Where do we report issues with the new forum?
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It's not an issue per se, but more of an update/improvement I'd like to see: I noticed that one can only reply to one forum member at a time by clicking the "reply" button at the bottom of their message.
This also means, however, that forum threads get cluttered with a single person "flooding" the thread, i.e., replying to each forum members' message one by one creates a lot of messages posted that may or not be of interest to other readers who are interested in navigating the respective forum thread quickly.
So: Is there a way to add a function that makes it possible to reply to multiple forum members at the same time in a single message? Of course, quoting multiple forum members' messages and "combining" them in a single reply is an option, but it's not the best option, as it requires a lot of editing (e.g., deleting the parts that you don't want to quote which also add to the bulk of the final version of the message one posts) and it's probably not as intuitive for some forum members.
In my opinion, it's one of those "would be very nice" kind of functions to add to the forum, but not necessarily a "could not live without".
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@cityofdelusion I don’t know if it helps, but you can physically tag as many users as you want in a post. It does have to be done manually though.
Just a thought.
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@goosehd Thank you for your thought. I've tried that before, but I tend to forget the points that I want to address in each forum members' post in my reply. Especially if I'm replying to messages that are rather a few pages back. Also this way, the respective forum members wouldn't know which post of theirs I'm referring to, again, especially if the messages are a bit older. The "reply" function on the other hand makes it clear which post I'm referring to.
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@Alex My idea was basically that one would click on "reply to multiple forum members" (or whatever) and then a section would pop next to the messages where you can select each message (like some type of "multiple choice radio button"). And then the usernames of those forum members would be transferred to the reply text text field/box and a preview of the messages one selected and is replying to would be somewhere around the text field to be able to see what one is referring to. Hard to explain, but I hope you get the rough idea.
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I kind of see what you mean, but I don't really think it would make things easier than just @ing people. I also dont see the issue in replying to multiple posts - isnt the point of a forum/chat room to chat?
Our personal opinions aside, this sort of thing is not achievable - whilst we modify the existing framework of NodeBB, what youre talking about is a change they would have to make to their forum software globally, not something we can do
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@cityofdelusion Awesome idea; probably not easy to implement.
I have also been conscious about ‘spamming’ threads with replies to different users. Those with more brain power than I seem quite adept in condensing them into one message though.
Whether or not it is obvious to which messages they are replying to I’m not sure.
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@Mister_Brue The trick to doing so is to have multiple screens open, copying and posting the relevant information into one text box, and tagging each individual. Not hard, but it is a bit of work.
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@Alex Regarding @ing people, see my reply to goose's message: it's a bit tiresome and inefficient that way - for me at least. As for replying to multiple posts one by one: it's not an issue, and I understand the point of a lively exchange/chat on the forum, but it can easily clutter product threads (not general threads etc.) where, let's say for the sake of a better illustration, two forum members are having fun, while the rest are just trying to navigate through actually relevant information regarding the product.
And yes, I definitely agree on the amount of work this would cause, and I'm not sure if it's even something that anyone else besides me cares about. That's why:
@cityofdelusion said in Where do we report issues with the new forum?:
In my opinion, it's one of those "would be very nice" kind of functions to add to the forum, but not necessarily a "could not live without".
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@cityofdelusion …and the reason why some of the conversations are moved to one of the random threads when it does affect a product thread.
Also in the forum rules to be mindful of doing so…
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@goosehd Thanks; I did wonder. So multiple browser windows open on a particular forum thread? Maybe I’ll keep spamming… 🫣
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@Mister_Brue Yes, that is what I do. Sometimes, I will have 2 to 5 windows open copying and pasting, with one being used in a response.
"I don't give a shit what anyone else is doing, we will do what is best for us and our customers" - Giles P. :)
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@cityofdelusion Also, that is one thing that is hard for me as a mod and something I work on daily which is trying to keep the conversations centered whist still allowing normal conversations to go on. If I see a product thread being cluttered with non product related conversations, I ask myself does it add to the overall thread or does it distract.
Quite often a few posts are normal and I leave them alone, if it becomes multiples where I can’t even figure out what the thread is anymore, then it’s time to move it somewhere else.
I know I am not anywhere perfect on this and probably have offended a few people moving those conversations, but I do it in the best interest of balancing conversations, keeping product threads relatively focused, and members feeling free to offer advice and their own personal observations.
The nature of a forum is that it’s not perfect, much like going to a pub and having a chat with your friends. Conversations drift and people have fun. The forum should be the same.
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@cityofdelusion said in Where do we report issues with the new forum?:
two forum members are having fun, while the rest are just trying to navigate through actually relevant information regarding the product.
Brilliant.
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The point isn't that I (or some other forum members for that matter) don't know how to quote multiple messages, reply one by one, or open up multiple screens and put in the extra work to write a reply.
My main point was wanting product/forum threads not to be flooded with irrelevant-to-the-product type of replies and exchanges or at least minimize doing so. And such exchanges definitely exist, sometimes even those posted by me, although I try to be mindful of not flooding threads in this way. And mods moving random conversation is a whole other topic since flooding product threads can happen without necessarily going off-topic or random. I'm not saying product/forum threads should be "sterile" and restrict a lively exchange. I was just making the point that a function like the one I suggested (or whatever function) could help keeping product threads a bit more product-related so to say.
I get the counter-arguments made here and the troubles the implementation of the said function would cause. And I hope that my points and I are understood as well before being replied to. My post was just a suggestion - and not a bad one, in my opinion. That's why I also specified in my original post as well as in my subsequent post that it's not an issue or something that I could not live without.
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@goosehd Damn, I can't imagine doing all that on a phone. Sounds like a lot of work
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@cityofdelusion Thankfully I only do it occasionally on a phone. Most of the time, I’m either on an iPad or desktop. There have been a few occasions though where I’ve used a phone and it takes a bit of concentration.
"I don't give a shit what anyone else is doing, we will do what is best for us and our customers" - Giles P. :)
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Did a new forum version recently remove the ability to view the forum "index" or whatever it's called where it displays all the home categories? I can still navigate to categories individually by filtering what's being displayed in either "Unread" or "Recent" mode but wondering if that's intentional or not. Maybe I'm odd in that I did used to navigate to or search for things that way on occasion by opening a couple of categories in new tabs to find where the sticky was located. (since the search didnt always find what I needed or I forgot the name exactly)
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@pechelman This one?:
If so, you may need to clear your cache and re login.
Edit: Is the home button not showing for you in the upper left hand corner?
