Make view=flat work with threads

[foxfirefey]

Title:
Make view=flat work with threads

Area:
view=flat should work with threads

Summary:
The view=flat parameter that collapses threading on comment pages should work with individual threads.

Description:
view=flat is really convenient for seeing new comments buried in threads. It would be nice if it could work on a single thread, though--

http://dw-news.dreamwidth.org/0000.html?thread=000000&view=flat

And display in chronological order all comments made to that thread only. Currently, it only displays that one comment, and none of the children.

As I think all threaded comments have a link to the originating comment, I don't think this would be hard on the database to implement.

Downside/difficulty: really really deep threads currently are collapsed even when in thread view. It's possible that this might have to be paginated for really large threads, which could be tricky.

Poll #939 Make view=flat work with threads

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
26 (61.9%)

Should be implemented with changes.
2 (4.8%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
1 (2.4%)

(I have no opinion)
12 (28.6%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (2.4%)

Comments

[yvi]

As I think all threaded comments have a link to the originating comment

As far as I know, unfortunately, they don't, they only point to the one before them. But i think we want to introduce the 'ancestor' link to it in threaded view anyway, so it would be added :)

[archangelbeth]

So it'd be a case of... you see all comments in posted order, with a "parent/child" link for each, so you could navigate to the thread normally, if you wanted?

That would be a very useful thing for this concept. (For the concept itself, I would probably use it rarely, but I can see how it'd be quite handy for those times.)

[yvi]

I even found the bug for that ;) http://bugs.dwscoalition.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153

[turlough]

I like this suggestion A LOT!

[7rin]

Gonna track this and see what comes up in the comments as to pros and cons before deciding. I mean, it sounds like a good idea, but I'm not Geeky enough to be able to consider the full implications.

[h4hahn]

I’m a frequent and notorious user of the view=flat. This idea of having the comments displayed flat as order all comments made to that thread (instead of only chronologically with no children is right up my alley. I love this idea!

[iahnhiatm]

First, many thanks for adding flat view. I use it frequently in my access circle, especially on 'party' nights. Having a flat view for a particular thread would be lovely icing on the cake.

Once the comment threads get highly nested, flat view lets you see the most recent discussions but one has to understand the context or switch back to regular view to respond. Often I just want to stay in one highly active thread and be able to respond in more real time in the conversation. This feature would be perfect for those situations. Thanks so much for considering it.

[foxfirefey]

I should say that we didn't add the flat view--it's a feature from LJ, very very old and just not well known. However, we are planning to make it easier to access by adding a link to it on the comment page--I am just waiting for another bug to get resolved and then I will make a patch for that.

[iahnhiatm]

Thanks so much for your response and clarification here. Anything that makes flat view easier to use from the comment page would be much appreciated!

[hahnsrockstar]

And that's when I have your internet babies.