates, quickly copy the comment text for another try.)

{"commentId":3084127,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"ProgrammerDude"}

3 votes

#18 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 4:27 PM EDT

{"commentId":9851132,"authorDomain":"eric24"}

Simplistic Reality

I've seen couple of those as well.

{"commentId":9851132,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"eric24"}

#18.1 - Fri Oct 2, 2009 11:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":3100144,"authorDomain":"SuperSaiyan"}

SuperSaiyan

Yeah, I noticed that myself.

I do like the "final new" indicator since it indicates that there aren't any new comments to a particular thread.

{"commentId":3100144,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"SuperSaiyan"}

#19 - Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:38 PM EDT

{"commentId":3104590,"authorDomain":"blerten"}

Barney Lerten

I too appreciate that "final new" indicator. I raved on my Web Video about how user-friendly this site is - and it is - but like everything else, the more you use something, the longer your wish list becomes;-)

{"commentId":3104590,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"blerten"}

1 vote

#19.1 - Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:32 AM EDT

{"commentId":3137199,"authorDomain":"lesuss"}

Lisa in CA

Adendum to my previous comment about conversation issues.

You know what would be cool is to have a place that lists all the conversations that you are tracking whether there are new comments or not. Just kind of a running inventory type thing. Eh?

{"commentId":3137199,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"lesuss"}

1 vote

#20 - Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:39 AM EDT

{"commentId":3137938,"authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

Viki Babbles Gonia

We do! It's called History. There's a link to it way up there in the black bar.

{"commentId":3137938,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"vikibabbles"}

5 votes

#20.1 - Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:44 AM EDT

{"commentId":3228698,"authorDomain":"lesuss"}

Lisa in CA

Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Thanks for the tip, Viki.

{"commentId":3228698,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"lesuss"}

#20.2 - Tue Sep 30, 2008 3:50 PM EDT

{"commentId":3149073,"authorDomain":"blerten"}

Barney Lerten

OK, here's another question for anybody, from soneone still getting a feel for things - why isn't this site set up where EACH post has a 'reply' option, that they only come at the end of a thread? On very long threads, that can be a wee bit frustrating.

{"commentId":3149073,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"blerten"}

#21 - Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:36 PM EDT

{"commentId":3149312,"authorDomain":"aine"}

Aine MacDermot

Threaded comments are only 2 deep: Thread, subthread (period). It was decided by the powers-that-be that a depth of 2 was aesthetical and practical.

In long subthreads, the best way to deal with it is using blockquote or quote tags, but also referencing which comment you are replying to. Each comment has a url attached to the comment number, too.

{"commentId":3149312,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"aine"}

7 votes

#21.1 - Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:49 PM EDT

{"commentId":3172892,"authorDomain":"energynet"}

energynet

pagination was the wrong way to go.

1. At the bare minimum the "Who's leading the conversation" should show the entire group of commenters, so that navagation could be accessed that way.

2. A better alternative would be to give the author to collapse big threads by adding building subject headers to large conversations, that start collapsed.

Why not organized conversations? The legal field uses summarization to help identify large documents. Where's the logic in relying on the system to do everything? Give the author some more power to build conversations logically.

3. Why not also allow the column width for threads to be reduced and then use the additional space for content support, controlled by the author. Give the author some widgets like an rss of similar content, or meta conversations, that the author has control over, say from the group or groups the document has been clipped to.

Newsvine's style of handling debate only around stories, rather than around subjects is weak.

{"commentId":3172892,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"energynet"}

1 vote

#22 - Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:43 PM EDT

{"commentId":3284726,"authorDomain":"johnlam"}

John Lam

At first, pagination seems simpler, for programmers and for readers, but in hindsight, it's clumsy.Instead, use Ajax and like Google Reader, pre-fetch threads when readers scroll, mouse-over, or toggle! To improve “new comments”, this would fetch only threads with new comments, and other threads upon reader action. Programmed better, it would not fetch nor reload an entire page, not even after posting a new comment, nor even for the seldom-used comment groups. This would work faster and save resources, for readers and on servers.

{"commentId":3284726,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"johnlam"}

4 votes

#22.1 - Fri Oct 3, 2008 10:13 AM EDT

{"commentId":3201217,"authorDomain":"psdevards"}

psdevards

energynet:
i agree with your neat sum-up.

{"commentId":3201217,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"psdevards"}

#23 - Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:57 AM EDT

{"commentId":3255040,"authorDomain":"energynet"}

energynet

Thanks... should have posted it a bit sooner so more people saw it... I rushed the comment, a ocuple of words got left out... would be nice to be able to go back later and correct things like missing words etc...

{"commentId":3255040,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"energynet"}

#23.1 - Thu Oct 2, 2008 3:23 AM EDT

{"commentId":3260650,"authorDomain":"psdevards"}

psdevards

please do.

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#24 - Thu Oct 2, 2008 12:32 PM EDT

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Oliver Shagnastey

The Photo reminds me of a telephone company teminal. Looks like a heck of a system.

Can it/does it monitor for certain BUZZ words?

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1 vote

#25 - Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:27 AM EDT

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psdevards

what are BUZZ words ?

{"commentId":3688923,"threadId":"365756","contentId":"1902264","authorDomain":"psdevards"}

#26 - Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:52 AM EDT

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