How to Order Comments

A couple of days ago someone mentioned that the comments would be easier to read if they were in chronological order, so that you wouldn't need to go to the bottom of the page to view the start of a discussion. I hadn't thought much about it before, but this seemed logical to me, so I reconfigured the comments to appear in chronological order.

But now Razela has noted that the old way, when they were in reverse chronological order, it was easier to see the newest comments. Which is also true.

Each way of doing it has pluses and minuses. Unfortunately it has to be either/or. The software doesn't allow individual users to set their own preferences. So, because I can't see which way is obviously better, I've decided to let everyone vote, and then whichever way the vote turns out (after a few days), that's the way the comments are going to be configured. Permanently.

Miscellaneous

Posted on Wed Nov 17, 2004


Comments

Woot!! I get mentioned by Alex! Can I put this in my resume?
Posted by Razela  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  12:39 AM
Be my guest. But I've got to warn you. I've got 'creator of the Museum of Hoaxes' on my own resume, and the most common reaction it elicits is a blank stare.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  09:24 AM
Just put last page first!

.left to right from words write to start lets idea great have I alsO
Posted by Loxx..  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  10:06 AM
I've been places where I can rank items ascending, descending...and it defaults to one or the other, depending on the page. So essentially, each person can change it, IF they want.
Posted by Maegan  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  11:50 AM
I think it's easier to star reading from the top and go scrolling all the way to the bottom, instead of scroll all to the end and be reading and scrolling up.... isnt't it awkward to read a comment (top to bottom) and then jump up....

Xeerz
Posted by BSantos  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  12:35 PM
you gotta vote for Reverse chronological order! It saves so much more time by not having to click the buttons at the bottom.
Posted by John  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  03:49 PM
I heard that reverse chronological order is a draft dodger. Also, it hates freedom.
Posted by Chronological Orders for truth  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  03:52 PM
I think your poll script is broken. It let me vote 5-6 times.
Posted by AAB  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  04:02 PM
oh what next! maybe the acutal postings should go in Chronological Order so that when you first go to http://www.museumofhoaxes.com the very first entry alex ever posted will ALWAYS be the first! (it was about pt barnum). That way you have to press the buttons to get to the most recent one. Reverse chronological order just makes sense. VOTE REVCHRON
Posted by John  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  04:02 PM
The poll script isn't broken. I hadn't bothered to set it to restrict the # of times people can vote because I didn't think anyone would be motivated enough to cheat on something like this. Guess I was wrong. It's changed now, but can I trust the outcome of the poll? I may have to make an executive decision.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  04:50 PM
I don't think it would be very user friendly to have the oldest comment first. What happens when it gets to be numerous pages? Say it gets up to 10 pages - I would have to keep clicking next page until I got to page 10. How annoying would that be? Its easier to have the newest post first that way you can just scroll down to the last one you read and then read up. Unless I've been on vacation or something, 99% of the time I don't have to click on another page to read the most recent comments which I think is convenient. And user friendly. User friendly is the way to go.

That's my opinion 😊
Posted by Saribellum  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  06:30 PM
I'm calling election tampering!!! I think we are going to need a recount. (ok, it's my fault, I voted twice and then felt guilty about it)

Actually, one thing that might help it is to double the amount of comments on each page. 20 comments per page would really help alot of the longer comments pages, regardless of which direction the posts are actually listed in.
Posted by Razela  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  07:40 PM
There are already 20 comments allowed per page, but I'm leaning towards upping that to 40 and having the comments in chronological order. For the occasional post that attracts more than 40 comments, people will have to live with having to click the 'last page' link to see the most recent comments.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  09:03 PM
I trust you, Alex, and the poll now shows overwhelmingly that most readers prefer the CHRON idea, as opposed to the REVERSECHRON mode, which was my preference. The latest tips were helpful, e.g.- clicking the "last page" - Thanks, Paul. Also, 40 comments per page would be cool, as long as the print font doesn't change.
Posted by stork  on  Thu Nov 18, 2004  at  10:45 PM
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