It would be great if the new version, in addition to maintaining the traditional forum style, could also have a Reddit-like mode. This way, we could take forums to the next level, while still allowing those who prefer the classic style to continue using it. The idea is for this to advance and not get left behind, or to create a mix between a forum and a social network to modernize things.
Pretty sure this won’t come. It’s not quite ethical to build a mode found elsewhere where it’s basically invented. Imagine people screaming XF faked Reddit.
Depending on your preferences, there are two different ways to visualize conversations in the Community: threaded or linear (inline). This article explains what the differences are between each format, why you might choose one over the other, and how to update your preferences based on the...
It's quite difficult for a user to understand the conversation without reading through each individual reply of the original post in a flat view forum. This isn't a problem when the number of replies are small as a user can easily just read all of them but can become very difficult when the number of replies are big (50 for example).
The solution would be threaded reply but threaded reply can get quite messy and again it becomes difficult for a new reader to keep track of the conversation. The solution that I see is single level threaded reply. Youtube and facebook has it. It creates a...
Here is an example of vBulletin 5 comments in posts.
I think a major benefit of comments on ("in") posts is that if people just want to comment on a small aspect of a post ... they can just add their 2 cents...
I know that Xenforo comments have a flat structure, but is there any chance that the forum software will come to adopt a threaded structure (like Reddit)?
Speaking of flat / threaded comments, which do you prefer? Is there a way to have both types of comments be shown for users?
I know that there might be some bias towards flat (as Xenforo's userbase is accustomed to flat comments), but it would still be nice to know as to which you prefer and why.
this user turned non-threaded threads into threaded ones ( to show what they'd look like)
Despite my posts about threaded content... I don't actually want Xenforo to move to threading or anything like that. It's just not the same experience, and I think the discussion on flat threads can be deeper than found on threaded replies.
That said... I also feel like really long flat threads become really hard to follow, hard to catch up, and ends up resulting in a lot of repeating arguments.
Backstory: I was thinking how to better highlight or summarize content from long threads. I know Discourse tries to do this, but I really found it hard to follow when posts are just...
A random note:
One thing I have noticed is the people who essentially read every post dont like threading. Moderators here as an example. Admins of forums are another example. They read every post (almost).
Who likes organized information ? Google search users. Normal users.
Most people will not read 10 pages of a thread to find all the information. So they go to the next search result and your forum's google ranking is downgraded. They eventually just learn to click the reddit answers as the information is much easier to read.
The lack of threading in xenforo threads is one reason why I say xenforo threads are for structureless chit chat.
It's quite difficult for a user to understand the conversation without reading through each individual reply of the original post in a flat view forum. This isn't a problem when the number of replies are small as a user can easily just read all of them but can become very difficult when the number of replies are big (50 for example).
The solution would be threaded reply but threaded reply can get quite messy and again it becomes difficult for a new reader to keep track of the conversation. The solution that I see is single level threaded reply. Youtube and facebook has it. It creates a...
Here is an example of vBulletin 5 comments in posts.
I think a major benefit of comments on ("in") posts is that if people just want to comment on a small aspect of a post ... they can just add their 2 cents...
I know that Xenforo comments have a flat structure, but is there any chance that the forum software will come to adopt a threaded structure (like Reddit)?
Speaking of flat / threaded comments, which do you prefer? Is there a way to have both types of comments be shown for users?
I know that there might be some bias towards flat (as Xenforo's userbase is accustomed to flat comments), but it would still be nice to know as to which you prefer and why.
this user turned non-threaded threads into threaded ones ( to show what they'd look like)
Despite my posts about threaded content... I don't actually want Xenforo to move to threading or anything like that. It's just not the same experience, and I think the discussion on flat threads can be deeper than found on threaded replies.
That said... I also feel like really long flat threads become really hard to follow, hard to catch up, and ends up resulting in a lot of repeating arguments.
Backstory: I was thinking how to better highlight or summarize content from long threads. I know Discourse tries to do this, but I really found it hard to follow when posts are just...
A random note:
One thing I have noticed is the people who essentially read every post dont like threading. Moderators here as an example. Admins of forums are another example. They read every post (almost).
Who likes organized information ? Google search users. Normal users.
Most people will not read 10 pages of a thread to find all the information. So they go to the next search result and your forum's google ranking is downgraded. They eventually just learn to click the reddit answers as the information is much easier to read.
The lack of threading in xenforo threads is one reason why I say xenforo threads are for structureless chit chat.
That's exactly what I was going to say. These forum designs are very outdated. I’m not saying they’re not good, but for younger people, they’re not attractive. I created a Dragon Ball forum and drove a lot of traffic and registrations, but there was little interaction to the point that one day it died. It doesn’t work if people don’t like the old forum design. That’s why we need to offer more than one option.
That's exactly what I was going to say. These forum designs are very outdated. I’m not saying they’re not good, but for younger people, they’re not attractive. I created a Dragon Ball forum and drove a lot of traffic and registrations, but there was little interaction to the point that one day it died. It doesn’t work if people don’t like the old forum design. That’s why we need to offer more than one option.
This is less a design issue, and more a content and subject issue.
Anime (and games, but I will mostly assume anime) is one of the most competitive subjects on the internet, and you've narrowed your focus to a specific IP that is also itself congested. You are also directly competing against well-established sites/communities, multiple large subreddits, many large Discords, and manga/anime piracy sites. Unless you have a very strong foundation or initial community to keep driving consistent content that keeps people interested, they are going to quickly leave.
The strength of threaded discussions is they prioritize faster/looser discussions, whereas linear I generally find prioritizes longer form content.
If you're set on something similar to Reddit, you can probably put something together with the experimental style by Audentio/Themehouse, and one of the post reply/post comment add-ons, but you will still have a lot of hardwork to make it work exactly the way you wish, as well as with driving content that keeps people invested.
I have been using this for a long time without any problem. And I am really happy to use this function. I am one of the strong supporter of having this function as a native function. This can be optional in the admin panel. But I think Forum software should catch the time.
And I am really happy to use this function. I am the one of strong supporter if having this function as a native function. This can be optional in admin panel. But I think Forum software should catch the time.
Reddit-like aka threaded threads are no go for me. If there's something I don't like, is threaded threads. This usually gets very messy, difficult to read, not very transparent. I agree with Mr Lucky, as long as it's an option, but I don't think this will ever come to XF.
Personally, even if I think that the concept of forum must live with the times, it must not be distorted, it has proven itself and continues to prove itself. Indeed for 15-20 year olds it may seem old as a system, but no one is 15 or 20 years old all their life.
Unreadable IMHO!
It's like have a discussion IRL and suddenly someone interrupts you...
No parent tracking. I seriously wouldn't expect threaded mode. Not only does it create a lot of challenges technically, it interferes with the interface and often gets in the way of what people want to do (think multi-quote and requiring activation of QR). IMO, it's not worth compromising it for a view that probably isn't even going to be that good if it's rarely used.
I was looking over this old suggestion and thought about how competition for forums has changed over the years. As a consumer, I used to browse forums every day. Now, I almost never browse forums; instead, I use Reddit to do the same.
This can increase traffic and retention of users. A lot of big forums already have similar features through custom add-on's, but it's not nearly as streamlined as Reddit. This can bring that advantage to every forum.
There are 3 fundamental things that one does on Reddit. 1. watch a feed about topics that you are interested in (homepage...
Calling smth. outdated that is actually newer than threaded discussions seems kinda funny to me
Before invention of the WWW there were threaded discussions on Usenet and threaded discussions on BBS systems like Fidonet.
Probably one of the first web-based forum software was WWWBoard (developed around 1995) - and that was threaded.
Over the time pretty much every forum software either never had a threaded mode right from the beginning (like XenForo) or gave up on it (like vBulletin, Invision) as it just doesn't work well for discussions with long(er) posts.
Years ago, when I was using VBulletin, I tried to make a two-column forum layout (I was one of the first to make this layout) and almost everyone opposed this layout and everyone said it was against the forum logic. It has become very normal nowadays.
Nested threads, threaned threads, comment, whatever you call it, makes the discussions on the same subject more organised and prevents dozens of pages. I think this suggestion will be normalised over time and will be used by many people.
I think I didn’t express myself well. The idea of making it like Reddit isn’t to copy it but to create something similar yet different, something appealing to younger audiences. If I want a website that attracts younger users, they’re not interested in the traditional forum style. I also suggested it as an optional feature in the panel, so everyone can choose the mode they prefer: the new one or the traditional one
