# This is a question thread.



## Morrus (Oct 7, 2020)

Is it safe?


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## Morrus (Oct 7, 2020)

This is a reply.


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## Morrus (Oct 8, 2020)

So in a question thread you can upvote and downvote replies. Also the thread starter can select a reply as the correct answer.


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## darjr (Oct 8, 2020)

So it's for asking questions?


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## Morrus (Oct 8, 2020)

Yep! You select the thread type when you create the thread -- discussion, poll, or question.


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## CapnZapp (Oct 8, 2020)

darjr said:


> So it's for asking questions?



Compare to how Stack Exchange works.

For instance, see rpg.stackexchange.com


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## Ovinomancer (Oct 9, 2020)

Well, it isn't secret....


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## CapnZapp (Oct 9, 2020)

Can you as the admin make "Sort by votes" the default for question threads, Morrus?

(There's kind of zero difference otherwise... I imagine plenty of people not finding that little tab-like thing where you switch the sort order)


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## Protonicmass (Oct 10, 2020)

CapnZapp said:


> Can you as the admin make "Sort by votes" the default for question threads, Morrus?
> 
> (There's kind of zero difference otherwise... I imagine plenty of people not finding that little tab-like thing where you switch the sort order)



I just wanted something to be -1? Because I like a variety of numbers?


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## CleverNickName (Oct 10, 2020)

It would be interesting if the top-rated responses would float to the top of the thread.


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## TheSword (Oct 10, 2020)

How will moving order work with replies to other posts though. These forums don’t work on branching replies do they. They’re a stream so it could pull things out of order.

It will work well with straightforward concise responses... good luck with that.


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## trappedslider (Oct 10, 2020)

makes a thread look like reddit with the - and +


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## CapnZapp (Oct 10, 2020)

Protonicmass said:


> I just wanted something to be -1? Because I like a variety of numbers?



Sorry if that's a joke I don't get it.

_Edit:_ I have downvoted you, but only in an attempt to grant you your wish. There's nothing bad about your post (except me not getting the joke). No offense is intended.


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## CapnZapp (Oct 10, 2020)

TheSword said:


> How will moving order work with replies to other posts though. These forums don’t work on branching replies do they. They’re a stream so it could pull things out of order.
> 
> It will work well with straightforward concise responses... good luck with that.



Except this new type of forum/thread is not intended as a "stream".

They're intended to house a single question at the top, with various answers *all addressing* that top post. The order of replies answers don't matter. Look at Stack Exchange for an illustrative comparison.

Regular back and forth (as exemplified by this very post - that is, me replying to you) is discouraged there. First off, this post would have been deleted outright since it is not a answer to the thread question. Both your post and this reply should have been posted as comments to whatever answer that triggered them. These comments are regularly removed (archived) to not clutter the page (the thread).

Yes, this means that I consider this to be a first implementation only. To be truly useful, the reply links needs to be discouraged somehow, so the question thread doesn't devolve into a regular thread. Maybe Xenforo 2.3 will rename the button "Post Answer" instead of "Post Reply"...?

Much like the development of this very thread! (Except obviously nothing is wrong here - this is much more of a regular thread than an actual question thread.)


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## CapnZapp (Oct 10, 2020)

CleverNickName said:


> It would be interesting if the top-rated responses would float to the top of the thread.



Thank you for illustrating why I think it would be a good idea to make "Sort by Votes" the default view for this kind of thread!


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## Morrus (Oct 10, 2020)

CleverNickName said:


> It would be interesting if the top-rated responses would float to the top of the thread.



They do if you click "sort by votes" at the top right of the first reply. It would be cool if a later Xenforo upgrade made that default, but for now you have to manually select it.


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## Protonicmass (Oct 10, 2020)

CapnZapp said:


> Except this new type of forum/thread is not intended as a "stream".
> 
> They're intended to house a single question at the top, with various answers *all addressing* that top post. The order of replies answers don't matter. Look at Stack Exchange for an illustrative comparison.
> 
> ...



It's supposed to show the "best answer".
Or is it the best question?


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## CapnZapp (Oct 13, 2020)

Protonicmass said:


> It's supposed to show the "best answer".
> Or is it the best question?



Deep.


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## Lanefan (Oct 13, 2020)

CapnZapp said:


> Except this new type of forum/thread is not intended as a "stream".
> 
> They're intended to house a single question at the top, with various answers *all addressing* that top post. The order of replies answers don't matter. Look at Stack Exchange for an illustrative comparison.
> 
> ...



Problem there arises when what seems like a 'good' answer that gets decent support then generates its own subsequent debate or clarifications.  Or worse, if two conflicting answers each get lots of support from a divided group of readers.


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## CapnZapp (Oct 13, 2020)

Lanefan said:


> Problem there arises when what seems like a 'good' answer that gets decent support then generates its own subsequent debate or clarifications.  Or worse, if two conflicting answers each get lots of support from a divided group of readers.



Yes, they have the opposite problem to ours.

They have gotten the question forum down pat, complete with functional comments attached to the relevant answer.

But what they don't have, but we do, is a fully-featured discussion forum, for when, you know, you want to discuss, debate or clarify


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## Morrus (Oct 7, 2020)

Is it safe?


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## CapnZapp (Oct 29, 2020)

Just to note: nothing about this thread comes across as different when viewed using the EN World app.

Question threads are just another feature not supported by the app. That doesn't mean I think we should disable question threads...


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