If you are looking at a long thread with 'pages' mode enabled, you get info like
This is page 1 of 4 (This thread has 157 messages.)
at the bottom, just above the input box for new comments.
However, if you are in 'all messages' mode, there's nothing near that box which tells you how many messages exist on a thread.
Each page ends with
Add a message < quite a big amount of space > Show all messages or
Add a message < quite a big amount of space > Show pages
Could you not put the number of messages in the thread in that space, ie
Add a message (This thread has xxx messages.) Show pages | all messages
I always sometimes leave all messages displayed, and later on, refresh the thread. If the message count jumped from 120 to 150 I'd know there had been quite a few new messages and go back further to spot where I was 'up to'. The number of messages is handy whichever method one is using to display the thread, and since there is a 'standard' line displayed in both cases, could the count not be displayed there for those of us who use the 'all messages' method of display, please?