Crestfallen
09-06-2004, 01:06 AM
For our next installment of these reviews we will take a look at the new Display Modes feature located at the top right of every thread.
This new feature gives users the choice of how they wish to browse the forums
- Linear Mode -
This is what we are all used to, seeing the first poster in the thread followed by all other post ordered chronologically. This is most likely the option that will be used by the majority of users on the board.
- Threaded Mode -
When forums first started, most of them were threaded. This means that replies weren't ordered completely chronologically, but also by which post was replied to. A perfect example of this is how LiveJournal lets you reply to the post or to the comment. This creates a tree of replies. When you view in this mode you will get to see the tree of who replied to which post. By clicking on the links inside the tree you can navigate easily through the posts, making them appear one by one.
For this mode to work properly, the poster must be able to tell which post he is replying to. That is what that still-unchanged, ugly red button does at the bottom right of each post. When you click on it, it drags you to the Quick Reply box, but what you probably didn't know is that you're actually telling the forum "This is the post I want to reply to!"
- Hybrid Mode -
This is a mixture of both worlds, where you get to see the tree of posts with clickable links as well the thread ordered chronologically.
All these are accessible through the Display Modes link on top of each thread or through Edit Options in your User CP.
I doubt many will use this feature, and most will stick with the good old Linear Mode, but its fun to try once in a while.
Drew~
PS. For those who haven't noticed, I put back the flags and gender today. Simply edit your profile information to update your account. Enjoy!
This new feature gives users the choice of how they wish to browse the forums
- Linear Mode -
This is what we are all used to, seeing the first poster in the thread followed by all other post ordered chronologically. This is most likely the option that will be used by the majority of users on the board.
- Threaded Mode -
When forums first started, most of them were threaded. This means that replies weren't ordered completely chronologically, but also by which post was replied to. A perfect example of this is how LiveJournal lets you reply to the post or to the comment. This creates a tree of replies. When you view in this mode you will get to see the tree of who replied to which post. By clicking on the links inside the tree you can navigate easily through the posts, making them appear one by one.
For this mode to work properly, the poster must be able to tell which post he is replying to. That is what that still-unchanged, ugly red button does at the bottom right of each post. When you click on it, it drags you to the Quick Reply box, but what you probably didn't know is that you're actually telling the forum "This is the post I want to reply to!"
- Hybrid Mode -
This is a mixture of both worlds, where you get to see the tree of posts with clickable links as well the thread ordered chronologically.
All these are accessible through the Display Modes link on top of each thread or through Edit Options in your User CP.
I doubt many will use this feature, and most will stick with the good old Linear Mode, but its fun to try once in a while.
Drew~
PS. For those who haven't noticed, I put back the flags and gender today. Simply edit your profile information to update your account. Enjoy!