RTFT!!!!

[Mookie81]

I've recent noticed an upsurge in the number of people commenting on threads with remarks or questions that have been answered by the OP further up.
So frustrating!
Why the hell can't people at least read the OP's comments even if they don't want to read the whole thing?
I'm aware it's not a new thing but I'm noticing it more and more lately. AIBU to yell at people to RTFT?!

Not everyone has the time to sit and read a long thread

True, and makes perfect sense if you're just dipping in to read it; but if you also decide to contribute, what is your reason for adding your own post, if you don't expect others to read it? And if the thread is already too long to read, why are you making it even longer?

Ah is seems as though @Andylion got there before me .... oh and btw, it wasn't relevant at all to the thread so I'll pop off now

Is there a way to just read the posters comments if a thread is massive and you on a phone so difficult to scroll through ?

So let's get this straight: before I pipe up I'm supposed to read the whole fucking thread,looking up every bastard acronym along the way, and trying to decipher if DD2 means dear daughter who's 2 or dear dog number 2 or DGF means darling girlfriend or darling sodding grandfather just incase it irritates the original poster to read the same kind of reply more than once. This thread is quite hostile to newbies/people who don't spend their whole lives on here. And seeing as the op ignores most of the replies anyway s/he should consider themselves lucky they get as many as they do

Yes, that would be lovely, thanks

No, of course not. I'm very new here and am still coming to terms with the acronyms, abbreviations etc
But a quick scan of the thread (particularly noting the OP and any updates from the OP) shouldn't take too long.
Otherwise you end up reading masses of posters going, "Ahah! Have you considered XYZ", when xyz has been dealt with, shredded laughed at and dismissed many pages back.
I don't know if pages is the correct word. That's how new I am.

I don't think Mumsnet should only be used by people who have an hour to read through a thread with 900 comments on it.

Neither do I, but if you choose to add the 901st comment yourself, what do you hope to achieve, if you don't expect anybody to read it?

Or if you do expect those with more time or investment in the subject to read it all, is it fair to make their task unnecessarily longer still by adding what you must surely expect has already been said a hundred times?

I haven’t rtft
Don’t think I need to though

But yes at least read all the OP’s posts before giving your opinion.

@NutElla5x

Also, apologies.
I quoted your post, - then, when I went back to "preview" - I made corrections before I realised I was correcting you, not me.
If I've not put anything back to how you wanted it to read, please accept my apologies.

Does anybody remember the recurring Fast Show sketch where Arabella Weir's character - the only female present - would quickly offer a simple effective solution to the problem at hand, which would be completely ignored by all the men, who would continue to murmur between themselves until either one of them or another passing man would say exactly what Arabella said ages ago - and then get all the credit and plaudits when it was done and proved successful?

That's very often how it comes across when somebody ignores all of the existing posts and swings straight in to reiterate the same obvious thing as everybody has already said, as if it's some kind of amazing revelation that nobody else could possibly have thought of - particularly when they assume and miss the point or the thread has moved on significantly from the original OP.

Maybe we could call it 'threadsplaining'.

threadsplaining I love it!

threadsplaining I love it! grin

Yes that ^^

I'd also like to know how to quote posts properly. Have only just leaned that sticking @ in front of a poster's name makes it bold....
It's a learning curve. Mine is steeper than most, I fear.
But I still rtft to best of my ability.

LaMarschallin - sticking an @ in front of a poster's name doesn't only make it bold, it sends them a notification that they've been mentioned in a post on a thread.

If you just want to bold their name, stick * * either side of their name with no gaps.

Oh!
Thank you, (no idea how to do this politely, @ThumbWitches)

Sorry.
Meant ThumbWitches

This could be helped by bringing in posters who refresh a thread at the point where they last refreshed it.
I'm getting bored with emails telling me that someone has posted on a particular thread them just sending me back to the beginning of the thread and leaving me to wade through.

Sticking @ in front of a poster's name makes it bold??!!! There I've been, sticking *s all over the place! Every day's a school day.

I usually just read the green bits. I agree it is frustrating when posters give their opinion when the solution is there a few pages back.

I’ve always wished there was a way to see OP posts ONLY (not just highlight them). Especially on CF threads which are gripping but go on for weeks and spread 3 or 4 threads with people marking their places and asking the same questions over and over. I just want to read the OPs updates as if it was a blog. My thumb can’t handle the never ending scroll!

It would be great if you could actually filter the OPs comments so they are all in the same place, rather than trawl through eleventy billion pages looking for the green highlights.

Haven’t RTFT BTW, but didn’t want to read and run

Seeing the OP’s posts only would be soooooo boring though.

Well I actually have RTFT so please may I add that it is extraordinarily frustrating when you are scrolling through just to see the OP's updates and find out that they bloody namechanged part way through the thread.

I don't want to read and run" seriously annoys me. There are, at the very least, hundreds of people reading the post, no-one will know or care whether a particular individual has read and run.
But this is because they are moved by what has been said, and feel an urge to reply isn’t it? Its a way of saying “ I feel solidarity with you” Not to show other unknown readers that they are interested.

@NannyOgg now that someone on this thread has explained how to highlight the OP's post I will do that.

I'll post on whatever I like, thank you Sauvignon. Wondering who made you the thread police?

Its a way of saying “ I feel solidarity with you”

Then just say so, it's much more helpful than the "don't want to read and run" mantra.

I'll post on whatever I like, thank you Sauvignon. Wondering who made you the thread police?

No one as far as I know and I’m certainly not self-appointed. I don’t think IABU to make a general comment about posting etiquette on a thread about posting etiquette.

Have you RTFT?