I would like a reply to the "Reply" issue

[DappledThings]

Just thought I'd start another thread to get more attention on this again as there has been no answer as to whether it is even being looked at.

A few comments on MNHQ's recent thread about the new feature pointing out nobody asked for that but a lot of us have asked you to fix this.

To summarise: The button marked Reply does not do what it says. It adds a post, it does not do a reply. MN has no reply feature but, bizarrely, chooses to have a button that pretends it does. This leads to threads full of "replies" that have no context and are impossible to follow. Plus posts saying "sorry, not sure why my reply didn't work, I clicked reply"

Yes. Your UX team should tell you the Reply button is misleading.

Just a small Monday morning bump to see if we actually get any update on this as promised. The sceptic in me thinks it's unlikely sadly but I'd love to be proven wrong even if it's just an unequivocal nah we can't be arsed to change it, at least it would be a definitive answer.

I thought it was me messing this up every time!

I know now I need to use quote instead of reply!

Another voice to say "reply" should default to quote reply, for sure. It's such a mess right now.

I don’t know how it works on the app but on the web version using a mobile, there’s a bar of buttons alongside ‘active’, ‘watching’, etc that is ‘add post’ — does exactly the same thing as ‘reply’. As in it posts within the thread. So there’s no reason at all that ‘reply’ functionality couldn’t be replaced with ‘quote’ from within the individual post options (that include the more useful ‘report’ and ‘bookmark’).

Agree that ‘save’ is totally pointless. Feel that ‘thanks’ is also a bit of a half step towards ‘like’. I’ve thrown a few thanks out there but feels like it goes into the ether.

Reply has always been 'add a post at the end of this thread' and the quote function has only been implemented relatively recently.

In general though, I think the whole bottom menu needs an overhaul. I can't imagine many people save a post. The thanks button sucks. All the useful stuff is in the drop down menu that you have to click on before you an access it.

That's true, but since quote became a thing people started assuming that the reply button would quote the post they were replying to, quite reasonably.

‘The whole bottom menu’

This is what’s confusing because there’s a bottom menu per post and a bottom menu per thread. On mobile web version at least. So the only buttons per post menu should pertain to the individual post not the whole thread.* *

I agree, if they're not going to change anything then just come out and say it.

I can see:
Add message, thanks, save, share, report and bookmark on the bottom of each post
Active, my feed, i'm on, i started, I'm watching, saved, last hour and advanced search on the bottom of the thread
Quote, PM, see all, top and bottom on the drop down on each post.

Where the chuff is a 'reply' button?

This is what your post looks like to me. Reply, right in the middle.

It depends on how you view MN. I use the website on my phone and reply replaces what you see as add message.

See attached image for clarity.

Also I'd like to say I'm surprised there's been no update yet but alas I was always dubious we'd get one.

Bonkers, no wonder they can never improve anything if there are so many different versions they have to maintain.

I don't think they seem that fussed to be fair whether things work properly or not. This issue for example was raised what feels like an eternity ago and we still no have no clarity on whether they intend to leave it as it is or change it.

I've lost count of the number of threads where I've asked the OP to quote the post they're replying to.

There are countless threads where the OP feels they're replying, but what happens is a long series of posts which make no sense whatsoever.

It's maddening.

@LilyMumsnet @hebemumsnet Can we please have an update on this?

Certainly moving the quote button back would be helpful. Not sure what the point of thanks is. Unless it’s a stealth approach towards ‘likes’

Seems that's a no again.

It's getting a bit bloody daft now to be honest.

Maybe today will be the day?

Surely there must an update by now.

Maybe it's going to be a Christmas present.

I would at least like an acknowledgement. Just a "yes, we can see this is a problem".

I would at least like an acknowledgement. Just a "yes, we can see this is a problem"

I think we all suspect nothing will change, but it would nice for MNHQ to confirm they're going to keep the reply button regardless of the confusion it causes.

Oh it’s not just me. I bloody hate that button.

Morning, everyone.

Thank you for the feedback on this. Just wanted to reassure you we are still reading these threads and have understood why there's confusion about the reply button.

We are looking at solutions to this but it's not a completeley straightforward change because there are various user opinions on how it should work so we want to look carefully at it before deciding exactly how it should look. We're going to run some tests to figure out what the best option is for the largest majority of users, and as soon as there's some concrete news we will let you know.

Thanks for your patience on this.

it's not a completeley straightforward change because there are various user opinions on how it should work so we want to look carefully at it before deciding exactly how it should look. We're going to run some tests to figure out what the best option is for the largest majority of users

@HebeMumsnet I appreciate the update but am confused by this response. I actually think users have been very clear on a solution. Which is to replace the reply button with the quote feature.

Could you contact some of us on here as part of that testing?