Not planned Thread vs Discussion vs Topic

[Grover]

(devoting a dedicated thread discussion on this)

Triggered by this remark from Floris:

THat resparks the conversation then about calling a thread a discussion and the button still being called a thread, etc.

I thought:

Thread vs Discussion or Topic

Indeed, this is a good point. Overall... I always hated the word 'thread'... on vBulletin and every other board that uses this phrase. When there was not a Dutch translation available for vBulletin at the time... my dutch members kept asking me 'what is a thread'? No clue. I mean when you translate it you get : 'draadje' (which means so much as wire/line (and thread), but people in The Netherlands never ever talk about a 'draadje' when it comes to discussions. Apparently, it is common language/knowledge for English speaking people using a web board(?). As a Dutch person I find it still a bit of a weird word to use on forums... I much prefer [New Discussion] or [New Topic].

Brogan explained:

Thread relates to threaded view, as opposed to flat or linear view.

Ah yes... thanks for pointing this out, because now I realize that this makes the word 'thread' even more non-fitting on XF, perhaps. XF does not use threaded view... you can not select this alternative view... only flat/linear view is possible (which is a good thing IMHO). So if XF doesn't even provide threaded view... why call a discussion a thread then?

Instead of http://xenforo.com/community/threads/fixed-term-for-personal-discussions-vs-conversations.2796 I would prefer:
http://xenforo.com/community/discussions/fixed-term-for-personal-discussions-vs-conversations.2796

 

[Grover]

Opinions?

Well... I completely agree: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/suggestion-thread-vs-discussion.2838/ I hate the word 'thread' with a passion. I can never explain to Dutch people what it means... and this has been an issue with vBulletin for years, until a Dutch translation saw the light. Anyway:

Why don't you join that thread discussion and like my first posting there?

 

[pk698]

I guess I'm an ugly duckling. I prefer thread as it signifies a series of topics. but then again, to each his own.

 

[Jamie]

I like the use of topic much better than thread... but in the end it really doesn't matter.

Jamie

 

[Kaiser]

I guess I'm an ugly duckling. I prefer thread as it signifies a series of topics. but then again, to each his own.

Ur not the only one, I like threads better also.

 

[Jose Amaral Mota]

Any references to 'Replies' should only be used when referring to 'Conversation'
Any references to 'Comments' should only be used when referring to 'Profile Post'
Any references to 'Messages' should only be used when referring to 'Members Discussion/Topic Post'


Thread Vs Discussion... Why stop here and not apply to all phrase(s) and then group them under a category title for certain function(s).

'Post Reply' x 'Post Message'

It is a bit of a undertaking, but you can not just stop with a single (phrase) word. It would be nice not to mix phrase(s) with other functions, as it easier to find them and know where they are applied.

Message(s): To me it more of a Announcement posting that you can not reply to... Given instruction to do something... A popup...

Life is too short to dwell on this.

 

[captainslater]

I never use the word 'topic'.

 

[ManagerJosh]

I view threads more along the lines of a discussion where as the forum is more along the lines of a topic or subject.

 

[Paul B]

To avoid the discussion (or should that be thread or topic? ) continuing on 2 separate threads, I have merged them.

 

[jmurrayhead]

I would be okay if it were switched to 'Topic'. Luckily, we all have the ability to edit phrases like, "post_new_thread" and change its text to something like, "Post New Topic".

 

[Sami]

It's inconsisten in my opinion.

Resource Discussions:
Discussions: 11
Showing threads 1 to 11 of 11

 

[Grover]

I totally agree. I wish XenForo would get rid of the phrase 'thread' altogether: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/suggestion-thread-vs-discussion-vs-topic.2838/. Indeed why use thread anymore, if you use the phrase 'discussions' for the exact same thing already anyway?

 

[Grover]

There's now even a bugreport

, which also raises a good point:

It's inconsisten in my opinion.

Resource Discussions:
Discussions: 11
Showing threads 1 to 11 of 11

 

[Romchik®]

We have tried translate this diffrent, but this was strange. Now russian have "threads" only.

 

[Alluidh]

I think first this isn't a bug, it is a suggestion and second not every thread is a discussion, sometime it is a information or something else. So thread for all parts is absolut OK. (Like the russian way)

 

[turtile]

I also think this doesn't belong in the bug section but I do think that Xenforo should eliminate the use of thread.

If you have a user that has never used a forum, they going to look at the "Post new Thread" button and think "what's a thread?". Google - well that didn't help. How do a start a new topic?

If it said "Start New Discussion" or "Start New Topic", it would probably be a lot more understandable for most people.

 

[Sami]

It looks disorganized and I couldn't think of a reason why use different terms. Hence the bug report.

I didn't find the other thread for some reason, but it's ok to merge if suggestion sounds more appropriate.

 

[Paul B]

As it's by design and therefore not strictly a bug, I've merged the threads, as proposed by the OP.

 

[Grover]

... and second not every thread is a discussion, sometime it is a information or something else. So thread for all parts is absolut OK. (Like the russian way)

? I don't quite follow your reasoning. Exactly because of the fact that a thread doesn't have to have more then 1 posting, the wording 'thread' in itself also doesn't fit (in those circumstances). Because technically with 1 posting, it isn't a thread. Or a discussion. But that is not the point and is taken things a bit too far I believe. To keep it simple: when XenForo uses the phrases 'Discussions' and 'Threads' for exactly the same thing, then for consistency/clarity reasons I would suggest to use 'Discussions' everywhere. And next to that my personal preference is to use the word 'Discussions' anyway.

But I get what you are wanting to point out. Following your point (however not such an essential one in the broader scope of things), one should actually call it 'Topic' then, because a topic can exists in a 1-post-thread...

I still very much prefer 'Discussions' really, it's better fitting overall and also 'sounds' more social to me then the dreaded... 'threads'.

 

[Mike]

Following from where the bug report talked about, the thought with "discussion" was another future proofing type thing - those counters can include values from child nodes, and strictly speaking those nodes don't have to be forums or have "threads". We use "discussions" as a more generic term, though maybe it's not that useful (at least not now).

 

[erich37]

Well... I completely agree: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/suggestion-thread-vs-discussion.2838/ I hate the word 'thread' with a passion. I can never explain to Dutch people what it means... and this has been an issue with vBulletin for years, until a Dutch translation saw the light. Anyway:

Why don't you join that thread discussion and like my first posting there?

it´s not only about dutch people not understanding this term.
Even english-native-speakers do not understand the word Thread when they are not used to Forums.

I would really suggest to change this wording to Topic as per default.