There have recently been some questions regarding how things are displayed and/or laid-out here at beerleg.com, so I thought I'd take a little time to explain some things.
Home Page Toggle Bar
The bar at the top (above the threads but below the search box) is your friend. On the home page, it looks like this:
Refresh
The "refresh" link does just that... it refreshes the list of threads to show you any updates to the page since you last loaded it. Generally speaking, you won't have any need for it as long as you use the "Back to forum index" links when viewing a thread. If you use your browser's back button, then you may need to refresh occasionally. It also has the same effect as hitting F5 on your keyboard.
Order
This link changes the order of the threads list. It toggles between two settings:
Order threads based on the date (newest first) of the original post.
Order threads based on the date (newest first) of the latest reply.
Expand/Fold threads
This option toggles between "folded" and "expanded" views of the threads list. Folded threads mean that you only see the subject of the original post in each thread, while expanded threads show the subject of each original post with the subjects of each reply therein.
In either view, you can click the +/- icon to the left of each thread to fold or expand individual threads.
Table/Thread view
This toggles between the thread view (default) and table view. The table view presents a layout style similar to other forum scripts (like phpBB, vBulletin, etc.) while still maintaining the tree-like structure of the forum itself. Most people seem to prefer the Thread view (we may eventually eliminate the table view altogether unless we get some nasty emails in that regard).
Categories dropdown
This allows you to select the category(ies) you want to see. It's pretty self-explanatory. If you want to only see the categories you have selected in your profile, make sure this dropdown is set to "My Selection".
Pages dropdown
This last feature on the bar allows you to jump to a specific page. There's also directional arrow(s) next to it that allow you to go back one page or forward one page. Obviously, you can't go back a page if you are on page 1, so the back arrow doesn't show up in that case.
Thread View Toggle Bar
When viewing a specific thread, the toggle bar looks different:
Linear/Hierarchical
Two toggles here, one for "linear" and one for "hierarchical". The linear setting will show all of the posts in the thread with no indentation; that is, they will all line-up along the left side of the page. The hierarchical setting will show the indentation of each reply, so you can graphically see the structure of the conversation.
Fold/expand
Very much like the fold/expand toggle on the home page, this link toggles all of the posts to either be folded or expanded. The folded view allows you to browse the subject of each post/reply; then you just click on the subject of any post to read its contents.
I mentioned this before, but I was so happy when I realized it, I'll mention it again. If you view a thread half-way down the page, you can hit the browser's back button and go back to the thread view where you left off. Then, you don't end up at the top of the page like when you hit the back to the list button or whatever it's called, I can't remember from 5 seconds ago when I last saw it.
Wendell,
You've done a great job with this website. The Hierarchal format fits fine with things and your layout of additional information is only at the discretion of the user to experience. It's not that hard to figure out.
Well done!!!!!
Why, thank you, Mr. Mapitowski. 😀 😛
😉
And pardon my rant from below......gonna be a long night. Hope you and angel/noodles take care.
