Misuse of Quotes in Forum Replies

[Armanus]

Thanks prima

Corthew, if you don't want any quotes in your posts, scroll down to the bottom and use the add reply button (right next to the new topic button).

If you use the quote or reply buttons in a particular post it will always quote that post, you can always highlight it all and hit backspace.

Just in case you didn't know, each individual post has the quote and reply buttons. The reply button opens up the text box for you to respond..in effect you are replying specifically to that particular post, which is why it quotes the post.
The quote button is actually a multi-quote button. You would push this if there was more then one individual post you wanted to quote and reply to. You push the button for each post then scroll down to the bottom under the last post of the page and click add reply and all the quoted posts are there.

Hitting that add reply on the bottom produces no quotes, which is perfect if you want to add to the conversation without quoting anything in particular.

[kkffoo]

Thanks Armanus, it will be clearer to add that info explicitly to the first post.

I'm sorry Corthew, I wasn't having a go at you. There are always quirks in forum design, and believe me when I say I'm treating anyone under 2 years as a new member in this respect.

It is very doubtful that the forum will be redesigned so I wonder if everyone could politely remind new people after a suitable period.

This is much better than leaving it too long then blowing up

[corthew]

I'm sorry Corthew, I wasn't having a go at you.

I never thought you were.

I just wanted to point out the issue I have with the forums.

What happened to threads?

I understand it was as bit confusing to follow but your argument against full body quoting would have made more since then. It would not have been necessary to identify the thread of the conversation you were responding to if they were separate as they were when I first joined these forums.

[Nahton]

What happened to threads?

You mean like this?

Threaded View

It doesn't actually display in the url but you can view threaded by adding ""&mode=threaded" to the end of your url.

You can switch the view to flat by adding ""&mode=flat" to the end of the url.

In threaded mode you have to click on the messages to open and read them.

[lucindamc123]

I think it would help to have the regular reply button that does not quote, above the one that quotes the message because who doesn't just get interested in something someone says and hit the first reply button.

[Reacher]

...because who doesn't just get interested in something someone says and hit the first reply button.

I think I can safely say I don't use the Quote Reply when I mean to just Reply. The straight reply button is always at the top and the bottom of every page, so it's not hard to find.

But then again I usually scroll down and 'Preview Post' before actually submitting it, so maybe I'm not the best sample.

-- Reacher

[corthew]

It doesn't actually display in the url but you can view threaded by adding ""&mode=threaded" to the end of your url.

You can switch the view to flat by adding ""&mode=flat" to the end of the url.

In threaded mode you have to click on the messages to open and read them.

I didn't see a change by clicking that link.

Why did they stop doing it that way?

Edit: but pasting that at the end of the url for this discussion did work.

If they's stick to threaded the quoting could be turned off by default and who you were replying to would be obvious without a quote.

[corthew]

Just in case you didn't know, each individual post has the quote and reply buttons. The reply button opens up the text box for you to respond..in effect you are replying specifically to that particular post, which is why it quotes the post.

But replying to a person does not need a quote. It just needs a

"replying to kkfoo's comment from Feb 14 2011, 03:16 AM post='73435'"

Quoting should require pressing the quote button.

The system quotes the entire message by default when you reply to a comment.

You're not upset that people quote whole posts. You're upset that they don't carve it down.

If I reply to you, quoting you should be an option. The only default should be the above mentioned who, date and time.

[Armanus]

The issue with those buttons really is verbage. The quote button is really a multiquote button, whereas the reply button is quoting that post. All consideration aside to how we prefer it, we have to deal with what the forums offer now for features, so if you don't want to quote a post then click the Add Reply button at the top or bottom of the page.

I think the overall issue is keeping quotes relevant. There really isn't any need to quote a long post to reply to one sentence. Just quote the sentence, or paragraph, that is relevant to your response.

But sometimes it is the act of quoting itself that can be a problem. Here's an example:

I start a new thread with a movie poster for an upcoming project (or new mod I'm making with an imbedded movie) and a few paragraphs about it. Then one or more people quote that post and say "wow I look forward to it" or "don't quit your day job" or whatever. That is horribly redundant and really distracting when trying to follow the topic. If you're just replying to the original post there really isn't a need to quote it at all, since after reading it the viewer knows what the topic is and it's all just getting in the way of reading the topic. And if you do feel the need to quote the original, just quote something relevant, like if the first sentence said "here's a preview of an upcoming project" then that would be OK.

That happens here quite often.

And it can be aggravating sometimes. I'm often limited on time, and I'd rather just get to the meat of the conversation then have to hunt it down. I think Kate is saying the same thing, but don't quote me on that

[primaveranz]

@Corthew . I just clicked the "Add Reply" button and look ...no quote.

MS have already said they do not have enough staff to make cosmetic changes to the website at this stage, so saying what the website "should" do is pointless.

This is what it does.

It comes back to people using a little common sense and courtesy when replying. Especially if they have been around for a long time and should know better. If they don't, they shouldn't be surprised when tempers eventually fray.

[kkffoo]

I usually scroll down and 'Preview Post' before actually submitting it

Yes, this is a good idea, especially when editing out parts of quotes, to make sure the response looks like you mean it to look.

[corthew]

Reply to primaveranz's comment from Feb 15 2011, 11:30 PM


I don't have a terrible problem with the forums the way they are. In Apache server software I know the settings for the forums were fairly easy to change. Click a few checks and its changed.

But the quoting issue is really just a minor annoyance for me.

And I understand tempers flair when people get tired of the same bad habits repeatedly from others.

But I think its also important to know what it is you're upset with. kkffoo has repeatedly complained about people quoting entire posts as if that is what they are doing. It isn't.

The system is set up so that replies quote the entire post.

Just replying shouldn't quote anything.

It should of course reference the person you are replying too though.

But quoting should be the job of a button called, oh...I don't know..."Quote" maybe?



And I also understand that there is a separate button at the bottom and top, (also called "reply"), that replies without quoting. It replies to the entire post though, and its seldom anywhere near the comment you are replying to.

Personally I don't need it fixed. Not a big issue for me.

But the complaint seems to be about something that happens by default and that a person trying to get their reply in before anyone else and hog the glory tends to not edit down the automatically generated quote.

[kkffoo]

Ok, I think that's probably enough now.

[luxaeternam]

Apparently not if today's posts are anything to go by.