Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

neither of those statements were intended as personal attacks. if somebody told me i had a fundamental lack of understanding of something and proceeded to illustrate their point, i could agree with them and i not be offended. i can see how you interpreted my statement in that way. slashdot and 2+2 are truly apples and oranges, though, and i think i have elucidated that point fairly well. the veteran comment was a generalization, and i still believe it to be accurate.

i am completely supportive of threaded stuff in 'news' contexts like slashdot, by the way. i wouldn't want to see slashdot turned into a standard forum, and i think it's a bad way to have directed conversation about specific subjects in short bursts. i think the 2+2 MAGAZINE would be better off if it were done exactly like slashdot - summary of article, you click it to read more, and threaded discussion would be on the same page. it's kludgy and non-intuitive to read something, then go to a separate shoehorned place to discuss it.

the vast majority of DEDICATED FORUMS that i am aware of employ flat mode by default, and i believe the reason why is that it is superior in terms of usability. i never disagreed that some people enjoy threaded mode. my suggestion is that catering to that minority when evaluating alternative forum software would be a bad thing. it's not a standard feature, and a forum of this size should not be limited to less proven/scaleable solutions.

Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

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You are inferring more than what's in bobby's post IMO

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it wasn't an inferrence. he suggested in plain english that i was resorting to semantics, which was a hasty and incorrect judgement.

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if you're 'giving up' already i can't imagine that you've thought through your position thoroughly enough to care, and instantly interpreting my response as a bias-selected group for the sake of semantic argument is just silly.

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all of this is conjecture.

Your original reply, while it elaborated somewhat, spent more time harping on the definition of "forum" - and was worded aggressively...more to be right than to be helpful.

FWIW I read in flat mode but i'm totally indifferent - I think we should go with the best forum software even if I have to go back to reading in threaded mode.

Surf

Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

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FWIW I read in flat mode but i'm totally indifferent - I think we should go with the best forum software even if I have to go back to reading in threaded mode.

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if threaded mode is enforced i am certain that 2+2 would see an exodus of users. a forum of OOT's activity level, for example, would rapidly become unusable.

mandating support for it is functionally limiting in terms of software solutions. i think enabling it by default is a bad thing, and forcing it would be downright disastrous.

Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

There's no chance that we would go exclusively to threaded mode. There is some chance we would go only to flat, but I'm really hoping we can find a way to keep both options.

Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

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if threaded mode is enforced i am certain that 2+2 would see an exodus of users. a forum of OOT's activity level, for example, would rapidly become unusable.

mandating support for it is functionally limiting in terms of software solutions. i think enabling it by default is a bad thing, and forcing it would be downright disastrous.

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Of course. I was exagerrating to illustrate a point - that the overall quality of the software should be of greatest concern.

Surf

Re: Flat vs. Threaded?
 

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I'm really hoping we can find a way to keep both options

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i honestly hope it's feasible too. if any feature a number of people want can be afforded, it should be.

the problem is that the enterprise-oriented forum software like vbulletin, ipb, fusetalk, etc doesn't seem to support it.

as a user i'm slightly partial to ipb, which could be seen as a 'grown-up' phpbb. vbulletin is the most widely-used/liked enterprise forum software out there.

if it were my forum to run, my first choice would be vbulletin, and i would look down the tree if i ran into a showstopper.

MASSIVE use and commercial support (including phone) is a big deal. look at http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...threadid=47430 - i would consider somethingawful's forums to be a standard of 'massive'. 31 million posts. 5,500 users LOGGED IN right now.

Re: Complaints About New Forum Version
 

With any luck I've fixed the "back" button problem.

Chuck

Re: Complaints About New Forum Version
 

You rock chuck. A quick check of two cases where it really annoyed me looks fixed.

Re: Complaints About New Forum Version
 

It seems to be but now i keep getting this when trying to reply to your new post:

The form you have submitted is no longer valid.

Please use your back button to return to the previous page.

Re: Complaints About New Forum Version
 

Test of replying.