New Dynamic Updating Discussions

Slashdot users of the Discussion2 system now have a new 'Update' button visible on their floating control slider, as well at the end of the discussion. This button will update your page to include comments posted since the page was loaded, so now you can keep discussion pages up to date without doing a full reload. It's nowhere near complete yet, but it's a nice step that goes a long ways towards making it easier to use larger discussions while they are actively updating. If you aren't using Discussion2, you need to log in, and toggle the checkbox visible on every page. You probably need bother only if you are using Firefox 1.5 or 2.x or Safari. You can send bug reports to me if you want.

Comments

Is my connection slow?

[orclevegam]

Has anyone else noticed pages with comments loading slower than normal? Front page, and my user page seem to load normal, but anytime I click the read more link it seems to take a long time to load. Same for if I try posting or replying to a comment. Side effect of the new comment system?

Re:Is my connection slow?

[wanderingknight]

Yes, I'm getting the same. It started today, though, and I've been using the new system for months now.

Re:Expand by Default

[AKAImBatman]

See the box on the left that says "34 Comments" or somesuch? It's probably split between gray and white areas. Just drag the middle bar all the way to the bottom until the entire box is white. That should expand all the comments.

That being said, I'm still using the "Nested a +0" thankyouverymuch. :-)

Re:Expand by Default

[pavon]

Yes, you can change the thresholds for comment expansion.

To modify this threshold dynamically for just the story you are reading, just drag the little dividers on that floating widget

To modify the default thresholds used when you load a new story go to Preferences -> Comments:

Threshold - all comments with scores at or below this are hidden by default.
Highlight - all comments with scores at or above this are expanded by default.
Any comments between these two settings are shown as collapsed by default.

I've been using the new comment system for months and I think it is absolutely wonderfull - far better than any other forum system I have ever used.

Re:Error 500

[jeffasselin]

Well, if you set a correct threshold in your preferences, replies above your threshold should show up opened. There's also a reply button in the infobox on the left for posting a new thread.