Hi,
I've been playing with the Outline Display Mode, and clearly there must be a reference tag in each post in order for the board software to record threading information.
If that is the case, I wonder why no board that I know of has gone the extra step and implemented threading based features, such as - Notifications only for replies to one's own posts
- Views which only show full subthreads
- Color marking of one's own posts and its replies
- Ignore subthreads
- Filter subthreads based on posters
- etc
In addition, especially with today's wide monitors, a thread navigation pane on the left, like file managers usually have, would seem like a good idea.
Web forums have advantages, most particularly moderation, but I find that reading threads in newsreaders is much easier and effective for focusing on wanted information and avoiding the rest. And that is at the very root of good conversation. It puzzles me why, if the basis for the improvements already exists, some board maker hasn't gone this route yet.
Be well,
Paul