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Original poster

Users quoting one another

57 replies

SabrePrattler · 29/05/2022 02:42

I'm finding it difficult to follow threads where people quote one another constantly. So, two posters start bickering and quoting one another and then messages contain 5/10/20 embedded messages. Makes threads unreadable.

OP posts:
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JaneJeffer · 27/06/2022 14:20

@HebeMumsnet I meant the quoting because it's not visible on the app so app users can only see one quote which I prefer but probably doesn't make sense to other users who probably think we can see a multitude of quotes.

The only difference I can see from the update is that the search facility no longer works and neither do the pointy brackets. Sometimes the whole thing freezes and I have to get out and in again. Scrolling can suddenly shoot you back up the thread.

I don't see any improvement which isn't a criticism just an observation!

Luidaeg · 27/06/2022 14:01

it would be good to be able to selectively quote (like pp said)

MNHQ
HebeMumsnet · 27/06/2022 12:45

Hi @JaneJeffer . Not sure if you're talking about the update in general or this quote feature. Re the quoting, this is something Mumsnetters had been asking for for some time. We can see that not everyone is a fan but hopefully this is a compromise that works for everyone. With regards to the update as a whole, it really was necessary as the site had been becoming very creaky indeed. Obviously there have been a few teething issues, but we're working through them in order of urgency and making improvements wherever we can see the space to do that - we really think you'll start to see improvements soon. It should be short-term pain for very long term gain in terms of usability.

JaneJeffer · 27/06/2022 12:19

HebeMumsnet · 27/06/2022 10:59

Morning, everyone! Some good news - we've designed a fix for this now that we think is a good compromise and hopefully will keep everyone happy - we're just waiting for a developer to be available to build it. We've got a few slightly more urgent technical issues to get sorted first, but this is very much on The List and should be done soon.

What we're going to do is make it so that the most recent quoted post appears in the preview, but then you'll be able to click to expand and collapse the whole 'chain' of quoted posts. So those who want to read the whole thing can do so and those who don't will just see the last quoted post in the chain along with the post in reply. That should mean less scrolling for the majority but the option to read the whole chain remains.

Why not just go back to how it was? The update has not improved anything.

JaneInTheJungle · 27/06/2022 12:11

I'd make it so you can't quote the original post.

I think this is a really good idea.

Luidaeg · 27/06/2022 11:48

SabrePrattler · 29/05/2022 03:24

That’s a pity for you. I actively like it. Much more user friendly.

Good for you.

The quoting function is fine in itself. But as per my initial message I find it dull when a spat ensues, quoting ensues, and then with each new message between them the entire conversation is repeated. Until the page is just a wall of repeated posts.

That's a user issue, not a system issue

kittensinthekitchen · 27/06/2022 11:46

That sounds great Hebe, thanks for that 👍

MNHQ
HebeMumsnet · 27/06/2022 10:59

Morning, everyone! Some good news - we've designed a fix for this now that we think is a good compromise and hopefully will keep everyone happy - we're just waiting for a developer to be available to build it. We've got a few slightly more urgent technical issues to get sorted first, but this is very much on The List and should be done soon.

What we're going to do is make it so that the most recent quoted post appears in the preview, but then you'll be able to click to expand and collapse the whole 'chain' of quoted posts. So those who want to read the whole thing can do so and those who don't will just see the last quoted post in the chain along with the post in reply. That should mean less scrolling for the majority but the option to read the whole chain remains.

MurderAtTheBeautyPageant · 26/06/2022 18:39

I'd make it so you can't quote the original post.

Agree.

Often there's a long opening post with several paragraphs and people will continue to quote it 100/200 posts into the thread. It adds nothing.

PutTheFruitInMyBellender · 26/06/2022 17:59

the lack of embedded quoting was one of the good points about mumsnet

Agreed!

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 25/06/2022 18:14

I agree
the lack of embedded quoting was one of the good points about mumsnet. Quoting one post was fine but the endless quotes is a PITA.

SpinningTheSeedsOfLove · 25/06/2022 18:13

tribpot · 25/06/2022 17:59

I'd make it so you can't quote the original post. There can be absolutely no need for anyone to quote it, except basically in a long thread to show that they've only read that post and none of the replies (including any further replies from the OP). In other words - no need at all, just RTFT (or at least RTOP'sFP)

Yes, that makes sense where some OPs are massive essays.

I'd restrict the amount of nesting allowed too. I'm so sick of scrolling past reams of redundant text. My poor little arthritic hands cannae take it.

tribpot · 25/06/2022 17:59

I'd make it so you can't quote the original post. There can be absolutely no need for anyone to quote it, except basically in a long thread to show that they've only read that post and none of the replies (including any further replies from the OP). In other words - no need at all, just RTFT (or at least RTOP'sFP)

SpinningTheSeedsOfLove · 25/06/2022 10:38

LilyMumsnet · 24/06/2022 22:05

Hi all

Just to say - we have seen this and appreciate the feedback. We'll have a chat about it.

Please, please do, @LilyMumsnet. Could MNHQ find a way to set a limit to the number of times something can be re-quoted (nested)? Personally I would set it at a limit of three or four.

We have threads running where, as a pp says, huge long tracts of re-quoted posts are

simply
one
word
per
line

They are a nightmare to follow (i.e. who said what to who), and to scroll through. No-one wants to re-read all of it time after time after time, or to have to scroll past for what seems like ages, repeatedly on a thread, just to see the addition of the actual new reply which can be just a few words. Usually not very polite ones.

PurpleButterflyWings · 24/06/2022 23:41

Glad MN are looking into it, but will anything change? As I (and many others have said,) seeing 15 different posts, from 10-15 different posters, all nested and running down the page is as irritating as fuck. I lose track of who has said what, and frankly I don't care.

I will skim by any post that has more than 3 or 4 other posts quoted in it .. They are tedious, difficult to read, and just stupid. Makes some threads impossible to read/navigate. I HATE this 'nesting!' As I said earlier, I have bailed on loads of threads this past few weeks because of this irritating-as-fuck feature.

SavoyCabbage · 24/06/2022 22:45

I can't stand it either. Especially since the re-platforming where it seems to be harder to see where the quotes end.

It takes away the conversational tone of the threads.

It drives me mad when three hundred messages in, posters are still quoting the whole OP and then saying something completely banal.

GoldPig · 24/06/2022 22:33

It should truncate the quote ‘thread’ to the most recent comment, with the option to expand (in case anyone is interested to read the full context)

PartyGoose · 24/06/2022 22:32

Yes please. The quote function needs to be limited to the post that's being quoted, not allow for this impenetrable wall of text that ends up only one word per line by the time 15 posts have been quoted!!

PutTheFruitInMyBellender · 24/06/2022 22:30

@LilyMumsnet I hope your chat involves including an option for people to switch off that particular non-feature (as getting rid of it altogether would be too much to hope for). If anything would convince me to dump MN after 17 years, it would be this. It honestly does make threads unreadable.

PutTheFruitInMyBellender · 24/06/2022 22:29

@SabrePrattler I agree with you. I give up reading threads where I can't follow who has said what, or when. I detest this new feature.

RevoltingHumanHead · 24/06/2022 22:27

I feel like they could fine tune it. People being able to copy and paste 10 previous responses with the click of a button seems so clunky.

Sparklingbrook · 24/06/2022 22:14

Isn't this what people were asking for though? To make the site exactly the same as every other site?
I don't know why it's necessary.

MNHQ
LilyMumsnet · 24/06/2022 22:05

Hi all

Just to say - we have seen this and appreciate the feedback. We'll have a chat about it.

KangarooKenny · 24/06/2022 21:57

FlowerArranger · 29/05/2022 04:25

And like this?

Show quote history

I quote so people know what I’m talking about. Just @ a person means you have to go back and find them to see what they said previously.

RevoltingHumanHead · 24/06/2022 21:51

This gets more annoying every day. Posts containing umpteen quotes clogging up threads. People quoting massively long opening posts to add 'I disagree'.

Argh!

HAAAAAAATE this feature. So poorly thought out.