"New Comments" Follow UP

Doc,

Because the the list of new comments are hyperlinks to a different position on the same page then once you have "hyperlinked" to that position you simply need to hit the backspace key or your browsers back button to return to the list

Hope that helps

Al

P.S. Since this thread has been read 14 times with no response it makes me wonder just how many other people didn't realise this?

Because the the list of new comments are hyperlinks to a different position on the same page then once you have...

Yes, I' ve got that... but my question is: wouldn't it be more user friendly to have a (floating or fixed) menu with all the hyperlinks of a "conversation" to be recalled by using a combination of key strokes like Alt / Tab; instead of scrolling the entire page up or down to find it?

Follow up is not a problem when postings are linear: what when the conversation jumps from the main issue to branch one, then to branch 4, back to the main issue, forth to branch 5... as it usually happens?

If you read the postings in descending order without doing the follow up of what reply corresponds to what comment, the whole thing looks more like a computer generated conversation, than like what it really is.

Hyperlinks are usually numbered and sorted out by name / time and date of posting: but have you ever tried to follow a conversation in which X wrote "reply # 16" to posting 4, and Y wrote reply # 39 to posting 1?

Since this thread has been read 14 times with no response it makes me wonder just how many other people didn't realise this?

Conspiracy... perhaps?

<Since this thread has been read 14 times with no response it makes me wonder just how many other people didn't realise this?>

Everyone did I am sure.

Annoyance Tolerated -- so far--and no further!

Something needs doing : Optimization/Simplification/Continuity/Synergy/Avoiding repetition and timesaving while participating.

Touched a raw nerve did I ?

You're the exact reason why GUIs get so complicated by trying to help the user that everyone just goes back to the CLI.

Ah... The old command line inreface...

And the often stuck command interpreter... over a space too long, a misplaced comma or colon, a breath too deep...

A mere thought of a coffee-spill and you have to re-boot.

Then came the mouse and begged us to yank it's tail.

To the OP: Are we going to nit-pick (nit-peek?) every aspect not perfectly suitable to each of us here? If so, we'd better ask the Web-Browser to load their product with more fine-tuning of individual GUI settings, not the site builder!

They have to accommodate the average-user, to tailor-suit their demands on their individual machines.

Some common-sense please

Sorry, that was me, forgot to log-in first.

I've crawled through an awful lot of networking labs/installations and configured multi-protocol routers, switches, ATM switches, WAN switches, cable-modem switches, etc. Almost everyone prefers the CLI over using a GUI that was designed either through the idiosyncrasies of one developer or by a committee.

Trust vermin - vermin is wise, vermin knows the way

I've always thought the system works quite well. The hyperlink jumps you to the new comment & you can click on the comment number in the top RH corner of the comment to get back to the original. Scrolling to the top or bottom only takes half a second using the page up or down keys. If you remember to click the 'mark comments as read' button you only have to cope with the new comments.

I changed the setting from "nested" to "flat", (right-hand box by subscribe) so each time I return to a discussion, I go to the first unread item, and read on down from there. When I want to re-read a "reply to" post, just use the top right hyperlink, then back button on browser.

Some discussions, I want to subscribe to without making a comment, and it does annoy me (a bit) that I need to scroll to the top of the page to do this - could the box at the bottom inviting subscription not include the hyperlink for this?

"As the list of "New Comments" is on top and the bottom of each discussion page, doing the follow up requires the reader to scroll up and down continuously."

I just learned something new. Whoever programmed this BBS surely did a lot of research to make it user friendly and useful.!

Is there a page that documents all of the great features that are so useful???

I agre with you, Stirling Stan, I just learned something new, too! And, I bet a lot of readers did. Kudos to the guys who put CR4 together!

I concur.

Doc,

Maybe this will help? First, using the arrow, home, end and backspace keyboard keys can greatly facilitate rapid movement and localization on the forum page.

Next, on my browser, opening the edit menu (in menu bar) gives access to a "find in top window" search facility (dialog). Whenever I need to "find down" the posts listing (whether it's preset in thread-indentured or chronological format) to locate a post by name or number (or any other string) I use this browser feature. Since I often link to pages from update email alerts--these give the name of the post-er as well as the post name to which post-er's post responds--the edit-find command sequence makes finding a post a lot easier. (You can search either the post-er's name or the antecedant post-er's name--iteratively if need be.) The home and end keys on keyboard make it easier to start or restart the "find" process at the correct line position on the forum listing. If your browser also has alternative-key shortcuts to the edit menu, so much the better, maybe.

Hope this helps.

Thanks

Al

For sparking a much needed disscussion

wow I learned just how old & clunky the standard [ forum ] format is/was

No problem. Raw nerve touching is a free service.

Also specialise in the rubbing of salt into wounds which is also free but there will be a small charge for materials.

Al