Replying to post or to topic?
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There are a few different modes for replying. It's important to know when to use which mode.
Right now you are reading the first post in this new topic. All other posts made in this topic are replies. Those replies can be made to the topic as a whole, or in direct response to a particular post.
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Now you are reading a reply which I made to the topic. I did not reply directly to the first post.
The easiest way to reply in this mode is by clicking the blue reply button in the upper right of the screen. It looks like this:
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@Zander This time I have chosen to use "direct reply" mode to respond to the first post.
This type of reply is distinguished by the presence of this icon
at the end of the author's title bar.
Another indicator of a direct reply is that it will begin with @user.I initiated this direct reply by clicking the word 'reply' located at the bottom right of the first post. Every post has a little menu at the bottom right that gives options to reply, quote, vote, and other stuff.
If you are responding directly to the last, most recent, post then it's not necessary to use the direct reply method because it's usually pretty obvious.
Direct post replies are especially important when you are responding to a post that is not the last, most recent post.It's awkward for my own post to start with an @Zander because, well, that's me. We use @user to indicate someone we are directly addressing, which should rarely if ever include ones own username. In the case where someone has multiple personalities, it would be best to create separate accounts for each personality to avoid confusion.
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
I'm a schizophrenic,
And so am I."-Bob
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@Zander said in Replying to post or to topic?:
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue.This is an example of a QUOTE reply. It is a type of direct reply that specifies the exact content in the particular post that I am responding to. I can do this at anytime by simply selecting text in a post and then hitting the QUOTE button.
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To sum it up:
Choose the best reply mode to give readers the right context.
Reply modes are all about CONTEXT. Context answers the question, "How does what I am saying fit into the conversation?"
If I use a quote or a direct reply when I am really just making a general statement, it's confusing to the readers.
If I use the general reply mode to answer a specific question asked 3 weeks ago ten posts up the ladder, many readers aren't going to know what I'm talking about.
I hope this is useful.
Thanks for reading.
Questions?
