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to find the Mumsnet quote function incredibly tedious as it's so overused?

114 replies

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 09:13

And I'm not even talking about quoting the opening post (which has now been sorted in a way).

But ... just so much quoting going on in the discussion! Why can't people address their comments directly to whoever they're quoting. Or manually quote the particular sentence or point they want to agree or disagree with? Or say something like "PP said [short quote or summary] and I think ...".

The threads are so long now and involve so much scrolling.

I was just looking at a thread and quite early on someone made a controversial post of 4 paragraphs long. Within the next page and a half it had been quoted 22 times! 22 times in an hour and a half. It was quoted 7 times in the first 10 minutes.

So boring.

And you can't quote this to be funny in reply because it's the OP. Lol!

OP posts:
User253853 · 11/02/2026 13:39

Another hard disagree. How on earth would you be able to read a thread if you didn't;t know what each poster was referring to in their comment. It would take ten times as long and nobody would bother.

Sorry OP but this is one of the worst ideas ever.

busyd4y · 11/02/2026 13:35

I'm quite surprised to hear that anyone prefers scrolling backwards and forwards to find out which post is being referred to when a PP is @-ed. Who has time for that, especially when the @-ed poster has posted multiple times

ImFineItsAllFine · 11/02/2026 13:18

I'm another one that really hates scrolling back up to try and find the post that was @ tagged. As soon as the thread hits multiple pages, really you need the quotes.

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 12:51

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 12:42

now THAT is annoying.

everyone should have read the OP & knows where to find it if they need to re read it, posts are default replying to the OP unless you state otherwise, so why are you quoting the OP??

So that I can see which bits I want to reply to easily while typing to remember,,,,, because the conversation may have gone awry and off tangent so it wouldnt make sense to then have a random post in the middle of an argument about shoe sizes or something when the OP was about gardening

DownhillTeaTray · 11/02/2026 12:48

The obvious solution would be to do the same to PP's quotes as to the OP quote. Summarise/cover them, unless clicked on to expand the quote.

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 12:45

StrawberrySquash · 11/02/2026 12:29

I want to see the specific point they are referring to. But I wish you could easily edit the quote down. I often don't quote because it's too long and I just want to address one point.

It doesn't matter though, it doesn't 'waste' the internet.

you can always copy & bold part of it into your post if you want to highlight the specific bit you are replying to. Other people may want to get the full context of the other persons post

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 12:42

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 12:36

I also re quote the OP as well, I dont find that annoying when people do it.

now THAT is annoying.

everyone should have read the OP & knows where to find it if they need to re read it, posts are default replying to the OP unless you state otherwise, so why are you quoting the OP??

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 12:39

Madarch · 11/02/2026 12:35

Sorry, what are you agreeing to?!

(Herein lies the problem!)

Exactly!!

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 12:36

I also re quote the OP as well, I dont find that annoying when people do it.

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 12:35

Its impossible to follow the conversation unless someone uses the quote

The posts are not numbered in any way and you cant even pick a page to go back to to check something out or remind yourself what you even said.

I hate it when people put a bit of text and use the @ sign, I have no idea what they're talkinga bout most of the time

Madarch · 11/02/2026 12:35

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 09:29

@KimberleyClark I agree!

Sorry, what are you agreeing to?!

(Herein lies the problem!)

Locutus2000 · 11/02/2026 12:33

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 09:13

And I'm not even talking about quoting the opening post (which has now been sorted in a way).

But ... just so much quoting going on in the discussion! Why can't people address their comments directly to whoever they're quoting. Or manually quote the particular sentence or point they want to agree or disagree with? Or say something like "PP said [short quote or summary] and I think ...".

The threads are so long now and involve so much scrolling.

I was just looking at a thread and quite early on someone made a controversial post of 4 paragraphs long. Within the next page and a half it had been quoted 22 times! 22 times in an hour and a half. It was quoted 7 times in the first 10 minutes.

So boring.

And you can't quote this to be funny in reply because it's the OP. Lol!

I don't find it annoying OP.

Locutus2000 · 11/02/2026 12:32

ThatBlackCat · 11/02/2026 10:10

Reddit is terrible formatting with it's arrows and sections all split up going in different directions. I prefer the linear format of mumsnet.

If you are accessing Reddit on a laptop I strongly suggest installing the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) as it allows you to customise your experience far more.

Honestly the last redesign is awful and everyone I know on Reddit uses the 'old reddit' interface which RES allows as a default.

StrawberrySquash · 11/02/2026 12:29

I want to see the specific point they are referring to. But I wish you could easily edit the quote down. I often don't quote because it's too long and I just want to address one point.

ProfessionalPirate · 11/02/2026 12:28

5foot5 · 11/02/2026 12:24

Absolutely.

In fact I find it really annoying when someone just tags a PP to reply to as I would potentially have to scroll back a long way to find out what they are replying to

Yes, even when someone tags me, often enough time has passed that I can’t remember what I’ve said myself!

Interesting that some posters say the quotes aren’t expandable for them. Mine are. I don’t use the app - perhaps that’s got something to do with it?

TakeTheCuntingQuichePatricia · 11/02/2026 12:27

HisNotHes · 11/02/2026 09:27

Yabu. Apart from quoting the op, I like to see the quote so I know what a person is responding to, I don’t have time to scroll back and look for it.

Same

5foot5 · 11/02/2026 12:24

ProfessionalPirate · 11/02/2026 11:31

I disagree it helps me to keep track of the conversation. The quote itself has a different background so it’s easy to just skip over if you don’t want to read it. Plus long quotes get hidden behind the ‘show more’ button so it’s not like you’re having to scroll past massive bodies of text.

Absolutely.

In fact I find it really annoying when someone just tags a PP to reply to as I would potentially have to scroll back a long way to find out what they are replying to

Cosyblankets · 11/02/2026 12:22

I prefer the quote so i don't have to scroll back to find what they're responding to

peachgreen · 11/02/2026 12:19

Expandable quotes would solve this issue.

forcedtonamechange · 11/02/2026 12:16

ThatBlackCat · 11/02/2026 12:06

Lol, guilty as charged. 😳 Myself and many, many other posters. But here's a laugh emoji to make it a little bit less laughless. 😂

😂😂🥰🥰 I don’t hold it against you - I get that the emoji was misused on serious threads

ThatBlackCat · 11/02/2026 12:06

forcedtonamechange · 11/02/2026 12:05

So the current laughless mumsnet is down to you?!

Lol, guilty as charged. 😳 Myself and many, many other posters. But here's a laugh emoji to make it a little bit less laughless. 😂

forcedtonamechange · 11/02/2026 12:05

ThatBlackCat · 11/02/2026 12:02

NO WAY to the laugh reaction, it was only ever abused and is not needed. So many of us campaigned to get it banned for that reason. There is no reason why a like can't suffice. In fact, I would be happy if all the 'reactions' were removed, each and every single one. It's really not needed.

So the current laughless mumsnet is down to you?!

Say Word Wow GIF by Justin
ThatBlackCat · 11/02/2026 12:02

forcedtonamechange · 11/02/2026 11:10

I prefer to quote

theres a simple fix though which is to make the quoted part super short, like they do with the op

also, by bringing back the laugh emoji!!

NO WAY to the laugh reaction, it was only ever abused and is not needed. So many of us campaigned to get it banned for that reason. There is no reason why a like can't suffice. In fact, I would be happy if all the 'reactions' were removed, each and every single one. It's really not needed.

cinquanta · 11/02/2026 12:00

Why can't people address their comments directly to whoever they're quoting?

Because it isn’t as easy as just tapping the quote button. Perhaps it should be.

WelcometomyUnderworld · 11/02/2026 11:58

I HATE when people @ a previous poster and don’t quote because it takes me forever to go back and find the post they’re referring to, which is sometimes pages back.

I think quote is actually an underused function (other than when the OP is quoted)

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