Please vote in this poll using the sidebar.
Which type of comments do you prefer on Seattle Bubble?
- flat (the old way) (44%, 83 Votes)
- threaded (the new way) (40%, 74 Votes)
- no preference (6%, 12 Votes)
- huh? (10%, 19 Votes)
Total Voters: 187
This poll will be active and displayed on the sidebar through 02.07.2009.
Herman » Feb 1, 2009 at 12:36 am
The trouble with threaded is that you can’t easily find all the new comments since your last visit. Until that’s fixed I vote for flat.
Lake Hills Renter » Feb 1, 2009 at 1:23 am
The sidebar poll is still the old one for me, so I can’t vote…
When I get a chance, I’m afraid I’ll have to vote for the old way flat style. It’s just too hard to keep up with the new posts since my last visit inthe threaded style. The colored block helps, but it seems to be tied to the computer instead of the login, so all the posts I read on my work computer are marked as unread again when I get home. But even if it was accurate, I’d still have to scan the whole string of comments to look for new ones. With the flat style, I just have to find the last one I read previously then start reading down the page.
singliac » Feb 1, 2009 at 2:00 am
I concur. I like the comments to be linear. The numbers were helpful for leaving the site and then picking up where you left off. It also seemed pretty straightforward to direct your comments at a specific thread #.
Ben » Feb 1, 2009 at 2:33 am
I just noticed tonight that new posts are yellow. The threaded view is easier to read once you realize this.
Tim – I would love to have a feed for comments. I do this with some other blogs with a lot of comments per post and it works really well.
The Tim » Feb 1, 2009 at 6:38 am
Sorry about the sidebar not updating with the new poll. Should be fixed now.
Hugh Dominic » Feb 1, 2009 at 6:59 am
“Flat” or linear seemed to work well. And I agree with singliac – by referencing the thread # you could could comment on whatever post you wanted quite clearly.
Note, if we added numbering to the “threaded” set up it might be a bit easier, but it would never be as simple.
Sniglet » Feb 1, 2009 at 8:35 am
I wish that the blog discussions were somehow linked to the forum engine. It would be great if each and every blog posting had a thread on the forums, and that this is where all the discussions took place. That way we would have a single place for our conversations, in an engine designed to make it easy for historical referencing. Some discussions might persist much longer that way, since they wouldn’t necessarily be shoved all the way at the bottom just because there were new posts.
Dave0 » Feb 1, 2009 at 8:36 am
ok, all the flat votes are speaking out so I have to argue for the threaded to balance things out.
I like the threaded so that I can jump to the most recent comment and quickly figure out who they are responding to. In the old way, I used to jump to the latest comment and spend 5-10 minutes trying to trace my way backwards in the conversation before I could figure out what they are talking about. The threaded way saves a lot of time in this sense.
Oh, and the people who are complaining that they can’t figure out where the new posts are, look at the yellow boxes. If it’s grey, it’s old, if yellow it’s new. pretty simple. Just because it’s a new system doesn’t make it bad, you just have to learn how to use it right.
Sniglet » Feb 1, 2009 at 9:02 am
This only works if you consistently use the same machine for accessing Seattlebubble. If you switch PCs frequently all this history as to which posts you had previously seen is lost.
Mikal » Feb 1, 2009 at 9:10 am
The old way was better. Even though you really weren’t asking, I like my comments the best.
Dave0 » Feb 1, 2009 at 9:58 am
True, but the old way only works well if everyone learns to use basic html codes, like your example of using blockquote. I think that is asking a little too much to the general populous.
shawn » Feb 1, 2009 at 10:41 am
Ben what are you doing up at 2:33 am? :) What I don’t like is that if you add a comment, then that removes all the yellow boxes, they turn grey. So, you cannot add a reply till you have scanned or read all yellow comments.
shawn » Feb 1, 2009 at 10:44 am
The numbering should be numbers for root comments and letters for replies.
1) I believe xyz
a) I disagree
b) I think abc
David Losh » Feb 1, 2009 at 11:00 am
In the previous post with 140 comments, even with the yellow boxes, you have to scroll through to find any new comments connected to another comment. There may be a discussion towards the top you don’t see from the bottom unless you scroll through.
DaveP » Feb 1, 2009 at 11:23 am
A real quote feature would be more useful imho, if technically possible. Otherwise the flat layout is easier to follow.
Ray Pepper » Feb 1, 2009 at 11:41 am
Old Way , New Way……all that really matters is AZ by 3 and I win 106.00…Come on Kurt bring me to the promised land!
singliac » Feb 1, 2009 at 6:50 pm
wow, good call Ray!
singliac » Feb 1, 2009 at 7:01 pm
oops. spoke too soon.
jon » Feb 1, 2009 at 7:49 pm
What might be nice is an option where you see comments in the flat layout. Then if you want to see what one comment was in reply to, you click it and you see the parent.
fwiw » Feb 1, 2009 at 8:50 pm
hmmmm using Firefox all boxes always seem to stay yellow … makes following the discussion very difficult … anyone have suggestions
Ray Pepper » Feb 1, 2009 at 9:33 pm
GOD DANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG IT!! What a great game. I’m so upset at the finish though. I cannot stand PITT since the debacle of a Superbowl against the Hawks. However, it just may have been the best Superbowl I ever watched. Although I really liked last years as well.
TheHulk » Feb 1, 2009 at 11:12 pm
What version are you using? Maybe you have noscript turned on? I have FF 3.0.4
Besides slashdot, SB is one of the few sites where I have enabled scripting for all the ads.
WestSideBilly » Feb 2, 2009 at 10:47 am
I was hopeful that the yellow boxes would make it easier to find new posts easier to find, because I like being able to directly reply to a comment without having to blockquote and copy+paste the text and/or reference a post number…
… but I view SB on two different machines and I frequently end up rereading the same posts.
The Tim » Feb 3, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Ok here’s my plan if flat wins…
Anybody still reading this thread and care to give me some feedback on this plan?
Everett_Tom » Feb 3, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I am, and that would be GREAT! :)
I really like the idea of auto-adding the link to the comment which was being responded to.
(as stated before, I’m a flat comments supporter :)
David Losh » Feb 3, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Yes, the yellow box feature works some times and other times not. I can’t figi=ure out the demonstration but it sounds great.
EconE » Feb 3, 2009 at 8:12 pm
The way you put it…sounds perfect. The way the link explains it…too complex.
Oh…and my vote was for flat also.
Oh…and since your taking comment requests…is there any way to have emoticons for the comments? Like the ones that you have in the forums?
The Tim » Feb 7, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Okay, so technically the poll doesn’t end until midnight tonight, but “the old way” has had a consistent (if small) lead throughout the week, so I’ve switched back to flat with the above-mentioned improvements.
Let me know what you all think.
Lake Hills Renter » Feb 7, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Thank you! Much better.
The Tim » Feb 7, 2009 at 7:14 pm
RE: The Tim @ 28 – Also, just for kicks I made the gravatars bigger, and moved them to the left under the commenter’s name.