View Full Version : Reverse order or forward order of postings on this site
Wise Young
12-11-2003, 02:47 PM
For many years now, since 1998, this site and its precursors (Spinewire and Cando) have always listed the postings in reverse order. The original topic almost remains at the top but all subsequent postings are listed in reverse order, so that the latest posting is always near the top, next to the original topic. The reason for doing this is to reduce the number of keyclicks necessary for users to see the latest posting. A user, for example, usually can click on a given topic and see the original topic and the most recent post without having to scroll.
Some people, however, have expressed the desire for a forward (rather than reverse) order of postings. This is because they may be used to such on other bulletin boards. How many people would prefer:
it would be great to have the option of forward order of posts. I find more often than not it slows me down having it in reverse order. Come on people, vote for forward!
metronycguy
12-14-2003, 03:02 AM
i like the way it is now, when i go to a site that has the opposite, i find i have toscroll to find the last posted topic , maybe through all the pages, its easier to catch up this way, especilly once you have watched a post.
the first page will show the most recent post
~Patrick~
12-14-2003, 06:29 AM
I like it the way it is. If you are following a long thread you dont have to guess what page you have read up to. ~sorry tank~
Scott Pruett
12-14-2003, 12:53 PM
I voted 'don't care' -- Personally I find forward order more user-friendly if one is trying to read through the progression a thread, but either works for me.
FWIW, most forums I frequent are forward-ordered.
cheers,
~ scott
______________
Remember yesterday... Live today... Dream about tomorrow...
Carl R
12-14-2003, 11:29 PM
I say leave things the way they are now. Much easier for those of us who use voice software. The less clicks the better.
Scott Pruett
12-15-2003, 09:10 PM
Originally posted by Carl R:
I say leave things the way they are now. Much easier for those of us who use voice software. The less clicks the better.
that's a *very* good point Carl... didn't think about that. I agree.
______________
Remember yesterday... Live today... Dream about tomorrow...
~Patrick~
12-22-2003, 01:43 PM
I was just on another site and when you register they ask if you want newest post first under topic or last in order. First time I ever saw that.
Kaprikorn1
12-22-2003, 08:15 PM
some topics have over 100 pages of posts...i would hate to have to wade thru these everytime you want to see the new posts on it...leave it as is.
Kap
"It's not easy being green"
Wise Young
12-23-2003, 06:48 AM
Pat, I guess that it would be doable. Probably the site that you went to was running UBB (Ultimate Bulletin Board) which is also written by Infopop. The server would just need to assign twice as much cache space (so that pages with both forward and reverse formats) will be created for each topic. We have been thinking of switching over to the UBB program (which would be hosted on our own server) rather than on the infopop servers. It would be possible to assign more cache space on our own server.
Wise.
firewheels
12-27-2003, 06:03 PM
Originally posted by Pat(wheelinarcher):
I was just on another site and when you register they ask if you want newest post first under topic or last in order.I agree that this would be nice to have, if possible. As to being restricted to forward or rev. order, either works fine for me, since sometimes I'm interested in the first replies, and sometimes the last. - fw
jimnms
12-27-2003, 06:35 PM
Wether it's forward or reversed, IMO I think the most important feature to have is an easy way to identify new messages within a thread.
I mentioned in a prevous thread about a couple of other forums I go to, one highlghts the border of new messages red, and another one has a button at the top of the thread widow to click and take you to the first unread message within a post.
_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
I think the standard should be: What is easier for those who use voice recognition or other types of technology to read and reply to the topics?
Isn't it Charles DeGaulle who said something like "my foreign policy for France is what's good for France."?
PN
Fastasaturtle
12-27-2003, 07:27 PM
I voted for like it is but being new it took me a while to figure out things here. very confusing at 1st. Thats why i'd hang out in chat so much. And I did tech support for 2 years but this board blew me away. I know my way around fine now.
--fast