I’m busy with other things today, so an open thread is called for. I’m also asking readers to consider a question.
Topics from previous open threads are fair game, such as the poll on a climate skeptic society.
Some people have asked about threaded comments again. We’ve tried them before, and they weren’t popular…but maybe now that some other blogs have tried them (notably Judith Curry’s) perhaps people are more comfortable with the idea here.
The advantage of threaded comments is that replies to specific comments appear in context with them and it makes discussions easier because there is less scrolling involved. The disadvantage of threaded comments is that not everyone follows that convention, and some comments become orphans, way down at the bottom of the pile.
The difference is nested comments in context vs. one long linear string of comments.
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One valuable feature would be the ability to return to a thread at the last location visited previously.
I second the idea of numbered comments.
If you’ve ever tried to read nested comments on a mobile phone screen you’ll know why I voted ‘No’!
RT
See Prof. Muller of UC Berkeley presentation of the Hockey Stick. Note that using only tree ring data without manipulation, temperature actually declined. So now the PAGE 2k guys erased the tree ring data and replaced it with thermometer data to put back the hockey stick. These guys are pathetic.
@RT
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/09/hockey-stick-observed-in-noaa-ice-core-data/
I am still asking if it is possible to consider putting a toggle switch on top to change from last comment on the bottom to last comment on top.
It’s 7.00am on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday morning. Us Brits are about to join the thread. Like many here, for me WUWT is a daily ritual bordering on an obsession. Many of us have been loyal followers since A*t/n$’s site began – although we do not always feel the need to comment.
Threaded: No (Sorry Jimbo)
Comment Number: Yes
Bring back the ‘Like’ Button again: Yes
“New visitor to WUWT” icon: Maybe?
“Troll Warning” Icon: Yes
Commenters Specialist anti-CAGW Subject/area of expertise: Maybe?
“Regular Commenter with no sense of humour going off on a tangent and taking over the entire thread yet again and really needs to lighten up” warning icon: Probably
“Has Janice Moore gone AWOL? I haven’t read any of her comments recently” button: Yes
@GeeJam – What is the holiday? Guy Fawkes is not for another 6 months.
Nested comments are very clumsy to navigate. The latest comments are in the middle of the pack somewhere.
Don’t ruin a good thing.
I voted for the threaded comments because they work well at sites like JoNova (high level of comments) for skipping uninteresting threads and RetractionWatch (few comments – but often interesting ones) overall. It doesn’t work well at Climate Etc. because the indenting is not good and there are too many trolls (probably the 30:1 effect in action).
WUWT has consistently very high levels of comments for a science blog and I find myself developing RSI mousing through the long list to see if anything new and interesting has been added. An improvement in how comments are handled would be helpful.
charles the moderator says: May 4, 2014 at 3:41 pm made a good suggestion and a few others point towards interesting alternatives (but they are too far back in the thread to go scrolling to look for them). If there were some way to tab replies to a comment to hide them unless opened (e.g. ‘5 replies’), then that might avoid the clutter caused by the flame wars at Curry’s site, allow people interested to a comment to find elaborations, and allow others to more easily skim the comments for new ideas.
No.
‘most recent’ selection button would be useful.
I voted No.
When I participated in the debate I found the time and date stamp enabled referencing previous comments. And the latest comments were always at the bottom so I knew where the argument had reached.
On the Grauniad the latest comments appear all over the place… and the debate is always dragged back to the first comment thread It makes playing “First” the winning strategy; it deprives the debate an opportunity to move forward. If the debate has moved out of the comfort zone of the close-minded then they can just go back to the start and discredit/divert/denigrate their opponent.
Having said that, now I just watch, threaded debates are much easier to skim. You can look at the science debates and ignore the politics (or vice versa) if you want.
pat says:
May 4, 2014 at 6:49 pm
“4 May: Gulf News: Samihah Zaman/Binsal Abdul KaderGore optimistic about limiting climate change
79 countries already generate electricity from solar photovoltaics at grid parity”
They usually compare the price at which a subsidized solar panel can generate a kWh, with the price after taxes that a consumer pays. So, I don’t know whether you’re an Abdul KaderGore-believer; but if you are – notice that you are being lied to.
Threaded or not, if I read a long discussion on my Asus tablet I really wish there was a ‘TOP’ and ‘BOTTOM’ button that would save me having to swipe-scroll endless comments. This is very true when trying to catch up with a conversation and you have to go to the bottom and start up.
If the threaded paradigm is adopted, a facility to blank selected posters would be very handy.
JC should maybe restrict those trollish posters to 4 comments per day.
Threaded!
Many times in the past I have read a question in the comments to which I too would like an answer. At present, it is impossible to know if anyone answered the question without reading all the comments. Not always practical.
Also, with a threaded format, it is easy to ignore discussions that are not of interest, and focus on the ones that are of interest.
If maintaining this format, would it be possible to number the comments? That would make referencing and finding comments simple. I know the date and time will do the same thing but it is not always included in replies and it is a little easier to scroll up to find a specific 3 digit number than looking to match a specific date and time.
As I use my iPhone >90% of the time when viewing and commenting at WUWT (and other sites) I would like the option to see newest comments at the top of my screen and other comments listed in order of their increasing age. It would save a large amount of thumb scrolling to get to the newest comments, since I most often read comments in reverse order; newest to oldest.
I prefer unthreaded to threaded at WUWT as I have already stated in an early comment, I voted no.
John
Why does my infrared thermometer measure the Sun as 300°C which I think is equivalent to 6.1kW per square metre? I was expecting it to be about 92°C/1kW per square metre.
Steve Oregon says:
May 4, 2014 at 2:05 pm
I vote no on the change. Horrible idea, IMO.
… it ends up burying new comments requiring more scrolling in order to check to see if new comments have appeared.
It’s next to impossible to easily check for new comments.
….
I always recommend posting a new comment vs reply to others.
Simply refer to the comment you are replying to just as WUWT has been.
Otherwise your discussion gets buried and ends up being a private debate because all of the new visits have no idea it is taking place….”
Well put. I voted NO also
Greg has it right – the best example this is a bad idea is Climate Etc where the result is equivalent to two people in the room talking loudly past each other about a minor and pointless nit each wishes to pick with the other but only because there is a large audience. Except the problem is not limited to two people – it is a room full of people playing got-your-nose, one upsmanship, and whom ever gets in the last word wins.
Because of the limited depth of threading, especially ignorant bickerers migrate to new threads down the page to keep the stupidity flowing and further fracturing the surrounding conversations. It is made worse by the fact that Dr. Curry is plagued by posters who are indistinguishable from response-bots and who are there purely to disrupt and redirect. This, of course, excites the “someone is wrong on the internet” gene in the mouth breathers and the threading takes it from there.
For a crash course on how not to run a blog, it is a good starting place.
Non-threaded works great for those that keep an open window and are able to interrupt whatever they are doing to reply. Threaded is better for those that have a limited timeframe in which view the site. Conversations can lengthen as follow-up comments apply only to your comments and not to all comments on that post. I voted yes.
I voted no. Mainly because it’s easier to find the most recent comments though it is harder to follow responses to a particular comment.
I do have a tip that all may not know.
If you hold down the “control” key and hit “F” a search box will come up. Enter your name or whatever name or phrase you want to find and wherever it appears on the page or topic you have open you can click “next” or “previous” to go to it.
If other commenters have responded to something you said and included your name then you can find it.
And, if you don’t want to use “blockquotes” (how to explained here http://home.comcast.net/~ewerme/wuwt/index.html) then at least repeat the name of the person you are directly responding to.
F3 and type in name of a commentator helps track if particular bloggers are running an idea.
I like the threads concept but I am contrary.
Seems like status quo at the moment.
No big deal, both styles fine.
Sensible moderation the way to go with overlong threads and persistent abuse or off topic deleted but not stopping trolls (people who disagree with one’s view?) completely.
WUWT and JC and Blackboard all good in that respect but diversity of view, if argued well is always needed
The poll ended pretty split, no overwhelming majority. What to do now?
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“philjourdan says:
May 5, 2014 at 12:49 pm”
Early May bank holiday.