Threaded Comments (I couldn't post in the previous thread)
Brian Meidell
wouldn't let me post in the old thread.
---
I see that a lot of people weigh in against threaded commenting in
habari, and I think this is a pity.
I am the developer of Brians Threaded Comments, which is the most
widely used threaded comments plugin for WP as far as I know. This is
in spite of the fact that WPs limited plugin capabilities made it
necessary for me to override the entire comments.php file, thus making
my plugin a pain in the ass to use with a multitude of over nice
plugins.
This is an intrinsically problematic thing to do, and even if the
mechanism of /user/classes is a more elegant mechanism, it still
leaves the basic problem that if someone wants to use threaded
comments and another feature that requires an override, they need to
start hacking stuff for themselves.
Threaded comments is a thing that is problematic to implement under
most plugin APIs, I think, and so I'd like to suggest that habari
tries to make this a user-enable-able feature from birth. Default off
for sure, but as simple as a checkbox to enable, and with no conflicts
with other plugins or overrides.
If you aren't opposed to this idea, I'd like to ruminate on how it
would be possible and clean to implement.
If you are opposed to the idea, I hope you'll allow me to make
suggestions as to how the plugin api could possibly accommodate
threaded comments without the need for overrides.
If this suggestion is met with willingness, I'll be happy to work an
updated and better version of Brians Threaded Comments into habari.
So what do you think?
/Brian
k0ma wrote:
> One thing about most blogging systems that strikes me as being odd is
> the absence of threaded commenting. The flat commenting style of most
> blogging systems gets to be a mess when you start getting a lot of
> comments on a post, and it makes it hard to hold conversations.
> LiveJournal has had threaded commenting for years, and I'm surprised no
> one's noticed how useful it is.
>
> Are there any plans for threaded commenting in Habari?
Scott Merrill
> I see that a lot of people weigh in against threaded commenting in
> habari, and I think this is a pity.
The fact that the individuals participating here are speaking out
against threaded comments is in no way an indictment of the idea of
threaded comments. Clearly it's a popular addition that many people
like.
> I am the developer of Brians Threaded Comments, which is the most
> widely used threaded comments plugin for WP as far as I know. This is
> in spite of the fact that WPs limited plugin capabilities made it
> necessary for me to override the entire comments.php file, thus making
> my plugin a pain in the ass to use with a multitude of over nice
> plugins.
> This is an intrinsically problematic thing to do, and even if the
> mechanism of /user/classes is a more elegant mechanism, it still
> leaves the basic problem that if someone wants to use threaded
> comments and another feature that requires an override, they need to
> start hacking stuff for themselves.
I don't know much about threaded comments in general, nor how you
implemented it for WordPress. But I think we're all willing to help
you in whatever you need to convert your plugin for Habari -- it would
be a useful addition to the collection of available plugins!
First, take a look at the Habari Comment class (which extends the
QueryRecord object). You'll see the basic data structure, and the
main methods. Additionally, take note of the CommentInfo object which
can be created for each Comment object. I suspect you'll make good
use of CommentInfo records in the implementation of threaded comments.
The actual threaded display may not be as easily presented. Let us
know what deficiencies you may identify in Habari code so that we can
(hopefully) work to remove them.
Chris J. Davis
goals with Habari:
To make the core of the system as light, fast and flexible as
possible. This is one of the reasons things like pingbacks and
openID are plugins as opposed to being included in core. So although
I don't think that there will be a lot of support for adding threaded
comments to core, it could definitely be a core plugin... at least in
my mind. Any suggestions on how to improve the comment API to make
this and other exciting extensions possible would be most welcome.
Chris
Vkaryl
known as sharks*
I myself LOVE threaded commenting on both blogs and fora. I know I'm
not alone out there! Brian, I've used your wp plugin on various blogs,
my own and clients', over the years, and gosh I about dropped my teeth
to see you migrating to Habari!
Once you have a plugin option sorted out, and assuming I'm anywhere
close to having got my Habari blogs back up to speed, I'd be very happy
to help you beta.
V
Vkaryl
as opposed to coded into core....
That method is SO much better than the core editing one sometimes had to
do with wp just to make simple things work. Bless you guys for coming up
with it!
V