Using the "quote" feature rather than "reply"

[Bob M]

Since many members may use the "See 50 most recent posts" feature of Proboards or the "Unread Posts" feature of the Proboards i-Phone/i-Pad/Android app, I would suggest that forum members use the "quote" function when replying to a specific post. In this way, the original post and the reply show up together and this makes it easier to understand which post is being replied to and its context without having to reload the entire original thread. Just a suggestion

[John]

Dec 12, 2011 16:28:09 GMT Bob M said:

Since many members may use the "See 50 most recent posts" feature of Proboards or the "Unread Posts" feature of the Proboards i-Phone/i-Pad/Android app, I would suggest that forum members use the "quote" function when replying to a specific post. In this way, the original post and the reply show up together and this makes it easier to understand which post is being replied to and its context without having to reload the entire original thread. Just a suggestion

The quote feature certainly has value when used carefully, but I wouldn't like to see it become routinely used for all replies.
We don't need to see the entire thread history repeated in every post and quotes within quotes can become confusing as to who said what and when.

If you use "quote" when replying to a long post, please consider editing out the parts which are not directly relevant to your reply.

From habits developed through using other pro-boards forums, I very rarely use the "50 most recent posts" option. I generally use the "new topics" button from the top menu. This lists all threads with recent additions, flagging anything that I have not yet read and enabling me to open the threads to view the posts in context. It also allows users to ignore topics that don't interest them (not that I will ever ignore anything on this forum).

[Bob M]

Good point John. I just reconfigured the "unread posts" feature on my i-Pad so that when the list comes up, I can tap on any unread post and it will take me directly to the latest post in the thread. So no need to use the quote feature unless, as you mention, it helps in identifying which portion of a long post you are replying to. I think you will be using that feature often with my posts . I sometimes have a tendency to write novellas . Must be my engineering background

[John]

Dec 13, 2011 14:53:58 GMT Bob M said:

I sometimes have a tendency to write novellas . Must be my engineering background

I don't think that explains it, Bob. As an engineer myself, I find it extremely rare amongst my colleagues to see such competence in the English language (particularly in its written form). Sometimes I wonder how I came to be in this profession .

Of course, I have to make allowances for your education on the wrong side of the Atlantic . Two nations separated by a common language etc. I'd better stop digging now before I get myself into more trouble .

[Nigel]

Dec 13, 2011 14:53:58 GMT Bob M said:

I sometimes have a tendency to write novellas . Must be my engineering background

Good for you Bob. I'm a scientist by nature and in my (teaching) profession, but I've always loved words and I've written three children's novels. They were only ever printed and bound by me, so I'm an 'indie' but have been read by many friends and their children. I haven't had the courage to approach a publisher lol.
Regarding the use of 'quote' I do always do as John suggested and edit out unnecessary parts of the quoted text. As long as you leave the part between the square brackets as a header and finish with the slash-quote at the end it'll look and read fine.

[ssilvers]

Can you make it so that when you quote, it does not repost photos? All the best!

[John]

Jan 9, 2012 23:24:14 GMT ssilvers said:

Can you make it so that when you quote, it does not repost photos? All the best!

You just have to delete the web address from the text between the

tags in your post.