Forum format: Which do you prefer -- threaded or simplified?

Wendell · 2021-10-02T17:20:00Z

Several years ago, SurveyorConnect was using a simplified forum format like you would find in most forums of the day (and still popular today). The simplified format consisted of a simple list of forums, with a simple list of topics within each forum. The replies within each topic thread were listed in descending order from oldest to newest. New replies would be added to the end of the thread. When you would visit the forum, you could easily pick up where you left off and just continue reading down the list of replies. A few years ago, after repeated requests from our members, we switched most of the forums to a threaded format. The threaded format allows replies to be made to other replies, nesting them underneath each reply. This is a pretty cool feature because it allows subconversations to be created within a parent topic. The downside is that it wreaks havoc with finding unread replies within a thread, since they are sprinkled throughout the topic. This makes it difficult to pick up where you left off on your previous visit. As of right now, the forums within the Surveying & Related category are set to the threaded format. Now that we've been using the threaded format for a few years, it is becoming apparent that many of our members are struggling with the unread posts feature. The threaded format shows the last couple of replies for each topic on the Recent Posts page, but if more than two replies have occurred since your last visit, it's really tough to figure out what's going on. However, I don't want to make a big switch back to the simplified format without the input of our members. :) I've changed the forums within the Non-Surveying category to the simplified format so you can make the comparison. Note that the Recent Posts page will not change either way. Here are some screenshots to demonstrate how the threaded and simplified formats differ. Home page: threaded vs. simplified: Subcategories: threaded vs. simplified: ?ÿTopics: threaded vs. simplified: Now that you've seen and experienced both, which do you prefer? Threaded or Simplified? Please use the polling options at the top of this post to vote! Feel free to provide your reasoning by replying here. All feedback is appreciated!

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chris-mills

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Wendell, you aren't supposed to tell us how it is going until after the end of voting - otherwise it introduces bias, heaven forbid.

Posted : October 5, 2021 6:33 am

Wendell

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@chris-mills?ÿ

Oopsie ?????ÿ

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Posted : October 5, 2021 10:48 am

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Forum format: Which do you prefer -- threaded or simplified?

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