Long posts in Convey

2022 January 04 21:01 winksaville 1026¤ 1331¤

I just posted a reply to your Road Trip 2021: CA <-> MN. Some observations:

Up until Day 24 each post is a reply to the previous post and it indents each time.
But then after Day 24 we have Eihposono post from Dec. 23.
The next posts continue to become out-dented and from various times.
Finally, today I posted a reply to the first post asking a question and it's indented once and at the end of the list.

It's confusing. I think the "author" of the creator of the original post needs more control. Your trip should probably not be a series of replies that keep getting indented but rather a simple list of posts all "aligned left" in an order defined by the author. That way if you find a nice picture or other content that should be "inserted" between other posts you can.

Oh, I guess I'm suggesting you should be able to edit a post, LoL!

Also, as author of a reply I'd would have liked my reply placed next to or near the post I replied to. Maybe it could be placed to the "right" of the original post?

Sort: Cost Yield Time

2022 January 05 16:35 stuartscott 1871¤ 793¤

Thanks for your feedback @winksaville, as always it is helpful, insightful, and greatly appreciated!

You're absolutely right - it is confusing and needs to be revisited to make it more intuitive and readable.

The fundamental problem is mapping a 2D data structure (tree of messages) to a 1D surface (fixed-width, vertically scrolling page).

The default sort is by Yield, so if a message has two replies, the one with the highest yield is shown first, and if that reply has replies then all of those will be shown next. In large conversations this should mean the reader sees the best thread of discussion first (this is also the thread that will appear in the digest) and all other branches are seen later.

Specifically in the road trip post, I used nested replies to link the events together in one chronological chain, but the indentation almost makes it look like a digression. Other replies that aren't on the main thread seem disconnected (though @kaxline's suggestion of the vertical lines helps). The other issue is that the longer the thread, the more the tail gets squished against the right side of the screen.

The axes could be flipped so the main thread is shown left-aligned and have other replies shown to the right like you suggested. For this to work the page would need to scroll horizontally which essentially makes it 2D, though it could be hard to navigate precisely and replies could easily get missed.

Another approach would be to make the default sort reverse-chronological, so newer replies are shown first. This wouldn't affect what gets included in the digest, but would make your recent reply appear right below the message you responded to (at least until someone else responds). I suppose the sorter could even rank the replies of signed-in account higher so you always see your replies first.
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- 2022 January 05 17:30 winksaville 882¤ 705¤
  
  Layout is non-trivial. But it seems to me different types of posts need different layouts. For example this post will be at level 2 and your reply to the at 3 if the original is 0. Thus:
```
0
- 1
- - 2
- - - 3
```
  But a better doing
```
0
- 1
- 2
- 3
```
  If the conversation is just chronological than it might make sense to left justify.
```
0
1
2
3
```
  But now let's say 4 is a reply to 1, we can still left justify but indent 4 by 1:
```
0
1
- 4
2
3
```
  Now 5 replies to 4 so that still works:
```
0
1
- 4
- 5
2
3
```
  But here is a 2D option with horizontal scrolling, imagine a graphic arrow not characters.
```
0
1 -> 4 -> 5
2
3
```
  A Final suggestion, for this post, is to allow reply 5 to overlap 4 so most recent post is most visible. But hovering over older post makes them visible. I could do a line drawing of the overlap, but I'll assume you can visualize it :)
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  - 2022 January 12 17:13 stuartscott 1113¤ 297¤
    
    different types of posts need different layouts.
    
    You might be right. In the case where there is a long chain, where each message only has one reply, there isn't a benefit to indenting them as much and it could just as easily be left justified as you said;
```
0
1
2
3
```
    The important thing to keep in mind given Convey's focus on discussion is the reading experience. In your 4th example there is a long discussion (0), (1), (2), (3) which is interrupted by (4);
```
0
1
- 4
2
3
```
    I think it would be better to have that message below so the reader encounters the best branch of the conversation first;
```
0
1
- 2
- 3
4
```
    When (5) is posted the structure depends on whichever has the highest yield;
```
0              0
1              1
- 2     or     - 4
- 3            - 5
4              2
5              3
```
    However, the issue I notice with this is that the relationship between the messages is not obvious from the structure. Is (3) a reply to (1) or (2) and is (5) a reply to (1) or (4)? Especially since readers from other sites are used to reply trees being structured with indentation.
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    - 2022 January 12 18:26 winksaville 491¤ 103¤
      
      I really think for the web, the 1 dimensional presentation based on indents is only good for "single reply" to a post and quickly degrades as there are more replies.
      
      I really think there needs to be some exploration of 2 or more dimensions.
      
      Another problem, as I'm trying to reply I wanted to look back at the older posts, I can't. Maybe if I had used "Ctrl+Click" when replying I might have gotten another tab?
      
      Yep "Ctrl+Click" worked with chrome, maybe add "reply in new tab" or ...
      
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      - 2022 February 10 23:50 stuartscott 207¤
        
        Regarding seeing older posts when replying, I've opened a ticket for supporting quick responses inline so you can reply without leaving the page.
        
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