I just got this message when trying to post a reply:
system just now — Automatically removed quote of whole previous post.
I think that “feature” needs to be removed as it can be helpful for others to understand the flow of the conversation if they have a sense of exactly what specifically is being responded to. Frankly, I don’t understand the logic of having that particular piece of code enabled in the first place, or why it even exists.
I was asked to post this topic publicly to enable others to add their feedback, with the tag #forum-feedback included, so here it is.
Please chime in with your opinion so we can have this “feature” disabled for the reasons I already outlined.
I’m part of a few forums that allow full quoting of previous messages, or at least will require manual feedback from the mods to curb it. It’s by far the most obnoxious thing I encounter, arguably more so than obnoxious people. It takes up huge amounts of space, especially when quoting detailed posts, and rarely are people responding to the whole post and not specific parts of it.
An example. Which one of these is a better use of space for a reply:
The whole thing?
Or what I’m actually replying to
I have quoted the relevant part of your post and the question you want answered, the issue is there so people can understand what I’m replying to, and it doesnt occupy an entire laptop screen worth of real estate like quoting the whole message does. Further, the forum already furnishes a feature that will show the entire post I’m replying to in the thread by clicking on the little in reply to icon on my post. Granted it doesn’t work particularly well (perhaps that would be a better place to start) but it will show the whole thing without me needing to wall of text a quote.
Would prefer not to see massive block quotes clogging up posts I think the current system where a reply to a post is linked by the ‘arrow’ icon is sufficient enough. This system also aids in preventing unnecessary repeated content, which too much of simply causes a thread to fall flat.
From time to time, however, when the post being responded to is short and to the point, which it was in the very thread that caused me to post this in the first place, it can leave readers lost as to who you’re talking to and what you’re talking about. Sure, it can be abused, but if that’s not happening frequently, there’s no reason to preemptively prevent it.
Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Had UranicNote09 attempted to quote me in this case (which it seems he didn’t) then he would have been preemptively prevented from doing so, leaving his message kind of hanging out in the breeze with no context as to what he was talking about. Even as it is, since the system didn’t automatically tag me in his response, it was blind luck that I found it, and knew what he was talking about.
By allowing him to quote my post in it’s entirety, it provides the context to prevent someone from getting lost, especially if they are a newbie to the entire thread. I hope I’m making sense here.
Had UranicNote09 quoted ANY portion of your post, I would argue the “How can a patch…” portion would be the most relevant, then someone need only press the down arrow in the upper right of the quote to be shown your entire post for any additional content.
For example:
Press the down arrow in the upper right of this quote and watch the magic unfold.
Yes (perhaps), but I think we may be at the point that we’re picking at nits.
My only point here is to argue that by preemptively prevent someone from quoting a post just because it’s from the most immediate post above leaves a lot of room for users to get lost in the flow of the conversation. It’s the preemptively part that is what I’m questioning.
But I don’t want to get so deep in the weeds here that we sound like Congress debating the finer points of what the definition of “is” is, I just think that generally speaking preventing those quotes is unnecessary, and sometimes counterproductive. That’s it, nothing more complicated than that.
I get that and I don’t disagree with you. My point is that what youre asking for already exists in three forms. Some worse than others:
If someone replies to you, theres a button that will take you up to their post. I’ve noticed this one works the least often, takes you away from the thread, and generally isn’t the best. It doesnt appear to have worked in any of the posts in this thread for some reason.
The up arrow on the quote will take you up to the full message that is being quoted. This works basically all the time but keeps the issue of taking you away from the thread timeline.
The down arrow on the quote will expand the quote to show the entirety of the post that the quote comes from. This also works basically all the time and it keeps you in the correct position in the thread. The relevant portion of the post gets quoted, the thread isnt cluttered, and the relevant context that you want remains there for anyone who needs it.
I dont think any of that is picking at anything. You asked for people’s opinions on an issue you have. I gave you my position against it and offered solutions that accomplish exactly what you’re asking for without any of the detrimental aspects.
The reply arrow doesn’t show up if you are replying to the post directly before yours. You will notice that there is a reply arrow on this post, it is because I replied to your second to the last post. (sorry for the spam notification).
Sure it does. I can see the entire quote of me in your post by pressing the down arrow even though you only quoted one sentence. Is that not the result that you’re asking for? See:
Go back and reread the three options I gave to achieve your original goal. None of those are dependent on you quoting the entire post. The three options would yield the same result if I quoted:
vs if I quoted:
Number one wont apply for reasons outlined by nyx above
Number two will apply because it doesnt matter how much of the post you quote
Number three will apply because it doesnt matter how much of the post you quote
Unless your argument has now shifted to being able to view full quotes that are nested inside of other quotes. In that case, number 3 wont work but number 2 will.
system just now — Automatically removed quote of whole previous post.
I think the current system where a reply to a post is linked by the ‘arrow’ icon is sufficient enough. This system also aids in preventing unnecessary repeated content, which too much of simply causes a thread to fall flat.
