Joe - Posting WITHIN a message string

[Steph N]

"I am still finding it frustrating that I can't reply to a reply within a posting string. It is impossible for a "dialogue" to take place. People can only reply to the first poster - nor can the original poster pose questions or thank the responders. Can you speak to the webmaster and see if they can create some more flexibility within the board?"

This is a quote from Merredith farther down the board which was buried within a string urging lurkers to post.
I brought it out as this has also bothered me, as on the old board we could go right to concerns raised within a string. Sometimes it is better to start with a new message, but then the context can be lost, which was meaningful.

Perhaps the board design does not allow this, and it would take a lot of work to modify for this feature. Let us know the whys and wherefores, please.

[*_Joe_*]

Steph,

I forwarded your post to our ebsite designer.. Hopefully he will come up with something.

Regards
Joe

[Barbara H.]

Hi! Yes, I replied in response to Joe's request that the lurkers join the website. I have joined, but my post is so far away from the original, which was a few days back, that I don't think anyone has noticed. In any case, I am here and will respond if I have anything to offer,
Barbara H.

[Merridith]

Hi Steph:

Thanks for bringing my concerns forward again.

There are also some other differences with this new message board that (as far as I am concerned) might discourage users from interacting with each other.

On the old message board, you could tell at a glance that a message string had an additional comment added to it that you hadn't read because everything that you had already read changed colour. Here it doesn't work that way. By seeing the colour change you could tell at a glance that a conversation was ongoing so you could pop in and add to it. Here you can't, so conversations die after maybe 2 responses. The board isn't nearly as lively as it was.

Additionally, whenever you reply to something, you have to go right out to the home page, then navigate back in again. So every time you post there is a subtle penalty. Everyone has become a lurker.

The new look is GREAT! And the site has some interesting enhancements. But unless some of the practicalities are ironed out, I would vote to return to the old, unlovely but more practical format message board. I think this site is starting to lose some of it's synergy.

Sorry to be a wet blanket...
Best regards,
Merridith

[*_StephN_*]

Hi Merredith (and all) -
Yes, the board as it currently stands is a much more static thing, better for "posting" than really interacting.
The old board was no longer going to be available, so this is what could be done in the stepped-up time frame. Also the information from the old board needed to be kept and that was also limiting.
Joe and Christine are making the site designer change a lot of things already, and I am sure there will be a way to interact, but may not be as obvious as the old board.
There are a couple of ways to view the board and one just has the replies listed and you can see what has been read by a change that I had to figure out.