I do not know where to put this idea so I am putting it here.
I was wondering how hard it would be to change the way the reply part of the forum works. Right now the obviouse way to respond to a thread is to read the last post and click reply doing this gets the name of the last person posted as the default “TO” I was wondering if we could not get changed to the “ALL” being the default. I think that a lot of times peaple forget to change this so we think that the reply is to the person listed when it should be to either someone else or to all. This may cut down some of the heat that some threads generate. Just an idea.
Doug Meyer
Replies
Responding to a thread is and should be different than replying to a post.
I think it woks fine the way it is, I think probably for the most part people are replying to a post and not responding to a thread.
How hard is it to remember to select all when posting to all?
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
-- Herbert Spencer (1891)
Doug ,
Sorry if I am telling you something you already know but ,, when you hit the reply box on a post and the ready to reply new post comes up next to the name that automatically came up is a drop down arrow , click on the arrow and you can select " ALL " or whomever you want to reply to .
dusty
I think lately in the heat of battle, I mean replying to several of the threads, Doug's suggestion may have eliminated some of the aggressive or agitated responses.
Surely it was not pleasant to read several of those long threads. The vast majority of readers learned nothing from those threads. Many readers, especially those who may want to seek a little advise, might be hesitant to post a question or add in their two cents for fear of being dismissed or humiliated. This is just how I see it. I also know that these same folks will, and do, go out of their way to post explicit, detailed responses for members, its like Jeckel & Hyde. Doug, I'm with you, I have confused several responses by not choosing the correct persons name to a reply. Its not a big deal of coarse unless your into one of those threads from hell.
Enjoy the day
Ron
Yes I have done this a few times, I have had to go back and edit a post so it say "To All" at the beginning because i forgot to make the change when I started my reply.
Keep in mind that I think a lot of us only post replys once in a while so we offten are dirrecting our remarks to the thread as a whole and not just to one poster, but if we forget then we look like we are replying to one single person.
Unless thier is a way to respond to a thread that does not use the reply button that I am not aware of?
Doug Meyer
Doug , You can select send E - Mail from the reply window or the members profile box . Select Reply Via e mail so only the person above can read it .
Just seems to me if you ask a question and maybe 10 or 15 others join in , I would want to make sure you knew you had a new reply , also by using a members name besides attacking them , it seems more personal .We still have the option at any time to select All .
dusty
Oh I do not think that being able to select the person is a bad thing, and i know you can send an email. I just think that a lot of posts that are addressed to the last person to post an really are not ment to be addressed to the last poster I think they are just left that way as the default is to list the person that was posting when you hit reply. If we have it default to All then if it addresses a person directly we will know that the poster chose to do so.
Doug Meyer
doug----if it's any consolation to you----- I agree absolutely with you on this.
Frankly, taunton makes these sites much more complicated than they need to be-----and there is a limit to how much effort I am going to spend becoming proficient at a system they will just change at their own whim anyway
"ALL" should have always been the standard response.
Stephen
<<"Frankly, taunton makes these sites much more complicated than they need to be" >>Stephen,I think the two Taunton forums are the model of simplicity -- with the thread topics permanently listed on the left, even as you read through a particular thread. I find the format of some of the other wwing sites byzantine in their complexity -- especially Wood Central.I do grant Doug's point about responding, but as an old hand around the Taunton forums, I think you would agree, it's workable once you get the hang of it. If "all" became the default, it would be more difficult for individuals to track responses to their posts. I do think the weakest point is the "search" function. I find it virtually useless, and at best, like searching for a needle in a haystack.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I purposely changed the respondent in this reply to ALL, from DougMeyer, as I think the response needs to be addressed to ALL.
It appears to me that everyone has preferences as to what the default should be and there is no consistency as would be expected.
Therefore, to make any sense as to a default, it would seem that the default should be by Knots user, not a general default that applies to everyone. Therefore, it would in all likelyhood be a setting in the Profile. That way, everyone could have it their way.
I also think the choices should include OP (Original Poster).
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
Kidderville, NH
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Ron, I'm smiling as I write this, so please don't take what I'm about to say as an attack, but your statements left me scratching my head.
Surely it was not pleasant to read several of those long threads.
But you kept reading anyway because ...?
The vast majority of readers learned nothing from those threads.
Did you conduct a survey? ;-) If you mean there was little substantive woodworking content, I'll grant you that. That said, did you have high hopes that a thread titled "To snotty for my taste" or one about someone leaving the forum and trying to be nice to other posters would be rich in nuggests of wisdom about woodworking?
Many readers, especially those who may want to seek a little advise, might be hesitant to post a question or add in their two cents for fear of being dismissed or humiliated.
The only folks I've ever seen get a little around here are those who gave a little first.
I also know that these same folks will, and do, go out of their way to post explicit, detailed responses for members, its like Jeckel & Hyde.
I'm amazed that you are puzzled. It's as if you think the inquiries and statements that elicit Jeckyl responses are exactly the same as those which draw the Hyde responses. hmmm
But you kept reading anyway because ...?
There comes a time when I loose interest, I see no benefits derived from that sort of thing. I didn't read it all, but 100 posts like that were not likely to keep me interested any longer.I come to knots for woodworking...pure and simple. Some come here for more than that I guess.Ron
Samson
I agree that if someone doesn't enjoy the thread, then they can go to any other or even start their own. If they stay and read, it is because they actually like it or are getting something out of the thread that will not admit.
I think that when the woodworking part is over and done with, usually in relatively short order, the real fun starts. :-) JL
JL,
The moment I choose, I can be rid of Mr. Hyde. But let me begin at the beginning.
Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures; and that when I reached years of reflection, and began to look round me, and take stock of my progress and position in the world, I stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life.
Upon breathing the walnut dust and sipping the 1 lb. cut concoction, I looked in the mirror to see a vulgar figure. It seemed natural and human. In my eyes it bore a livelier image of the spirit, it seemed more express and single, than the imperfect and divided countenance I had been hitherto accustomed to call mine.
His eyes, they were the expression, and bore the stamp, of lower elements in my soul. All human beings after all are commingled out of good and evil.
And it was as an ordinary secret sinner that I at last fell before the assaults of temptation.
I was slowly losing hold of my original and better self, and becoming slowly incorporated with my second and worse.
Arrrggh ....
Samson? is that you ...? Boris, quickly now...the chain and padlock! Not that one, the one that works..urghhhh jl
But I am still amazed, after my years around here, how often people complain about threads that they don't feel are germane to the specifics of woodworking. Suggesting that they don't have to read on seems to just incite more consternation.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
nikkiwood
Maybe it is complicated and we only think it is simple. Perception seems to be what it is about. JL
Yeah, maybe it's an OCD type thing?
Sorry, that was Samson Hyde.
More seriously, JL, I think you approach sainthood in your sincere commitment to leave all judgment of others to God. Thanks for the reminder. So often judgements seem so necessary, and so often they are not.
Less seriously, this thread is gonna drive the OCD'ers (who feel once opened all must be read) nuts!
Samson
If ever there was someone as far away from sainthood as can be, that would be me.
You make me blush because I know how far I am from where I would like to be, and I know where I have been.
There are many that would love to see me disappear, but I am so ornery that I hang around just to get their goat. JL
Edited 2/5/2007 9:47 pm ET by jeanlou
And humble too - the beatification will be swift. Any miracles other than the spontaneous combustion thing? I think you need a few for cannonization. ;-)
Yeah Samson...here is one. When I was an apprentice I dropped my end of the counter as I was unloading it from the van with the journeyman. "Idiot", Willie yelled! "Is the counter broken?" "To hell with the counter" I yelled back. "What about my body?" " "Your body will heal" yells Willie again. We need to build a new counter".
The miracle is that Willie and I continued unloading, we finished the installation, and I didn't test my new hammer on his skull. JL
Tis indeed a miracle! Did you heal yourself too? cause that might be another.
Samson
I give up! :-) JL
Yep, people can't stand me, people complain about me, yet they read every word I write and seem anxious to do so.
I understand that you can list a specific person as the response to and I mostly remember to change the reply to (now) but accidents do happen (or their would be no SawStop) and I just think that we would be better off accidentally not replying to the person we want to talk to then to accidentally reply to a single person when we mean everyone. Less chance to start something that way.
Just my 2 cents worth
Doug Meyer
Two reasons I'd personally not be in favor of such a change. (1) I rarely respond to "All" but instead respond to specific posts/posters. (2) The first thing I check when logging on is "Unread Message to Me" -- I'm not sure how the "All" messages fit in such a filter.
It's easy to change a post to be addressed to All -- simply click on the down arrow in the "To:" box and select All.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Doug, I enjoy your posts and don't want you to think that this is a hit on ya but, there is no one more keybord challenged than me, just ask my three kids who are all wiz-bang wire heads- and I can deal with it. Yea there are a few confusing moves around here and I think that there should be a little tutorial or video(but that wouldn't make any money?) that lets you see how to get around, search at various levels etc.
As for the miss addressed responses, after I sent two of these "sorry Joe, this was for Harry " messages I started to look more betterer as sometimes the mind has moved onto the next task while the fingers are still banging on the keys. All the best, Paddy
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