Following on from our discussions on a potential TD Forum I have spent some time working on some of the issues raised and a general improvement in a number of areas;
Contents
FEEDS
Comment Feed; Using the Comment RSS feed allows all comments to be seen in one place, click here
Email Alerts; You can get Think Defence posts delivered to your email address directly, enter your details in the subscription box on the sidebar or at the end of each post
Recent Comments Page; I have improved this so the comments page now shows the full comment and clicking the comment title takes you directly to that comment on the post in question.
COMMENTS
Nested comments; you can now reply to individual comments and it will nest to a maximum of 5 levels. I have also darkened the comment box displays
Comment Editing; increased edit time to 10 minutes and changed the delete behaviour to delete immediately, instead of sending to a delete list. Fixed the bug where the popup didn’t work in all browsers
Post Comment URL Feed: Each post now has a comment RSS/Newsfeed so you can follow the comments for a single post as a news feed.
Click the menu as per the image below
Comment Pagination; I have tried various combinations but I think the current setup work well enough
External Comment System; had a look at Disqus etc but there are too many downsides to justify the move so sticking to the native comment system for now
Comment Rating and Likes; The ones I looked at tended to interfere with the comment editing feature which I know gets used a lot so unless there is a massive demand will stay away from this as well.
FORUM
Having considered the options and feedback I have decided to stick with things the way they are so no forum.
FACEBOOK, TWITTER, FLICKR and PINTEREST
You can now connect with Think Defence using these social networking, communications and image sharing sites;
The Facebook page is pretty new I am going to see how it goes but the others I used quite a bit now.
You can also share a Think Defence post with others on Facebook or Twitter for example by clicking on the relevant icon at the bottom of the post
NEW TO THINK DEFENCE
There is a load of posts going back a few years that are the sites gems, not just from me but some of the best posts are from guest writers. These often get lost so I am going to create a ‘new to TD’ section that will include links to the quality posts and a general information and guidance page and links to other blogs and websites.
Any suggestions for content would be gratefully received because I think we can make this a pretty decent start point for anyone interested in UK defence matters.
ADVERTS
A final word on adverts; because Think Defence has quite a lot of traffic and in order to maintain the flexibility and customisation features on the site I decided a long time ago to self host. Not using Blogger or WordPress, for example, means that whilst the overall experience is better, the hosting fees, template customisation and security software etc has to be paid for.
This is why there are adverts not to keep me in racy pictures of ISO containers
Despite the rumours and accusations, the RAF is not funding this site so if an advert takes your fancy, click on it, every little helps as they say.
@TD, I know I bring this up a bit, but 25 comments isn’t a lot when things really get going. I often miss replies to my or other’s comments because I can’t view this stuff all the time during a working day. How about 100 comments instead?
TD,
Excellent. Glad to see the “Last 25 Comments” page is now more useful… and it works properly with multiple pages
Finding the nested comments a bit confusing.
Newest at the bottom was easier.
I think we need two comment streams for threads. One for the stupid ignorant tax payer who ultimately has to pay for all this rhubarb. And another for the anointed amongst us; you know the ones who park billion dollar submarines on Scotland or despite having billions spent on kit and training have had their arses handed to them by illiterate tribesmen wielding Chinese AKs. That way the we ignorant fools don’t spoil the sublime musings of middle management uniform wearers who obviously know better than us and their superiors both military and civil.
writing comments, using the reply-button, means that no one will find them, if,
A Not immediate in the flow, or
B Not quick enough not to be lost from “recent comments” that scrolls so fast that I guarantee 90% of the readership will not catch them
Even the “Last 25″ want show them, as it seems to look at the the time stamp of the original comment?
We need a “connoisseurs’ last 25″ page… not that would the right term at all (elaboration in some way?)
There was no “Like” button for the comment above
… might have been tempted
I agree. And as ACC says, comments can get lost and passed by as the thread moves along.
A nice try, but it doesn’t add anything and relevant & worthwhile remarks may never be seen.
I agree too it is awkward for those forming the thread at the time to go back to or find nested comments, but it is more coherent for those that come along later and read it all to catch up.
Therefore
@x: I think we need two comment streams for threads
Yes a “view only last 50 comments in order” button (for each thread)
and a “view whole thread with nested replies” button
he-heh,
I wasn’t tempted to like my own comment (why not!)