Plea to Drakon

[Joe Horn]

(05-10-2014 09:18 AM)walter b Wrote:  Please, disable <New Reply>. This button is an annoying source of repeating confusion.

Reasoning: Anybody who replies to a post replies to a particular one and shall clearly indicate to which - it shouldn't be left to the guesswork of the next reader(s) due to pure sloppyness of the respondent.

FWIW, I disagree, because there are (and ought to be) three kinds of postings:

New Thread -- for non-replies.
Quote -- for replies to individual postings.
New Reply -- for contributions to entire ongoing discussions (not merely replies to any one specific posting).

For example, if the overall topic of an ongoing discussion tickles my fancy, and prompts me to add my two cents' worth to that discussion, then New Reply is appropriate, because I'm addressing the whole topic itself, not any one particular posting, or any one particular person. By eliminating the New Reply button, all postings would be forced to be replies to specific postings; general subject-related contributions would be impossible. At least that's how it seems to me.

It would probably be overkill to rename "Quote" to "Reply to this one posting", and renaming "New Reply" to "Contribute something new to this whole discussion" ... but that IS what these buttons were intended for by the software designers, and that seems like a Good Thing to me.

Is the problem that some New Replies are unclear due to lack of context? If so, that's not New Reply's fault, but rather how it's used by thoughtless writers.

Disclaimer: Just thinking out loud. I'll be happy with whatever is decided. I have no dog in this fight.