Threading problem in the new Yahoo interface

[Neri]

> SSSusan:
> Neri, this has driven a lot of us nuts since Yahoo!Groups first 
introduced 
> it's "New and **coughNOTcough** Improved" version of Y!Gs a few 
months ago. 
> I *loved* the old "Up Thread" and "Down Thread" buttons, and I have 
found 
> the new system very confusing and inconsistent.  I also find the 
> indentations they use to show the entire thread less than helpful --
 I don't 
> think the offsets are quite deep enough and find it hard to 
actually tell 
> what's indented.
> 
> When I say consistency, I mean this:
> 
> If you look in this message
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159904
> and click on "Show Message Option," you will see "Up Thread" 
there... and 
> clicking on it DOES, in fact, take you to
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159900
> and clicking on "Up Thread" in that message does, in fact, take you 
to
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159895
> and etc.
> 

Neri:
Thank you, SSSusan, thank you! My lost Up thread button, found again! 
I had the feeling I was missing something obvious.

> SSSusan:
> This is wonderful -- it's what I remember from before -- but 
that "Up 
> Thread" option under "Show Message Option" is NOT always present.
> 

Neri:
Drat


> SSSusan:
> For instance, in this post of Eddie's,
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159906
> even though it's a continuation of a thread ["Sevens"], it has a 
new subject 
> line, and there is no "Up Thread" option available.
>

Neri:
I was going to suggest that we're generally supposed to use the 
new "thread tree" below to get to the up thread post, but in threads 
of more than 30 posts, where the threading function breaks down, 
we're supposed to use the up thread button. This indeed works with 
the threads I used in my previous examples – if there are less than 
30 then the thread tree looks fine and there's no up thread button. 
If there are more than 30 the thread tree is broken and there *is* an 
up thread button. Only your example above refutes this, because there 
are less than 30 posts and still the thread tree looks broken and no 
up thread button. This is worse than figuring out how to open the 
door in JKR's site

 
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that changing the name of the thread has 
nothing to do with it. Yahoomort don't care if we change the name. 
>From their PoV it's still the same thread.


> SSSusan:
> Similarly, this post from Jordan, which *kept* the name of that 
thread 
> ["Sevens"]
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159894
> also does not have the "Up Thread" option.   Perhaps it's because 
Jordan 
> sent the post via email and not webview?  I don't know.  That's the 
part 
> I've not investigated.  So, while I say the "Up Thread" option is 
there 
> inconsistently, it may actually be that there's a very real, 
consistent 
> pattern to when it's available, but I've not figured it out.
> 

Neri:
Well, I guess we can simply ask the PTB. Although this would be like 
going to the Leaky website to find out how to open the door instead 
of figuring it out yourself



> SSSusan:
> Then again, this post of Jordan's in a different thread
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159822
> *does* show the "Up Thread" option.  So what does that mean??
> 

Neri:
It means that this thread has more than 30 posts. So the obviously 
broken thread tree below shows you *exactly* 30 posts out of them, 
and Yahoo added the up thread button because they know their 
threading function breaks down after 30 posts.


> SSSusan:
> And my last post was posted from webview as a reply
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/159790
> and yet it does not show the "Up Thread" option.
> Sigh....  WHO KNOWS?!!?!?
> 

Neri:
Yup. Because there are less than 30 posts. So you can use the thread 
tree to get to the up thread post.

So this *almost* always works: less than 30 posts - use the thread 
tree. More than 30 posts – use the up thread button.

I have a related question for you, SSSusan. Your post (the one I'm 
answering right now) answered my post
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Feedback/message/793
and yet in the thread tree below, it appears as an answer to my first 
post, the one that started this thread:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-Feedback/message/788
This is another common problem I've noticed: a post appears as a 
reply to the first post of the thread although it is an answer to a 
more up thread post. I suspect it's another Yahoomort quirk. Do you 
remember what did you do when you answered my post?


> SSSusan: 
> I guess if I have to say something nice <g>, I *do* like the 
feature where 
> you can expand the messages and actually read the content of each 
post in 
> the thread if you like -- that saves a lot of clicking, at least.
> 

Neri:
Yes, I like it too. And their new Search is waaaay better (not that 
it was difficult to do better than the previous Search
)


> SSSusan: 
> Yes, I do think we are the largest Y!G.  And, yes, we do have a 
contact or 
> two that a couple of members of our list admin team can use (and 
have used) 
> to express concerns & make requests.  And while those folks have 
been great 
> about listening and being in touch with us, it's not like we have 
any 
> "power" to wield with them.  I know we did gripe very loudly about 
a couple 
> of the features, and they put them back aright pretty quickly, but 
it may 
> have been that folks from many Y!Gs were similarly concerned and 
let them 
> know it.
> <snip>

Neri:
OK, this sounds like the classic situation of griping to the system 
technicians. They might actually be very nice, but they are always 
busy with More Important Things, so it's usually best to give them a 
very exact description of the problem, and then ask for a small fix 
that wouldn't take them a lot of work to make. Perhaps we should ask 
them if it's possible to make the up thread button always available. 
Since they apparently can make it available in the big threads, I 
presume it shouldn't be a problem in small threads as well. Other 
suggestions? 
  
Neri