Original DPR is migrating to XenForo

sounds like times have changed and programs are much more complicated today compared to the eighties. i used to design database managment systems for some of the largest manufacturing companies in Australia, and had 2 programers that would rewrite/invent new code C, C+ , Fortran to make the DMS work the way i wanted, which included the introduction of graphics. the programers would also write code so i could intergrate Vax to apple for financial number crunching. lot of fun untill i had a breakdown and had to go back to my trade 27yold 😌never gone back to computers in nearly 40 years.

I know nothing about coding or software, so I might be talking complete nonsense, but I will ask it anyway: what if there were two interfaces for a forum? One would be a flat view, while the other would be an index page that only shows posts in a thread. The index page would then take you directly to the post you want to see. Or am I just describing how a threaded view works?

I think DPR's "problems" with continued offering of threaded view are being vastly inflated, simple propaganda.
Write some better tools, people !
For Users,It works well, offering a welcome choice, why would Threadies care if others use flat ?
If the current format is difficult to operate, good on them for keeping it up and going.
These changes it seems to me, are driven by a perceived need to homogenise the code to something they can slap on a USB stick and migrate from one Data Service provider to another, whichever is cheapest.
From Day 1 of the sale, there was always a danger of the site being completely ruined, most of us were hoping for something less drastic, we've had that till now, but, here we are, with The Mobile Mafia at the gate.
One things for sure, someone there can't add up.
Oldies, lament after me....
"Why can't they just leave things alone ?"

Hi,

Edit. I should mention I used the small reply button to reply to Daneland in this post. Makes no real difference now, but will when we have a threaded view.

What we have here on this site is two reply buttons. One smaller right after the post. One larger below that. What it does is, the smaller Reply gets a link to that particular reply. What the larger one does is, link that reply to the original post.

Threaded view will put all the small reply button replies into a nested group. And the large reply buttons in the left most spot as replies to the OP.

DPR does the same thing, except they label the two buttons differently.

Now, here, once we have a threaded view, I expect to see a bunch of replies to the OP because there isn't any real differentiation between the two buttons. Not really a big deal.

And, once we have a threaded view, everyone using flat view will still see things the same as they do now.

Also, I absolutely wish to keep flat view. Threaded view is not for everyone.

Stan

Hi,

Ah. Oh, well. I was thinking that there was some different data stored already between using the two buttons.

Stan

NOTE: Here, you cannot change the POST TITLE, which is kept original in all the discussion posts.
----->Making it editable in Flat makes it easier for everybody interested in following a specific content.

Title of this Post

Me, Myself, some explanation... and a Question

I went to the first newsgroups with a 4-8-16 modem, after years of BBC chats on 400 modems.
I was Admin, Mod, Pillar, User... experienced all roles in BBC, Nsg, and Forums
I was a Flat-User in DPR - Used threaded maybe 4 times [I explain that at the bottom of this post]
BUT I always used Thread in Tech discussions.

Missing respect is one thing I cannot tolerate, and saying ... "WE DECIDED" because ...
to a Community that has grown and is kept alive by Users, without consulting the Pillar Users,
will never leave me much, unless to leave that spot.
-> Pillar Users are the Tech Most Experienced, with a high-level of participation, and the joy to share their knowledge.

On DPR, I was only interested in the Z Talk Forum, so I've read not much on the other parts,
until a Mod posted a link to the first Post of this story.
I've read 29 pages in flat view without losing the bearing; my first post was on page 24.
I was quite surprised by the FACT that Users' feedback was totally ignored.

Making it short: I left DPR.

___ IT ________

WHY was the Owner Company forced to change ?

Programmers knowing the languages [and the related brain STRUCTURE IMPOSED] of the original Code Base dwindled due to retirements.
New programmers, called Devs, don't have the same brain structure, because nowadays it's easier to write code
§ ... no way to "maintain" old code and underlying DB.
It's not a cost issue: it's a resources issue.

Code bases are those things that no Users think about.
What everybody sees is the UI

They are not aware that the UI deals with existing Data, and the existing Functions derive from the Base Codes.

In a working environment, they may be aware of the employer's focus on efficiency.

A note about the mouse introduction

I was working in a big company, and I received a call from a Beta User.
I knew her from a previous project: She complained ... The Efficiency of her work was down the sink.
--->>> She explained why: mandatory clicks.
The Company has definitely replaced the old DOS software UI with the new DOS Windowed UI version.
From Total-Keyboard pages, they were now finally able to click on this and that AND CHANGE PAGES.

I installed a software "mouse path-recorder" on her PC.
Two days later, I was able to force the IT [in Emergency mode] to do an immediate change in UI:
modifying the button's position, and re-enabling the TAB!! Also, Enter for "save&page" at the end of each data input.

Nobody checked it before.

( the Mouse movements path a total of 42Km [26M] in a 6-hour shift )

___ WHEN you are Forced to use Thread view ? _

-> Tech discussions

---------------Edited Copy of my post from DPR -----

I'm '70. In DPR, I'm a Flat-Reader

I've read a thread in threaded mode maybe 3 times, ... I remember the first time I used it:

under a post with 4 photos ...a discussion started

Photo 1 > 2 posts "good picture"

Photo 2 > tot 65 post
-> (1) What about Aperture
->>>> (1.a ) Aperture+ ISO managing
->>>> (1.b) Better a lighter lens
->>>>>>>(1.b.I ) 24-120z
->>>>>>>(1.b.II ) 85z
->>>>>>> + others
-> (2) What about Focus
->>>>> (2.a) Faster
->>>>> (2.a) Better another lens

>Photo 3 > tot ~ 40 posts
-> Nice but
->>>> (1.a) composition
->>>> (1.a.I ) Boquet
->>>> (1.a.II) Subject focusing

Photo 4 > 4 posts very good pic

Total
111 posts

I went to the thread view because I lost FOCUS bearing between:
->>>>(1.aII) Subject focusing
And
Photo 2 >>>>> (2.a) Better another lens

Maybe I can't remember exactly & correctly what happened,

--- >> But tell me, please:
What photo am I referring to when I specifically wrote ">>>>(1.a.II) Subject focusing"
AND where did my three posts end, and who answered my two questions?

--->> Normally it's easy to be done in flat for me !!!!

(...but tech complex discussions are never flat thinking )

.

interesting read, my take, lets restrict "open thinking" is why flat view is used.

meta.discourse.org/t/threaded-discussion-is-ultimately-too-complex-to-survive-on-the-public-internet/63172?tl=en

One stated reason is that their webmaster equivalent to your good self is leaving, thereby creating a void of persons familiar with their highly-customized system, e.g. the threaded view.

I signed in and do not see any changes.

They haven't migrated yet - still got threaded view which XenForo does not have.

They've locked the link I posted originally ... more here ...

www.dpreview.com/forums/post/68450704

Nice summary but it completely missed the crucial point about the threaded vs flat view.