Arrow Box for Jumping Reply

Meta
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When I first saw this box in the bottom right I thought great I can just click the up or arrow and it will jump to next or previous reply… and handy as reply focus is automatically in the middle of the screen too… but instead when I click it a pop-up box appears with more options… ok not bad or end of the world BUT to do a change reply requires further in-direct input.

So what I’m asking is a simple way to click an arrow directly to change reply number - something obvious like an up and down or left right style arrow button?
Existing pop-up box options for reply number are ‘ok’ but perhaps adding arrows to the current ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ formation makes more sense if not adding more dedicated previous and next buttons without needing to enter any pop-up box.

Overall: Click action is now less direct than I see it could be and and takes focus away from reading a little more than perhaps I would like and different to what we’ve come to expect arrows buttons doing more directly! :slight_smile:

###Picture example of changes / possibilities / my recommendations

###A longer run-through of to show actual scenario for changing reply

Extra mouse clicks and typing needed…

  1. Initially click arrows bring up a command box… ok not so bad even if not direct… but even from here I have no choice of arrows to click up or down (next / previous reply) so far…

  2. This command box shows only showing more arrows which only go to the extreme top post or bottom post… (ok I don’t want that in this case, I want to skip to next… nope no arrows for that… a big miss in function I feel. Maybe the initial picture above of arrows make it look like up/down is possible and I feel let down ( :wink: )

2b. So continuing my quest for simply the next post I have to now manually type in the next number! Yes, look down at you keyboard, figure out the next post number after 7 and then type 8 to jump to reply BUT… you first have to delete the existing number 7 by pressing delete (or pressing it twice if you have double digits in the reply box >10) or double-click highlight this number otherwise you will end up asking for 87 in this case)

###Final Word
I understand that this box might not be for using as a scroll method of looking at replies… but I it could be and would be great! I think the use of ‘next’ button and ability to kind of scroll would add more functional and speed, especially in lots of short replies. Click next… Read… Click next… Read… Click next… Read.

##Additional but minor comments (unfinished / can ignore)
###my experience using reply numbers and using arrow benefits versus searching words to find replies

  • Using reply number(s) rather than CTRL-F word searching people’s reply
    It’s also handy to be able to go to different reply numbers quickly or click to be able to go up and down the page quickly - often I use a keyword or term amongst many replies to find that reply again which can be confusing as there are 2 searches (Discourse search and then the browser search say / Firefox search box) - to browse in Firefox/maybe others now needs 2 x presses of CTRL-F to search only current page and well don’t know about others but often I’ve got confused / sidetracked typing in the Discourse search before pressing CTRL-F again a few times getting to the browser search to get to my reply. Instead I could maybe remember the reply number(s) or simply click next or previous until I find my reply or remind myself quickly in this way.
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I really like that suggestion. It’s clever. You should become a user experience designer or something! :smiley: I encourage you to copy this suggestion to the ux category of the Discourse Meta forum. You seem to have spent quite some effort into making this a clearly understandable point, so I don’t want your effort to go to waste.

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#Those linked from Discourse page need not read further, suggestion is above
I appreciate the compliment and have taken your suggestion… I’ll also suggest being able to ‘pointing’ it to them in future rather than sign up :slightly_smiling: as I feel all this signing up is a bit much for people like me (who perhaps feel they have to point everything constructively out or can help a bit too much - even if they don’t mind most rejected / too many time and money time constraints.
Luckily I trust the Discourse design and remember the quick sign up here, so overall it’s been made that much easier to even temporarily signing up - which is not bad thing thing for me… because that’s what I would do or prefer - just sending as quick as possible a hint my suggestion is here - maybe point to the page or post number and they could contact me through this Discourse Forum… I think a lot of people would work this way if possible less attached and signed up everywhere… (‘log in’) on a system. This is also for you to consider too as I think I too will have my time here and un-sub to get away from myself and getting carried away and stick to doing things in a similar but other more capped or focussed way. My compass for this as a good idea is vibrating so it will come in handy at some time and I just thought maybe the openwiki stuff is something I should look into as it’s maybe similar (no idea).,

Experience designer ah, sound good to me! :slight_smile: If only people didn’t have to put everything into the structure of payment schemes / job systems / more systems / tax / money for everything etc. I will be one that went around throwing the roses of life everywhere - That’s the nice way of seeing it, the other way would be like Bruce Willis because that’s the way it needs to be for him (that’s the destructively seen way perhaps). So for this suggestion, I think when we a few of us can design life without these overwhelming blocks / pressures, without me needing to risk the Bruce Willis ‘long shot’ then stepping on other people’s toes and blowing up things wouldn’t be needed for some simple changes and opinions about life and we could simply do this things differently. The only explosions could be the explosion of creation and perfect balances.

###Forum’s Future
I’m also writing this knowingly a bit longer because it will be useful to you and your forum soon enough… and what you said was sufficient enough to trigger it… but not only because of that… it’s to say things before I too am gone!.. I do think it’s likely it at some point in some way so better early of not without any panic… the equivalent to doing things earlier is usually ‘later’ and by that time people and things are forgotten / moved on / ceasing to exist)… you ever some back and someone / the new owner says ‘tell me who are you are again and what you were talking about?’

###Different topic about ‘Waste’ definition:
I would also phrase my effort as having the ‘opportunity to be appreciated further’ or similar with more positive / ‘adding to something’ words of something being enjoyed (since you clearly enjoyed it) and consider avoiding the word ‘waste’ because it’s perhaps looking at something as a loss point of view - a sense of loosing something that doesn’t exist yet (so perhaps more correctly further usage of my work ‘would be a bonus’ of some kind and not so much a loss or waste because that matter (as in energy or mass) don’t exist yet)… also ‘waste’ might have a handful of common relative meanings and applications to what I know you said… but it’s slightly more subtractive from what exists (in the way just mentioned) and is can often leave too much a door open to be easily misconstrued / interpreted incorrectly, for example if our subject was a more conflictive one I might think my work was fine as it is and take waste the wrong way like you’re metric of what’s worth something versus mine…
also (again) the subjective meanings or nouny/verby styles on this page show how there might be 10’s of meanings (30 something see on this page) that could be opportunity for distraction / negative opinions and application to less than talking in the positive / adding way. Overall this all adds up and saying I could add to something else or enhance it might be good for staying on course in conversation and more ‘technically’ and positively more correct in your style of suggesting it would be better sending it there for them, rather than something lost. It would be funny after all this if they said ‘what a waste of time’ programming that would be :slightly_smiling: