Multi-quote Warnings

[JeffyTheQuik]

I'd like some advice. When I go through a forum that has a lot of posts in it, I tend to see ones that I want to reply to here's what I do:
1. I see a post that I want to reply to, and I do.
2. I see another post that I want to reply to, and I do that too.

The problem is that I get a moderator message that I should be using multi-quote, but the issue is that disrupts my flow (reply to each one...) I am not trying to up my post count, and sometimes there is just a time when an individual post works, or I may be away for a few minutes, and keeping the 3-5 posts in the queue is a bit much for my multitasking brain.

Is the proper solution to:
1. Read the entire queue of posts (sometimes exceeding 300) and add them to the multi-quote, then respond to each individually in one long post (I'm thinking wall of text here)
2. Reply to them all, then harvest the posts up into one multi-quote post. I have done this, and it makes posting on here more work than I want.
3. Post, go do something else, then come back and post to the next one that I want to read, so it doesn't look like I'm just doing what I did before?

In truth, this is making responding to Macrumors forums a bit like walking on eggshells.

 

[redheeler]

The old forum software combined posts made within 5 minutes of each other. Unfortunately this functionality was lost in the new one.

I will tend to combine posts manually now, using the edit function. The only downside to this approach is the quoted poster added in an edit won't get a quote notification, but most of the time it makes no difference.

 

[arn]

Sorry about that. Ya the multi merge is a better solution. I'll see about getting that back in place

 

[Meister]

I second that.

The new multiquote is hideous.

 

[S.B.G]

I agree that having the auto-merge feature is a good thing. However, using the multi-quote feature is rather easy.

As you're reading a thread and see a post you wish to respond to, instead of pressing Reply, press the Toggle Multi-Quote button to the left of Reply. That will add it to your queue and then you keep reading the thread, scrolling down and selecting all the posts you want to reply to.

Once you reach the end of the thread, you should have several posts queued up to reply to.

Then when you're at the reply box, under it on the left is a big blue Insert Quotes button. Press that and then press Quote These Messages and it inserts all the posts you've collected into the reply box for you.

 

[maflynn]

I agree that having the auto-merge feature is a good thing. However, using the multi-quote feature is rather easy.

Agreed, there is a work around, however the old auto merge, merged multiple posts that were within a certain time span of each other. Currently if someone creates a post and 5 minutes later wants to respond to someone else, it creates a new post. There's no seamless way (short of cutting/pasting and editing the old post) to merge two posts.

I think the post, and creating a new post is what is the most problematic, not multiquote.

 

[Weaselboy]

Sorry about that. Ya the multi merge is a better solution. I'll see about getting that back in place

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/combining-posts.1934863/#post-22196992

There is a Xenforo plugin that looks just like the old behavior. I linked to it in my earlier post ^^.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I agree that having the auto-merge feature is a good thing. However, using the multi-quote feature is rather easy.

As you're reading a thread and see a post you wish to respond to, instead of pressing Reply, press the Toggle Multi-Quote button to the left of Reply. That will add it to your queue and then you keep reading the thread, scrolling down and selecting all the posts you want to reply to.

Once you reach the end of the thread, you should have several posts queued up to reply to.

Then when you're at the reply box, under it on the left is a big blue Insert Quotes button. Press that and then press Quote These Messages and it inserts all the posts you've collected into the reply box for you.

This is the thing that I described earlier as "being out of my normal workflow". I guess it's like being in a conversation, and here's how it goes:
Forum: Predictions for 2018
Joe: I like the new iPad Pro (I want to reply to that)
50 messages in between
Frieda: I want a new Macbook
80 messages
Betty: That new iPhone is great! (I want to reply to that one too)
22 messages
Rowyn: I wish the Apple Stores were open 24/7 (I want to reply to that one as well)

So, what you want me to do is this:
I read Joe's message, add it to multi-quote, then the 50 in between them to Frieda's, keep reading another 80 messages to Betty's, add that one to multi-quote, the remaining 22 to Rowyn's and add that one to multi-quote, then send the message, and do not post again when others appear, or wait a while, so I don't get the multi-quote warning?

Rather than, Read Joe's message, reply to it. When I get to Betty's message, reply to that one, and when I get to Rowyn's message and reply to that one?

I'm not sure if "easy" is the way I'd describe this way of working. I've been on USENET since the 80's and this is quite a workflow change.

 

[S.B.G]

So, what you want me to do is this:

Yeah, that's what I do. It doesn't take long to read/skim over that many posts in a thread, IMO.

 

[maflynn]

So, what you want me to do is this:
I read Joe's message, add it to multi-quote, then the 50 in between them to Frieda's, keep reading another 80 messages to Betty's, add that one to multi-quote, the remaining 22 to Rowyn's and add that one to multi-quote, then send the message, and do not post again when others appear, or wait a while, so I don't get the multi-quote warning?

That's the basic issue I have. You cannot read through a long thread, respond to one member, keep going through the thread and then respond to another. I don't think the multiquote really works in that scenario, at last for me, because I may have a specific thought to convey. Its not that great to insert a quote, offer my thoughts (not hit post), go back to reading the thread, quote a portion of a text, insert that, add my thoughts, etc etc.

But with that said, The rules are what they are, and we have little choice since we cannot create consecutive posts.

 

[S.B.G]

That's the basic issue I have. You cannot read through a long thread, respond to one member, keep going through the thread and then respond to another. I don't think the multiquote really works in that scenario, at last for me, because I may have a specific thought to convey. Its not that great to insert a quote, offer my thoughts (not hit post), go back to reading the thread, quote a portion of a text, insert that, add my thoughts, etc etc.

But with that said, The rules are what they are, and we have little choice since we cannot create consecutive posts.

I wonder if you're not understanding the feature properly, or if I'm misunderstanding you guys.

As you read a thread, all you do is click the Multi-Quote button on all the posts you wish to reply to. You collect them all that way and when you finish reading the thread, press the Insert Quotes button to add all of them, at once, into the new reply and then you can add your thoughts after each quote and then only make one post.

 

[maflynn]

As you read a thread, all you do is click the Multi-Quote button on all the posts you wish to reply to

I understand your point, my contention is two fold. First as I go through a long thread, I don't think its feasible to hit the multiquote and keep moving on. I see a post that I want to respond too, I want to make sure I enter my response, otherwise the message I want to convey or how I want to convey it may be forgotten. I'd much rather quote a post, and type what I was thinking when its fresh in my mind.

The second scenario is when I'm not expecting to respond to multiple posts, say I'm responding to another member who quoted me and I respond back. I then see another post after I posted my initial response.

Basically my contention is multiquote does not work the way I interact with the forum. I don't think quoting multiple posts as I go through a thread is the best way for me to interact. I'd much rather provide what I'm thinking about when its still fresh.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I wonder if you're not understanding the feature properly, or if I'm misunderstanding you guys.

As you read a thread, all you do is click the Multi-Quote button on all the posts you wish to reply to. You collect them all that way and when you finish reading the thread, press the Insert Quotes button to add all of them, at once, into the new reply and then you can add your thoughts after each quote and then only make one post.

I think the misunderstand is coming from the way that we're reading MacRumors. I don't stay long, and it's a matter of using a mode of these types of forums since USENET, back in the 80's. I read a post, and if it interests me, I reply. What I understand the change is now I have to stop replying, and collect all the posts that I want to reply to in a single post, using Multi-quote, and then put each of them in a single wall of text.

The way it used to be, I'd just reply, and if I were in a single forum subject, it'd collect them for me. Now, I need to be more conscious of where I am and post accordingly. I don't come to MacRumors to make my life harder. I engage in the forums to have my voice heard on Mac Topics, and easy is a better way for me.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I understand your point, my contention is two fold. First as I go through a long thread, I don't think its feasible to hit the multiquote and keep moving on. I see a post that I want to respond too, I want to make sure I enter my response, otherwise the message I want to convey or how I want to convey it may be forgotten. I'd much rather quote a post, and type what I was thinking when its fresh in my mind.

The second scenario is when I'm not expecting to respond to multiple posts, say I'm responding to another member who quoted me and I respond back. I then see another post after I posted my initial response.

Basically my contention is multiquote does not work the way I interact with the forum. I don't think quoting multiple posts as I go through a thread is the best way for me to interact. I'd much rather provide what I'm thinking about when its still fresh.

This is exactly how I post to MR. Plus, Multi-Quote doesn't allow me to add this to my last post, which was being composed while I this one was being posted, hence the sequential post.

 

[maflynn]

This is exactly how I post to MR. Plus, Multi-Quote doesn't allow me to add this to my last post, which was being composed while I this one was being posted, hence the sequential post.

No, I also tried that as well, it doesn't work in editing a post.

 

[Weaselboy]

Just a suggestion. How about hitting the pause button on enforcing this rule until the forum software is updated? Or at least overlooking multis that are just a couple in a row for now. It does not seem like it would cause too much of an issue.

I have accidentally done a few of these myself since the forum migration.

 

[aristobrat]

But with that said, The rules are what they are, and we have little choice since we cannot create consecutive posts.

Sorry about that. Ya the multi merge is a better solution. I'll see about getting that back in place

Thanks, not having multi-merge (and the enforcement of the consecutive posts) sometimes limits my post-upgrade participation.

I don't have a problem using multi-quote to build my reply as I go through a thread. I also don't have a problem spending the time to edit the quotes I'm replying to narrow them down to just the part I'm replying to, or reading my reply after it posts and fixing any quote block issues.

What gets me is that when additional posts get added to the thread during the time it takes me to reply.

I click the "Post Reply" button, my reply posts up, and then the forum shows me what came in while I was reply.

If I want to quickly reply to those, in order to not break the consecutive post rule, I have to use multi-quote to build a new reply, cut those quote blocks out, and then go back and edit my previous post, pasting them in there. Then I wonder if people who who are keeping up on this thread (and have read my original reply) will notice that I edit my reply to include more posts.

Or... I can not do that, and hope that in the time it takes me to type my new reply, someone adds a new message between my last reply and the one I'm typing.

There are times when having to do/worry about that becomes tedious, and I'd just rather not make the effort (after having just spent the time posting a decently formatted multi-quote).

I've deleted replies where it turns out nobody posted between my previous one and my new one because I didn't have time to edit them into one post and I didn't want to break the consecutive posts rule.

I miss multi-merge!

 

[S.B.G]

I also don't have a problem spending the time to edit the quotes I'm replying to narrow them down to the just the part I'm replying to.

One tip about that... if you just select the text you wish to respond to, without the whole post, and add it to the multi-quote, just highlight the desired text and press +Quote in the tool tip that appears. That will add only that highlighted text to your queue, so that you don't need to edit out the other stuff.
-----------------------

 

[arn]

Testing double post merging...
[doublepost=1451951265,1451951252][/doublepost]I think it's working...

 

[Weaselboy]

No, I also tried that as well, it doesn't work in editing a post.

Test reply.
[doublepost=1451953867,1451953831][/doublepost]

Testing double post merging...
[doublepost=1451951265,1451951252][/doublepost]I think it's working...

Test reply two.

I think it's working...

Yep! Thanks for the quick fix arn.

How many minutes is it set for?

 

[arn]

Test reply.
[doublepost=1451953867,1451953831][/doublepost]
Test reply two.



Yep! Thanks for the quick fix arn.

How many minutes is it set for?

I believe the default is 24 hours.

arn

 

[maflynn]

This is a great addition to the forum software, thanks for adding it in. It helps stream line the moderator's work, but keeps the forum clutter down to a minimum

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I believe the default is 24 hours.

arn

This is a great addition to the forum software, thanks for adding it in. It helps stream line the moderator's work, but keeps the forum clutter down to a minimum

Thank you both for your help and work on this! Also, thank you to SandboxGeneral, Weaselboy and all the others that made this work!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Testing double post merging...
[doublepost=1451951265,1451951252][/doublepost]I think it's working...

Test reply.
[doublepost=1451953867,1451953831][/doublepost]
Test reply two.



Yep! Thanks for the quick fix arn.

How many minutes is it set for?

I believe the default is 24 hours.

arn

I had spotted - and followed this conversation earlier, and so was aware that changes of some sort were afoot.

And, this evening, having seen the new posts-merged in action, I came here hoping to find an answer to the question as to for just exactly how long it was set to work for. And I have found the answer is here - '24 hours'.

My recollection is that the 'old' forum setting for merged posts was five minutes: Is there any reason why this time frame - of 24 hours - was used?

 

[arn]

My recollection is that the 'old' forum setting for merged posts was five minutes: Is there any reason why this time frame - of 24 hours - was used?

Because that was the default setting. I'm open to other times if anyone feels strongly.