Reply to in Notifications

Kulga

I'm frequently confused when I browse my notifications and look at the text below the reply to
I expect to be reading a partial of their response when in fact I'm reading my own response!

I think the text below the Reply too should include the responders text, not mine. This occurs with @mentions which makes sense, and doesn't for likes - which also makes sense.

Responders Text

Cheun

Eh yeah, but I like it the way it is because I tend to forget what I say...

Dominion

I've just recently noticed this as well. It would make more sense if it quoted the reply.

I've been assuming it's related to issue #304. Hopefully the fix for emails will fix this as well.

Toby

You see, if two or more people reply to your post, the notifications are all grouped together into one ("Dominion and 2 others replied to your post"). The subject of the notification – meaning the data that is loaded alongside it – is your original post, not the replies. And clicking on the notification will take you to your original post, so that you can navigate to the replies from there.

So that's the technical explanation for why we display the text of the original post rather than one of the replies. Basically, showing the text of the reply would mean splitting up multiple replies to the same post into multiple notifications ... is this something we want to do?

Dominion

Toby You see, if two or more people reply to your post, the notifications are all grouped together into one ("Dominion and 2 others replied to your post").

Aha! I had comlpletely forgotten that the notification might be about more than one reply.

Toby Basically, showing the text of the reply would mean splitting up multiple replies to the same post into multiple notifications ... is this something we want to do?

No, that would just add a lot of clutter. But it seems to me that since I'm being notified of replies, they should be the subject of the notification. That is, when I see the text of my own message quoted, the first thought that comes to me is not "This is a handy aid to navigation" but "This is reminding you what you said, just in case you forgot."

While I may need to be reminded what I said at this point, I'm more interested in hearing what the person who replied has to say in response! So sending me to my own post is just forcing me to click one more link before I can get where I really want to be.

Many forum scripts take the approach of notifying you of the first reply you receive, and then don't send any further notifications about that thread until you've visited it. (In some cases they even say, "You won't be notified of additional responses" in the email.) That seems like something that Flarum could adapt, with a bit of tweaking.

Regarding mail notification:

Flarum sends notification of the first reply received to a thread, quoting that reply.
It doesn't send any further email notifications until the user visits the thread.
This will cut down on the amount of mail Flarum has to send out. (Or are you doing this already?)

Regarding alerts:

Flarum indicates when a reply has been posted, quoting the reply as in the mail.
As further replies are received, the number of "x others" is incremented, but that's all.
The name of the user who posted the earliest reply is always cited.

In either the mail or the alert, clicking takes you to the earliest reply, allowing you to read the thread normally from there. If you want to get to the other replies quickly, you can get back to your own post from the first reply, then navigate to the others from there.

At any rate, that's what I'd find most convenient.

Dominion

Dominion Toby Basically, showing the text of the reply would mean splitting up multiple replies to the same post into multiple notifications ... is this something we want to do?

No, that would just add a lot of clutter.

On second thought (after a good night's sleep), since we get a separate alert for every like a post receives, why not do the same for replies (which are arguably of more interest to the user)?

How about this: (1) Split replies to the same post into separate alerts, and quote the replies. (2) At the same time, combine the alerts for likes on the same post with the "Toby and 2 others" method and display the username of the most recent like. Combining likes will cut down on clutter, making room for reply clutter. 😉

Regarding the emails, however, it may be enough to send email for the first reply only, then no further mails until the user visits the thread.

Dominion

Just a couple more thoughts:

I do understand that Flarum sends me to my own post because that gives me the chance to (1) see who all has replied and (2) decide which reply I want to read first. I suppose other people might take advantage of that, but I usually just read them in order.

Because, while subsequent repliers might be replying to me, more often than not they're also replying to other people and the thread as a whole, and their reply won't make much sense until I've caught up on what's happened in between. 🙂

Toby

Dominion combine the alerts for likes on the same post with the "Toby and 2 others" method and display the username of the most recent like

Actually, this is already the case. You might be thinking of like notifications for different posts in the same discussion.

Dominion Split replies to the same post into separate alerts, and quote the replies

I'll have a think about this – I'm not convinced it's the right way to go (imagine if a large number of people replied to your post?). There should be a way to combine the notifications but still show the text of the first reply and go to it when clicked, it'll just be a little tricky 😉

Dominion

Toby Actually, this is already the case. You might be thinking of like notifications for different posts in the same discussion.

I coulda sworn I saw more than one "like" notification for the same post ... but maybe it was a like and a reply.

Toby I'll have a think about this – I'm not convinced it's the right way to go (imagine if a large number of people replied to your post?).

Yes, the clutter I was worried about at first. I'm not convinced either. I only thought it might be justified because the "like" alerts weren't being combined. Which turns out not to be the case.

Toby There should be a way to combine the notifications but still show the text of the first reply and go to it when clicked, it'll just be a little tricky

I think that'd be best, if it's doable. 🙂