Thread sequencing

[Tony]

To the 'un' of un.co.nz:

Would it be possible to sort the threads by the date of the last posting to each, so that the 'dead' threads fall to the bottom of the page and 'live' ones rise to the top? The most-recently-written-to thread would always be at the top

See how it is handled at
http://msoworld.com/cgi-bin/forum/wwwthreads.pl
for an example of what I'm thinking about.

[Angela Brett]

I suggested the same thing a while ago, and he responded with, "yeah I wondered that myself.  I might do that."

Maybe you suggesting it will convince him to do it.

[Edwin Hermann]

I've been reflecting on this suggestion.  I always believe in choice, so what I'd like to do is have a sort-by option specific to the forum.

Remember that the software which runs these forums is generic, with the differences being made up in part by the template files themselves which give each forum its own look and feel, and in part by the preferences associated with each forum (eg: registration required vs free posting).

So, perhaps I could add another option to a forum, where the threads can be sorted in one of four ways:

1.  By first post, newest at the top
2.  By first post, newest at the bottom
3.  By last post, newest at the top
4.  By last post, newest at the bottom

The 'owner' of the forum decides on the sort-by rule.

Now this may be all nice and dandy, but it does raise the question of how the message list should be sorted.....

Ed.



>>> On 21 March 2001 08:55:47 NZST, Tony wrote:

To the 'un' of un.co.nz:

Would it be possible to sort the threads by the date of the last posting to each, so that the 'dead' threads fall to the bottom of the page and 'live' ones rise to the top? The most-recently-written-to thread would always be at the top

See how it is handled at
http://msoworld.com/cgi-bin/forum/wwwthreads.pl
for an example of what I'm thinking about.

[Angela Brett]

I think it would be a good idea to have links on the list page allowing the user to decide how the posts were sorted. Or would that be much more difficult?

[Edwin Hermann]

User profiling is something I've been trying to steer clear of!  I'd go as a far as assigning new options and preferences on a per-forum basis, not not on a per-user basis.

Ed.


>>> On 21 March 2001 23:15:28 NZST, Angela Brett wrote:

I think it would be a good idea to have links on the list page allowing the user to decide how the posts were sorted. Or would that be much more difficult?

[Tony]

Hermann Munster wrote:

> User profiling is something I've been
> trying to steer clear of!  I'd go as a far
> as assigning new options and
> preferences on a per-forum basis,
> not not on a per-user basis.

No need for whistles & bells! Just let the main thread page adjust itself so that the thread most recently written-to is at the top of the page. That way one can keep abreast of what's current more easily.

After that there is no need to change the layout of the individual threads. The sequential appearance of the postings is fine as it is.

[Angela Brett]

>>> On 22 March 2001 13:55:50 NZST, Edwin Hermann wrote:

User profiling is something I've been trying to steer clear of!  I'd go as a far as assigning new options and preferences on a per-forum basis, not not on a per-user basis.

I wasn't talking about 'user profiling' - no need to remember how each user likes the page displayed or anything. But it just might be nice to have links to change the list order. However, I'd be happy with just having it on a per-forum basis, it's just a suggestion.