Unicorn. Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Can we no longer view in threaded or hybrid mode? I really miss being able to see all the responses and just go to the ones I wanted to read or respond to. Having to go through each page takes up too much time. And yes, I know we can click on go to first unread post, but that doesn't help if we want to go back to something we read earlier. :thumbdown: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Wondering about the same thing. It made searching for a specific person or comment so much easier and faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 I was wondering too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Yes, I don't mean to put more on anyone's plate, but the hybrid/threaded view is a deal-breaker for me. lol I understand the benefits of these forum/BB styles, but the good ol' threaded capability that is so "outdated" now really was and is better for viewing conversations. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFwife Claire Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Yes, I really miss the hybrid feature as well. That saved me a lot of time when first looking at the thread, plus it was easier to follow the conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Yes, I don't mean to put more on anyone's plate, but the hybrid/threaded view is a deal-breaker for me. lol I understand the benefits of these forum/BB styles, but the good ol' threaded capability that is so "outdated" now really was and is better for viewing conversations. :p Yes, I really miss the hybrid feature as well. That saved me a lot of time when first looking at the thread, plus it was easier to follow the conversation. Why not simply use quotes or multi quotes? I actually felt the threaded mode had a negative impact on the feeling of community, in that it became easier to isolate and ignore less popular members while flocking to the "in" crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Why not simply use quotes or multi quotes? I actually felt the threaded mode had a negative impact on the feeling of community, in that it became easier to isolate and ignore less popular members while flocking to the "in" crowd. I liked threaded mode because I could often read someone's entire post without clicking on it. Also, if there are pages and pages of replies, seeing which sub-threads to click on was a huge time-saver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I liked threaded mode because I could often read someone's entire post without clicking on it. Also, if there are pages and pages of replies, seeing which sub-threads to click on was a huge time-saver. Exactly. I also saw who replied to whose comment. Made it easier to see if someone had a question or was addressing my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Exactly. I also saw who replied to whose comment. Made it easier to see if someone had a question or was addressing my post. Me, too. The current form takes much too much time. In hybrid mode, I could see who was answering whom and go directly to the bits of the conversation I wanted rather than wading through the whole thing. I could see enough of each post without scrolling or clicking to see whether I wanted to read it. Conversations grow like trees and usually I am interested in only one branch. As far as I can tell, this takes the entire tree structure, strips off all the leaves, and lines them up in a long line. That is fine for threads with only three leaves, but more than that is not a happy thing. Talk about inefficient searching!!!! I hate to say it, but this is likely to be a deal-breaker for me, too. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that there is a hybrid feature that I haven't found yet or that hasn't been installed yet. I understand about having to update servers and reducing spam, and I am terribly grateful for TWTM/TWEM and all the wonderful extras. It is not an exaggeration to say that they have drastically altered my life and the lives of my children. Nothing but so large a change in the amount of time it is going to take to follow conversations would make me complain. But perhaps I just don't understand how one is supposed to use a board that is in this form? I remember having a similar complaint about the old board compared to the old old board until some kind person told me to switch to hybrid mode... Nan ETA - Conversations with my son, who has more experience with forums than I have, lead me to think we are supposed to use the tag (subscribe) or search or most-recent features to navigate through the mass of data. I think this would fine if I had a question I needed answered, but I think it will seriously impede my ability to answer other people's questions and browsing in general. It may be that the mass of data is just to great to support the hybrid mode that was so convenient. Perhaps the solution is to break the forum up into smaller branches in order to allow this? High school broken up into math and lit and ... I don't know anything about forum software but it seems to me that the information would probably already have some sort of internal tree structure. Maybe this particular program isn't structured such that we can use that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Me, too. The current form takes much too much time. In hybrid mode, I could see who was answering whom and go directly to the bits of the conversation I wanted rather than wading through the whole thing. I could see enough of each post without scrolling or clicking to see whether I wanted to read it. Conversations grow like trees and usually I am interested in only one branch. As far as I can tell, this takes the entire tree structure, strips off all the leaves, and lines them up in a long line. That is fine for threads with only three leaves, but more than that is not a happy thing. Talk about inefficient searching!!!! I hate to say it, but this is likely to be a deal-breaker for me, too. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that there is a hybrid feature that I haven't found yet or that hasn't been installed yet. I understand about having to update servers and reducing spam, and I am terribly grateful for TWTM/TWEM and all the wonderful extras. It is not an exaggeration to say that they have drastically altered my life and the lives of my children. Nothing but so large a change in the amount of time it is going to take to follow conversations would make me complain. But perhaps I just don't understand how one is supposed to use a board that is in this form? I remember having a similar complaint about the old board compared to the old old board until some kind person told me to switch to hybrid mode... Nan It's one thing to say that you should just use quote. But that only works if everyone does it. And it doesn't help you to find the comments that were on the portion of a conversation you were interested in following. If someone doesn't quote, how do you discern what their reply was about? I also wonder about the difference in bandwidth if everyone goes to heavier quoting. It's not a deal breaker. (Even when I've had to walk away from the board for months at a time, I've usually come back to at least part of it.) But it is more effective if you can see the flow of conversation more clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I never heard of hybrid/threaded mode. Now that I know about it, we don't have it. There are several things about the old board that I apparently had no clue about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I might be able to switch this on as an option. I will look into it after the holiday. My holiday will be much better knowing this even possibly might be an option. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. Happy holidays!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I might be able to switch this on as an option. I will look into it after the holiday. Thank you! That would be wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 It's one thing to say that you should just use quote. But that only works if everyone does it. And it doesn't help you to find the comments that were on the portion of a conversation you were interested in following. If someone doesn't quote, how do you discern what their reply was about? Honestly, I always assumed the people who were the hardest to follow were those who were using the threaded option. I assumed those were the people who would simply post "I agree" with no reference to what the heck they were agreeing about. It's almost as though people forget that something other than threaded option existed. I've used boards for over a decade sans a threaded option, and generally don't have problems following who is saying what, except for the people on here who tried to use the vBulletin as though it was the same as the previous version (aka OLD old version) of the board. I know there are people who are thinking the "Like" button turns it all into a junior high popularity contest. I see the threaded mode as doing the same thing -- it makes it that much easier to exclude people and only focus on those who share our views on a topic. I was so happy to see it gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Honestly, I always assumed the people who were the hardest to follow were those who were using the threaded option. I assumed those were the people who would simply post "I agree" with no reference to what the heck they were agreeing about. It's almost as though people forget that something other than threaded option existed. I've used boards for over a decade sans a threaded option, and generally don't have problems following who is saying what, except for the people on here who tried to use the vBulletin as though it was the same as the previous version (aka OLD old version) of the board. I know there are people who are thinking the "Like" button turns it all into a junior high popularity contest. I see the threaded mode as doing the same thing -- it makes it that much easier to exclude people and only focus on those who share our views on a topic. I was so happy to see it gone. I think that it depends on the thread, how long/old it is and how much different portions of it have diverged from the original post/question. Just as an example, there is a physics thread on the high school board that started with questions about scheduling a particular book, but has also dipped into the specifics of ordering the book and getting access to teacher materials, what to assign in the accompanying online supplement, as well as how to tweak the schedule. All of those conversations grew naturally out of the OP and don't really warrant their own thread (especially with the current lack of 2nd party tagging ability). But you are quite right that we all have a very different experience on the boards. Some visit several times a day, others daily, others occasionally. Some check every new thread, others only a few, others stick to just one board. There probably isn't one right way of viewing the boards. I personally didn't see the hybrid/threaded mode as intentionally excluding comments or filtering out only one view point. (Though I'm also not sure that is always inappropriate. If I ask about how to use Zamfir's Pan Flute at Home curriculum, it isn't necessarily helpful to wade through the side debate on the usefulness or acceptability of panflutes vs bag pipes. And if it reminds someone else of a great Taiko Drum curriculum, that is great, but again isn't something I necessarily need to read through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Honestly, I always assumed the people who were the hardest to follow were those who were using the threaded option. I assumed those were the people who would simply post "I agree" with no reference to what the heck they were agreeing about. It's almost as though people forget that something other than threaded option existed. I've used boards for over a decade sans a threaded option, and generally don't have problems following who is saying what, except for the people on here who tried to use the vBulletin as though it was the same as the previous version (aka OLD old version) of the board. I know there are people who are thinking the "Like" button turns it all into a junior high popularity contest. I see the threaded mode as doing the same thing -- it makes it that much easier to exclude people and only focus on those who share our views on a topic. I was so happy to see it gone. I think that it depends on the thread, how long/old it is and how much different portions of it have diverged from the original post/question. Just as an example, there is a physics thread on the high school board that started with questions about scheduling a particular book, but has also dipped into the specifics of ordering the book and getting access to teacher materials, what to assign in the accompanying online supplement, as well as how to tweak the schedule. All of those conversations grew naturally out of the OP and don't really warrant their own thread (especially with the current lack of 2nd party tagging ability). But you are quite right that we all have a very different experience on the boards. Some visit several times a day, others daily, others occasionally. Some check every new thread, others only a few, others stick to just one board. There probably isn't one right way of viewing the boards. I personally didn't see the hybrid/threaded mode as intentionally excluding comments or filtering out only one view point. (Though I'm also not sure that is always inappropriate. If I ask about how to use Zamfir's Pan Flute at Home curriculum, it isn't necessarily helpful to wade through the side debate on the usefulness or acceptability of panflutes vs bag pipes. And if it reminds someone else of a great Taiko Drum curriculum, that is great, but again isn't something I necessarily need to read through. You are probably right about the threaded/hybrid mode people forgetting that linear mode exists. When someone first pointed it out to me, it was an ah-ha moment. I had switched to hybrid mode very soon after the board changed and had been completely unaware of how linear mode worked. I try to remember to add a name to my I-agree's, but I am afraid that I don't do a very good job of remembering. I will try to be better in the future. Gail, The board is so many things to so many people. I have valued my ability to form ties with individual people. I am so sorry hybrid mode makes you feel excluded. Why does it feel more excluding than responding with quote? (I'm really asking, not being rhetorical.) I don't think people mean to exclude. Sometimes, it makes sense to respond directly to a particular post or to a section of a thread (as Sebastian explained). Often, when I, at least, make a post and others answer, I don't necessarily have the time to respond to every single answer. The board is rude that way, unfortunately. It encourages efficiency. Face to face you can see that someone has heard your response even if they don't answer directly, but on the board, I think perhaps one just has to have faith that one has been heard. Personally, I have never felt excluded, but I can see how responses without quotes in linear mode might feel more general and more community-minded. As a non-face-to-face communication method, this one is as bad as emails when it comes to missing information, possibly even worse because it encourages brievity and bad writing even more. We can't see each others' faces or gestures or hear each others' tone of voice. I guess we just have to have faith in each others' good will and friendliness, even if it doesn't come through via the writing. Hugs, Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I might be able to switch this on as an option. I will look into it after the holiday. Yes, pretty please! Happy Thanksgiving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Gail, The board is so many things to so many people. I have valued my ability to form ties with individual people. I am so sorry hybrid mode makes you feel excluded. Why does it feel more excluding than responding with quote? (I'm really asking, not being rhetorical.) I don't think people mean to exclude. Sometimes, it makes sense to respond directly to a particular post or to a section of a thread (as Sebastian explained). Often, when I, at least, make a post and others answer, I don't necessarily have the time to respond to every single answer. The board is rude that way, unfortunately. It encourages efficiency. Face to face you can see that someone has heard your response even if they don't answer directly, but on the board, I think perhaps one just has to have faith that one has been heard. Personally, I have never felt excluded, but I can see how responses without quotes in linear mode might feel more general and more community-minded. I haven't seen it as exclusionary, but if a post isn't immediately after one it's responding to, without a quote the post sometimes doesn't make sense. So I have found some responses confusing on the past. Simply including a couple sentences of the post you're responding to with a quote would avoid that issue entirely. I don't see a need to respond to every post within a thread. I assume the OP does return and read the responses. That's also where the like button here may help now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I never heard of hybrid/threaded mode. Now that I know about it, we don't have it. There are several things about the old board that I apparently had no clue about. I'm with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 I don't think I excluded anyone. I answered/posted regardless of who the poster is if I feel I can contribute something. I suppose it is a "habit" issue. I just like to see quickly where certain posts are. In the current version, I have to scroll down through many posts until I get to the one containing the info I am looking for...unless I don't know how to search properly. This could be my problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Why not simply use quotes or multi quotes? I actually felt the threaded mode had a negative impact on the feeling of community, in that it became easier to isolate and ignore less popular members while flocking to the "in" crowd. Good point; I hadn't looked at it that way probably because I tend to focus more on topics than who starts or replies to threads. Even so, without the threaded mode I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark! I need to be more diligent about using quotes on this new board--I was clueless about how different viewing options affect how people perceive/interact here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 I might be able to switch this on as an option. I will look into it after the holiday. Thank you! Have a wonderful, safe, and RESTFUL holiday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 And just to be sure I'm not misunderstood, all these explanations aren't meant to CONVERT anyone to hybrid mode. They just are meant to explain why I, personally, will miss hybrid mode if it is disappears. I'm just not very good at following conversations without a map. I prefer maps to directions when I am going some place, too. I also want to apologize to all the linear mode users for needing that map, and apologize for forgetting that other people are using linear mode, and tell everyone that I have never, ever, ever excluded anyone on purpose. I can and do use email and private messages when I want to say something more privately. Happy Thanksgiving, all United States people Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 Just bumping so it's not forgotten. Trying to follow a topic w/out hybrid/threaded mode is difficult. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 In hybrid mode, I could see who was answering whom and go directly to the bits of the conversation I wanted rather than wading through the whole thing. But I think this could have partially been an illusion. I did not use threaded mode and when I was not quoting any particular post I would just hit 'reply' on the bottom of the thread - I still have no idea who that would link me to as a response - the last post? But that might not have been a reply that you were following so my response would not have been read by you even though it was actually related to a post you were following...Does that make sense? It was torturous for me to use 'threaded' mode because for some reason it would extend way beyond my screen so just to even scroll down, I'd first have to scroll waaaaay across the post (which could be several screens wide) to find the up and down scroll but then I couldn't see the reply part on the left and have to scroll back just at that same level...then scroll back to move down...what a mess.... Anyway, just wanted to let you know that you might have been missing a lot of relevant posts that way due to the way some people's computers function... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 26, 2012 Author Share Posted November 26, 2012 Anyway, just wanted to let you know that you might have been missing a lot of relevant posts that way due to the way some people's computers function... Joan Actually, in hybrid mode, I could see everyone's post, and to whom they were replying. Now, every time I go back to a thread, I have to scroll through every single reply again to find the new one. It takes a lot more time, and sometimes I get lost. At least on the old board, we had the option to view it as threaded, linear, or hybrid, so we could each use what worked best for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Now, every time I go back to a thread, I have to scroll through every single reply again to find the new one. It takes a lot more time, and sometimes I get lost. When you first look at the High School Board for example - in the blue band it has several choices of how to see the posts among which are 'Recently updated' and 'Custom'...where you can choose to see last posts first....Is that what you are talking about finding? I agree that it is nice to have options... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elinor Everywhere Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 Actually, in hybrid mode, I could see everyone's post, and to whom they were replying. Now, every time I go back to a thread, I have to scroll through every single reply again to find the new one. It takes a lot more time, and sometimes I get lost. At least on the old board, we had the option to view it as threaded, linear, or hybrid, so we could each use what worked best for us. Yes. I really, really, really miss the hybrid mode. I liked that the posts I hadn't yet read were in bold, so I could very quickly see where to go, especially on the posts with pages and pages of replies. It made the whole process so much faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I know there are people who are thinking the "Like" button turns it all into a junior high popularity contest. I see the threaded mode as doing the same thing -- it makes it that much easier to exclude people and only focus on those who share our views on a topic. I was so happy to see it gone. I don't understand how the hybrid view threading--an organizational tool and way to skim conversations quickly/effectively--has to be viewed as a popularity thing. So what if one person's post has more underneath it?? Also, the old board had the ability to view it flatly (apt term, IMO) and so you wouldn't even be affected by threading, correct? I didn't use that view so I don't know for sure. It just seems like having options is a good thing. I can scroll and scroll and scroll all day to see if someone quotes me and then know they're specifically talking to me OR I could view the "tree" and see those who posted under my post. It wasn't a perfect system because sometimes a person would quote and post in a place nowhere near that person! lol But overall, it was a huge time-saver for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaver_67579 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I miss it too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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