Some time ago we experimented with reverse order comments, on this blog and some of the new sites, like the projects forum. The blame is mine: it seemed that reversed comments should be easier to use than scrolling to the bottom of long threads.
However, while many people have complained, no-one has defended reversed comments, so they are gone (from this blog and the other sites where I'd put them). The functionality still works but probably only makes sense for special cases, and without nested comments.
Here are the main problems we saw people having:
- Visitors who did not realize the comments were reversed got totally confused.
- Even experienced users have difficulty due to the mix of reverse/forward ordering and the lack of clear visual indicators.
If I had a ListComments module to play with, I'd try various more detailed experiments:
- To make the top level comments stand out, using a background shading
- Adding explicit numbering at the top level (comment 10, comment 9, comment 8,…)
- Forcing comment nesting to zero (so it becomes a straight list)
- Forcing nested comments to collapsed
Which, perhaps we'll be able to do one day. Meanwhile, on all the sites I edited, comments are back to normal.
I certainly found it useful. It just depends on the situation whether or not it should be used.
If it's a long-term discussion on a topic, i.e. ListPages Design page, then the order should be reversed so we can see the recent stuff at the top.
If it's a short-term discussion on a topic, such as a blog entry, then the order would probably be best with oldest first, newest at the bottom.
in a revered comment… this makes sense if the sequence is descending…
Anyway - if all is again running in the old version, this is ok for me too.
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I started to get used to the form being at the top, though it kept messing up the anchors for me, as:
Other than that problem, I was happy with it :) Either way is fine.
With long pages, such as the Design 4 document that James mentioned, reversed comments are helpful. If the ListComments module is able to support a switch in direction once a certain # of comments are reached, that would help ;) Though it may just cause additional confusion if each page on a wiki/site/blog is ordered differently.
~ Leiger - Wikidot Community Admin - Volunteer
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Agreed. Reverse order works best with non-nested threads where all new comments land at the top of the heap. I much prefer oldest on top with nested threads, even if that means a long scroll to the bottom of the page.
-Ed
Community Admin
Numbering comments great.
http://feedback.wikidot.com/wish:382