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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that MN's forum is massively crap for having bad quoting facilities?

106 replies

frgr · 27/02/2011 15:14

i get terribly lost in long threads because people all use their own way to quote other bits of people;s posts?

AIBU to sigh and wonder why MN doesn't add a better quoting thing, automatically, on posts?

MN should add a little button next to each post (next to the report link) saying "quote", and then it should take you to the normal Reply page automatically, with the poster's name in bold, and a little border around the bit you've quoted

it would make inter-post communication and logical following of threads much easier

i surely can't the only one to have suggested this? or is there some facility there which we've all not using?

so AIBU to think that MN's forum quoting (or lack of) is supremely crap?

OP posts:
Valpollicella · 27/02/2011 15:15

YABU

I don;t want to have to read everyone's posts again and again and again when they are quoted.

Original poster
frgr · 27/02/2011 15:16

fair point

maybe not the entire thing then. maybe just add a little quote mark so it indented a bit of text that you paste in then?

like the italics marker, or the bold thing - anything to make seperating out the bits of text easier for dim folk like m!e! :)

OP posts:
AmazingBouncingFerret · 27/02/2011 15:17

Yeah what Val said. It's one of the reasons I prefer mumsnet to other forums actually!

southeastastra · 27/02/2011 15:17

i blardy hate being quoted, pisses me right off

GetOrfMoiLand · 27/02/2011 15:17

No - I couldn't stand that. I prefer it how it is.

worraliberty · 27/02/2011 15:18

Well the fact threads fill up after 1000 or so posts is extremely crap so a quote button would just make it fill up faster.

worraliberty · 27/02/2011 15:18

i blardy hate being quoted, pisses me right off

Me too Wink Blush

Tortington · 27/02/2011 15:19

its generally seen as passive agressive and i dont usually do it - but did with some gusto on a thread this am becuase so many people had named me and then asked a question.

but in general i think it is seen as bad form

Original poster
frgr · 27/02/2011 15:22

custard, is it?!!

i orginally came here from the money saving expert forum (many years ago now, i'll admit) and i much prefer their forum layout (esp the ability to sort of "seperate" out the bit you're quoting, so you can tell that it's not the poster's own words/opinion , unlike here)

BUT i had no idea it was seen as bad form on MN! interesting - guess I've learnt something new then. i admit I quote quite a lot - maybe the solution is "stop quoting" rather than "ask MN for a proper quote indent marker" Grin

OP posts:
bibbitybobbityhat · 27/02/2011 15:22

Aaaaaarrrrrrgggggggg please no. This drives me mad on another forum I use.

Instead of saying "I agree with bibbity" they quote back your entire post and add something like "I agree with this" and it makes threads unbearably dreary and unreadable.

nannynick · 27/02/2011 15:25

Quoting is often not required. Sometimes I do it, as it can make it clearer to answer specific questions. However most things on here are discussions, not straight question answer type things.

PeterAndreForPM · 27/02/2011 15:29

no, no quoting facility please

I do often quote people (didn't realise twas "bad form") but only in fast moving threads or when someone has said something I vehemently agree or disagree with

and sometimes when the point I am trying to make would be too obscure without it being clear what I am referring to

however too much quoting of texts would make scrolling through threads impossibly tedious and crap

said · 27/02/2011 15:34

Oh no to those blocks of quotes all over the place. I get confused over who has said what.

I do sometimes quote people on here if picking them up on addressing a specific point they've made. Never knew that was Bad Form?

PeterAndreForPM · 27/02/2011 15:35

said, I think in certain situations, quoting people could be said to be a bit aggressive or rude

depends on the context, I think

I do it all the time though Blush

Tee2072 · 27/02/2011 15:36

I don't worry about it being bad form, any more than I worry about posting a thread about a thread or giving a needy hug but it is just as easy to put your own quotes!!

"I get terribly lost in long threads because people all use their own way to quote other bits of people's posts?"

See what I did there? Grin (I also fixed your typos. Because I am pedantic.)

squeakytoy · 27/02/2011 15:39

Even if a quote facility is not possible, simply numbering each post would be a great solution, especially as when posts are removed only the body of text goes, but the "post" is still there, so the numbers would not get out of sequence.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 27/02/2011 15:39

Sometimes you need to quote when someone addressed a point to you 100 posts back. Otherwise what you're writing makes no sense.

said · 27/02/2011 15:50

Yes, I can see how it can be aggressive quoting someone in every post you make. Seen as challenging rather than discussing.

Anyway, I still think mn's simplicity is its sophistication.

PeterAndreForPM · 27/02/2011 15:52

yup

thunderbird69 · 27/02/2011 16:00

I would like a quoting facility, but that may be because I am used to having it on other forums.
When I'm reading a long thread and someone on page 10 says 'I agree with dingbat...etc..' if i want to know what it is they are agreeing with I've got to go back to try and find dingbat's comment.
I think Money saving expert has the best forum layout I have seen, I especially like the way you can hover over a topic heading in the forum and read the first few lines without having to open it up.

Original poster
frgr · 27/02/2011 16:05

i like that too thunderbird!

i've narrowed my request down then - a numbering system would be almost as good.

i've had to refer to people's time stamps before, which is a faff e.g. "said said at Sun 27-Feb-11 15:50:35" - argh!

maybe i just got too used to old forums when i had a bit of a break from MN, and then i come back on here all stroppy because it's not like the others (who'd have guessed that one! Grin) BUT i quite like the comment that MN's strength is its simplicity. i think there's something in that, when i consider it a bit more - easier for newer folk to integrate, etc, which can't be said of much more complicated websites.!

OP posts:
Maryz · 27/02/2011 16:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

privategodfrey · 27/02/2011 16:24

If I'm quoting something I tend to put it in bold to make it stand out as not being part of my actual post.

Quote buttons are the Devils Work especially when someone quotes a huge post and then just adds 'LOL'. Then some other twat does the same and just adds 'PMSL'.

Death to the quote button.

HecateQueenOfWitches · 27/02/2011 16:26

I think you can reply to someone without quoting them. You can start your post with their name, for example.

And your reply will make it clear what you are talking about.

I too have seen other forums with the quote facility and you get people quoting another post just to smile or lol or whatever. Hmm

and you get the quote within a quote within a quote within a quote.

I think that actually makes threads harder to follow, not easier.

If you are in the pub with a group of mates, all chatting away, you don't start every sentence by repeating what someone said, and everyone communicates just fine.

PaperView · 27/02/2011 16:27

Noooo to quotes! I don't want to read that poster x quoted posterb and that whole post was quoted by poster z which was posted by poster a just to say "I agree"

Also, it would make deleting posts tricky.