Pipe dream Discourse feature: Hide off topic stuff

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#1

We have a fantastic community culture. Often times when discussions veer off, they do so in constructive ways, just like irl conversations. But sometimes it is a problem because it blocks the OP from being resolved. An obvious example is Jeremys 5.4.0 thread (in spite of him foreseeing it and explicitly asking it not to be a general wishlist and starting the TWX thread in parallel.) Still, surely because of the open ended nature of that topic, is has tangents that go everywhere and the thread is difficult to follow.

I suspect the following request is a pipe dream but anyway:

It would be great if there was some kind of flagging mechanism that IF enough people (2~3?) flagged a post as off topic, then this post is “folded up”; the post is still there but it needs “clicking on” to expand. Thus entering a thread shows a focused on-topic discussion but it also allows for the tangents for anyone curious.

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#2

You have trust level 4, so you can mark off-topics and split them into new threads. It is not necessary that I am the one, which splits topics.

If threads go OT, it is best to start to split them, if there are about 15 posts or so. If the thread is longer, it becomes more and more complex to split, because the replies get more “intertwingeld”.

That’s what you describe.

#3

Yea, while splitting is sometimes appropriate, tangents are often times not really stuff for a separate thread. For one, it may simply be a comment that is not worthy being a separate thread (with respect to fellow board members time). And, as you note, the intertwingledness makes it tricky and opening a split-out thread can occasionally be a bit confusing because it can lack context.

I think a threashold where enough readers think a post disctracts is a better way to go - the “threshold” aspect mitigates the fuzziness for deciding what is off-topic. And outsourcing the problem to the readers, instead of having moderators do things, makes this cleaning-up semi-automatic.

#4

I personally think up-votes are nice, but “down votes” are rude in any way.

I think if a user takes the time to post to a thread, it is worth to be visible, except if they are against the forum rules. So I consider splitting topics in a visible way, is much less offensive as “hiding” a post.

I think if a post is hidden, it adds a burden to the reader. Think about a thread where 3 posts are visible and 5 are hidden, because some users “flag” them.

You may notice, that our “voting popup” only presents “positive” emojis by default. OK, there is the “angry emoji” :angry:, but that represents the “voters” mood, and does not value the post.

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:-1: is missing, because I did remove it. If someone thinks the post is BS, they should also take the time and present a “better solution” in a positive way. Clicking -1 is way to easy and abusive.

just my thoughts.
-m

2 Likes
#5

Yes, that’s certainly personal opinions :wink: Here are my reflections

I personally think up-votes are nice, but “down votes” are rude in any way.

“Folding” would not be “down votes”, it would be a clarification that the post doesn’t add to solving the OP. This is out of respect for the rest of the readers.

I think if a user takes the time to post to a thread, it is worth to be visible, except if they are against the forum rules. So I consider splitting topics in a visible way, is much less offensive as “hiding” a post.

Again, I think it makes more sense to cater to the majority and the individual asking the OP question. A threshold from the readers is likely a good indication of how the readers feel.

I think if a post is hidden, it adds a burden to the reader. Think about a thread where 3 posts are visible and 5 are hidden, because some users “flag” them.

Au contraire, the off-topic post are obviously the burden.

#6

hihi, We may agree to disagree here. – I am interested what others think :wink:

#7

Regardless, your view wins this because I assume this is a pipe dream to begin with :sweat_smile: