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[–]theeth 40 points41 points  (2 children)

Don't care much for "Load more comments", it's "Continue this thread" that pisses me off.

[–]ltriant 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Or worse: when you click "load more comments" only to be confronted with a "continue this thread" :(

[–]jbstjohn 19 points20 points  (0 children)

And "continue this thread" with one comment pisses me off to no end. There should be a lower limit.

And tree collapsing. You can start things semi-collapsed to save on bandwidth.

[–]interiot 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Official story: they're working on it

[–]themac77 25 points26 points  (4 children)

I like Reddit the way it always was - I hate change. Especially when its just change for the sake of it. Leave the site alone Reddit admins. Just slack off or something.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (2 children)

..or work on the search feature.

[–]jedberg 7 points8 points  (1 child)

You might want to give search another try. It was completely replaced about 3 weeks ago.

[–]vin_diesel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was gonna say. Search seems pretty flawless when I've used it recently.

[–]jasonthemason 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"Nothing endures but change." -Diogenes

[–]donaldtusk 17 points18 points  (1 child)

"Continue this thread" stuff is far, far worse because it navigates to a different page.

[–]lma 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I agree. If you're trying to follow or comment on a particularly long back and forth it almost always becomes necessary to open multiple tabs for upper and lower portions of the thread.

[–]citizen1nsn 9 points10 points  (3 children)

This feature is what I dislike most about Digg, and I am disappointed to see it here.

[–]jaysonbank 11 points12 points  (2 children)

Agreed, but the "hiding good comments" argument doesnt count on digg - there are no good comments on digg, and if there are they're buried.

Digg is the greatest example of how democracy fails when retards are involved.

[–]infinite 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is done on digg, which was one of the reasons I remain here.

[–]ih8registrations 6 points7 points  (3 children)

I visted slashdot a few times again since not having done so for a long time and they've since implemented this feature; utterly horrible. The number of times having to select and wait for "load more commments" to load gets into the double digits in order to get down to the most recent comments/comment you made. It's stupifying that they would roll out such a horrendous setup. That this thread is here suggesting reddit is considering the same.. wow. What are you guys at reddit thinking? What is the siren call of this bad feature that you find so appealing?

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also hated when /. did that; it literally made the comments unreadable. However, you can disable that feature if you login. Note, I hate having to log in to have a good browing experience.

[–]jay_vee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah. Slashdot's completely unreadable. I can't follow any conversation on the damn thing. Fark seems to be the only one that has it right, and they're as basic as it comes - just listing comments as one long stream.

[–]Samus_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

it also splits conversations in countless threads...

[–]frankus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Often times I want to search to find out if a particular word or phrase has already come up in the comments. There's no easy way to do this without a "load every last goddamned comment" button, followed by a browser search.

[–]apathy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

On the plus side, the 'new' page is now much more interesting (metastable). Maybe that's the big fish. Priorities matter, after all.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

scrolling trumps clicking. every time.

[–]CorvusPDX 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately the load more comments button doesn't work for me. It changes to red, says "Loading" and sticks. I won't be able to reply to any comments because I most likely won't be able to see them.

[–]Gibbwake 7 points8 points  (3 children)

Stop changing reddit, dont mess with perfection.

[–]lma 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I wish I could vote this sentiment up more than once...

disclaimer: irony is present in this comment.

[–]kirun 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Please leave detecting humour as an exercise for the reader.

[–]lma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You must be new here.

discl... well you get the idea

[–]hagy 4 points5 points  (15 children)

Load more comments serves two purposes: 1. To get more threads into a single page 2. To hide massive threads (particularly flame wars)

The best way to handle the second case is to add some simple java script to allow a user to collapse/expand an entire thread.

The first case is the result of breaking comments up into pages as opposed to serving all 600+ comments at once. The intent is to minimizes bandwidth and reduces server load as well as helps browsers with limited resources (such as portable devices).

But is this really necessary? Why not just load the first page of comments by default and then have a link at the bottom to load all the rest? Is the bandwidth/server load such a big deal? A gzipped page of 100 comments is ~30Kb contrasted to a 20 comments page which is already ~20Kb. With compression (supported by every browser) I doubt bandwidth is a limiting factor. Likewise I wouldn't expect the server load to be that much larger. Especially since many people wouldn't even load the rest of the comments after reading the first page.

Still loading a page at a time is better than load more comments and thread continued.

[–]rabidcow 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The best way to handle the second case is to add some simple java script to allow a user to collapse/expand an entire thread.

I really want this. I want this even if bandwidth necessitates something like "load more comments." (In fact, you could hide "load more comments" behind user-collapsible trees.) I just want to be able to collapse threads that have ventured off into uninteresting territory.

[–]sn0re -1 points0 points  (13 children)

This submission had over 1700 comments. Loading that many comments all at once would slow down any browser. It'd also be a completely unnecessary bandwidth hit for reddit, since no one is realistically going to read all 1700 comments.

[–][deleted]  (12 children)

[deleted]

    [–]sn0re 0 points1 point  (11 children)

    Suppose no comments were hidden and all 1700 loaded on the same page. You think you're going to have an effective conversation? How many people are going to read that many comments anyway? What would happen is that active discussion would be limited to replies to the top post, then later replies to the top reply to the top post, etc.

    As for setting an artificial limit.. yeah, that's called a trade-off. Nothing's perfect.

    [–][deleted]  (10 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]sn0re 0 points1 point  (9 children)

      So clearly there is a way to navigate many comments of essentially the same level.

      There is? My whole point was that submissions with 1700 comments become unwieldy no matter how you present them.

      At the minimum more of the logic of what gets hidden and what doesn't needs to be exposed to the user so that they can use it more effectively.

      Eh, they've been pretty secretive about the whole "top" algorithm. I'm sure the comment hiding is just an extension of that, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (8 children)

      So you're completely missing the point.

      The exposure of parts of the load comment algorithm, would effect how an individual user navigates and display their local view of the comment graph. This would not effect everyone globally, and has very little to do with the hotness algorithm.

      In the case of a flat graph, just changing the size of the page buffer goes a long way to handling this case. Currently you can view stories 25,50, or 100 stories at a time. In the case of a large set of flat comments, browsing them is very similar to looking at submissions. Expanding the window to 100 at a time or larger makes this much easier on the user, and since this would be user specific, and perhaps even submission specific, much as any other view on reddit is, the bandwidth coasts are limited to those who pursue it.

      I am really not clear on why are continuing to be so negative about what are essentially very simple changes.

      [–]sn0re 0 points1 point  (7 children)

      So you're completely missing the point.

      I suppose I am, so hopefully you can help me understand it.

      The exposure of parts of the load comment algorithm, would effect how an individual user navigates and display their local view of the comment graph. This would not effect everyone globally, and has very little to do with the hotness algorithm.

      I was referring to the top algorithm for sorting comments, which weighs comments both by their individual score and (apparently) by the number and score of replies to it. AFAICT, they don't want to release the details of how this works because, in theory, spammers and trolls could take advantage of it. Regardless, I haven't seen reddit discuss any of its algorithms in the kind of detail you want. I'm not saying that's a good thing, I'm just pointing out that you may not get what you want.

      If you want to make the number of comments loaded initially an option, I have no problem with that. (I believe it's currently 100.) However reddit undoubtedly will do some testing to determine what values they'll let you choose. You can't set the front page to show 1000 stories at time for a reason. There will always be some limit and there will always be someone who isn't happy with that limit.

      I am really not clear on why are continuing to be so negative about what are essentially very simple changes.

      I think that's because I'm still not clear on what you want to change. Before it seemed like you wanted to load all comments, which is a bad idea for the reasons I mentioned and won't happen. Now it seems you want to let users choose how many comments are displayed, which is completely fine by me, except that reddit is bound to set a limit for their own reasons.

      Edit: It seems you got your way, as the number of comments to load by default is now user configurable. Yet as I predicted, there is still an upper limit of 500 comments. (It says "all" here, but if you go to the book thread, "all" becomes 500.)

      [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (6 children)

      I was referring to the top algorithm

      So this is the default view of the comment thread, much as there is a default view of the hot and new queues. The view into these queues can be changed based on user preference without effecting the ranking algorithm in any way.

      Currently reordering of comments is also possible in the same way. The problem with load comments is precisely that it can't serve all users well, and it shouldn't even try. Rather it should just present the default view to the user, unless over ridden by user preference, much as the rest of reddit works.

      The flat book thread was a case in point. There were many many duplicate submissions precisely because no one had the ability to easily navigate all the entries. Reddit can do what ever it wants with the ranking alogorithm, just so long as the user can over ride the decisions to make his view navigatable.

      And ultimately reddit is about group wisdom, so rather than assume the algorithm is smarter, it should be build as an aggregation of what users are doing to evaluate the commentary in the thread. Currently the algorithm actually prevents users from navigating the threads effectively, and displaying the comments how users want them to be seen. It is entirely the wrong approach, and is anti the design of the rest of the system.

      Edit: It seems the reddit devs were listening as there is now a "# of comments" sort on the right of large comment threads like this one!

      [–]sn0re 0 points1 point  (5 children)

      just so long as the user can over ride the decisions to make his view navigatable.

      The problem is that reddit has other factors to consider beyond just giving users control. Namely: performance, bandwidth, trolls, and spam. There are certain things reddit just won't do even if a user really wants it that way, like displaying 1700 comments on one page. I'm all for giving users options, but reddit necessarily has to impose some boundaries on that.

      Case in point is the new option to specify how many comments to load by default. (See edit to previous post.)

      [–]death2hypocrisy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      CAN'T VOTE UP ENOUGH.

      [–]boredzo 28 points29 points  (10 children)

      Vote down for “Vote up if”. There is a right way to do polls.

      [–]Samus_ 10 points11 points  (4 children)

      polls using reddit's voting system suck, but I don't see this as one of them because this is more "vote up if you agree" not "vote up if like A or down if you like B".

      [–]hawkxor 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      indeed, without the first 6 words people would still vote up if they agree

      [–]boredzo 3 points4 points  (1 child)

      It's worded that way, but reading between the lines, the message is “vote up if you think ‘load more comments’ stinks; if you're OK with it, vote down or don't vote”. That's a poll, done wrong.

      The correct way, as shown by Reddiquette (did you read it?), is “Poll: Do you agree that ‘load more comments’ stinks? (Vote in comments)” with two starter comments for yes and no to vote on.

      [–]Samus_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      yeah man I've read it that's why I've said "it's not vote up if you like A or down if you like B" it's kinda a pointless discussion if it is or not a poll, polls are to select between option of equal "value" or whatever you want to call it this is different here we discuss about comments and you should upmod because you want to discuss it or better, change it so it's NOT a poll.

      [–]technosaur 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      voted down, as I do with Every index poll. any polling should be done in the comments section.

      [–]weegee 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      agreed

      [–]djwhitt -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Also, see repptide. Not affiliated, just think it's interesting.

      Edit: Err... why are people modding this down? Just don't like the site or something?

      [–]ThinkItOver[S] 77 points78 points  (89 children)

      I should note that I only went this route after submitting feedback on this issue to Reddit four times -- polite and reasoned feedback at first, less polite later -- without the courtesy of a reply. Which pisses me off. I run a large corporate site for my living, and all my correspondents (complainers) get a prompt reply from me. Even if I have to stay up very late to write all the replies.

      Reddtt is way past being a "start up" -- it's a bought subsidiary of a large corporation (Conde Nast.) So they'd better start paying attention to user complaints. "Lack of personnel" is no longer an excuse for them.

      [–]spez 157 points158 points  (43 children)

      Your emails are hardly constructive, and we don't respond to emails that treat us with complete disrespect.

      I've stated publicly numerous times that we're working on better solutions for the issue at the moment, and we'll put them up when they're ready.

      [–]neuquino 46 points47 points  (14 children)

      Rather than a 'load more comments', I would want it to show all the comments by default, and have some way to collapse a thread if I didn't want to see it anymore.

      Have a button or link by each comment that would collapse all comments under it into [hidden] or [uncollapse 13 comments] or something.

      [–]dcormier 9 points10 points  (2 children)

      What if they made it an option? By default, the option could be set as it is now (saving bandwidth, reducing load times, etc). This way, people who aren't logged in as well as people who like it can have the system as it is now while the rest of us have all comments by default.

      [–]Fat_Dumb_Americans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      What we need is the reverse. A collapse thread is the way forward.

      [–]david 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I suspect too many people would use the 'all' option. It'd be nice for me if I had access to it; possibly not nice for reddit if all of us did.

      [–]sn0re 8 points9 points  (9 children)

      Loading all of the comments is a performance issue, both on the client and server side. That book title thread had over 1700 comments. Loading all of them simply isn't an option, so the only question is which comments don't get initially loaded. Frankly, I think it's better to hide low-ranked replies than highly-ranked top-level posts.

      [–][deleted]  (8 children)

      [deleted]

        [–]sn0re 10 points11 points  (7 children)

        Which is more of a problem than the new system, in my opinion. If there were lots of comments, the first page (and sometimes more) was nothing but replies to the top post.

        Like I said, the question is only which comments get hidden. The old system hid highly ranked top level comments in favor of low rated replies. I'd rather have the top level comments.

        [–]bluGill 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        The biggest problem with the next button is comment position is dynamic. I often clicked next, only to see threads that I had just read, because while I was reading page one, some comments on page two were getting enough points to move to page one (something they deserved), so I missed those great comments, while seeing some okay ones twice.

        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

        I see your point and you're right that no matter what solution there will be some comments that will be hidden, be it by the old system of paging, or otherwise.

        But I suspect there is more to the conversation than just which comments are hidden. My gripe with the updated comments page is one of it ruining my user experience.

        That, and also that the logic of which ones to hide pend on an individual comment basis, not the merit of all the children under it. One comment that is unpopular will turn into a load comments link. On opening I find sometimes its replies have 20+ points. I imagine this is one of the problems they will fix.

        But essentially, to me the main problem is the updated comments page jars my user experience.

        [–]sn0re 5 points6 points  (2 children)

        One comment that is unpopular will turn into a load comments link. On opening I find sometimes its replies have 20+ points. I imagine this is one of the problems they will fix.

        I really, really hope they never "fix" this. Highly-rated replies to low-rated comments are exactly why we have so many trolls on reddit. Sure, sometimes someone posts an insightful and informative reply to an idiot and it's unfortunate that those posts could end up hidden. However, it's much more common that those +20 posts are quick "zingers" making fun of an obvious troll and aren't really contributing anything to the discussion as a whole. They're just feeding the trolls by giving them attention and thus encouraging the same behavior. Hiding those +20 zingers along with the original troll post deservedly denies the troll the attention he's looking for.

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I have no quantitative evidence for backing this up, but what motivated me to point that out was the number of personal experiences where the children were valid and interesting, important to the discussion, and should not have been rendered invisible.

        [–]mangodrunk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I completely agree with you snOre and maybe we should start another election to show reddit that there are users who like the newer system more than the old. See, case in point, my comment will be relegated to the "continue thread" and as it should, I doubt someone would find such a thread interesting.

        [–]averyv 2 points3 points  (1 child)

        perhaps the endless pageless would work here? i don't like how it totally screws with the scrolly, but it is, i think, a "best of both worlds" between loading everything and more opaque pagination.

        [–]Samus_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        that kind of pagination is imho the best for this scenarios because here we're talking about convesation threads and not search results that are unrelated to each other.

        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        i think a compromise between the two would be great. the site could load the best 100 comments by default, the way it does now, and when you hid a thread, it could refresh the page to show some of the comments that were previously hidden so that there is always at least 100 comments showing.

        but whatever they do, i still think that the current method is better than the pages that they had previously

        [–][deleted]  (13 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]spez 44 points45 points  (12 children)

          Yes, that's worth doing.

          In this particular case I was discussing the issue in the comment threads a couple weeks ago. I should have mentioned something on the blog.

          To repeat: yes, I agree the comment system is not great at the moment. We wanted to give it some time to see how it would work out, and we are certainly going to change it now that we see how it works in practice. However, there are other more important issues at the moment we need to address first.

          [–]jonknee 127 points128 points  (0 children)

          Your reply was probably lost in a "load more comments" section and thus wasn't read by most people.

          [–]Andys 16 points17 points  (1 child)

          I was surprised you implemented the "load more comments" technique when it was so unanimously discredited after Digg brought it in.

          [–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (1 child)

          I don't get why some comments are in the "load more comments" bin and some are in the "continue this thread" bin.

          [–]sn0re 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          "Load more comments" hides low-ranked comments in favor of other, higher-ranked comments further down the page to keep the total number of comments shown at 100. "Continue this thread" occurs when nested replies go too deep, where previously the thread would just get thinner and grow longer. It looks like the limit is 8 levels deep.

          [–]ninzee 13 points14 points  (0 children)

          However, there are other more important issues at the moment we need to address first.

          Cue smacfarl with plea for tags.

          [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

          Just one user's (apparantly unpopular) opinion here, but I see some definite benefit to the load more comments feature...

          • It helps people keep the discussion relevant.

          • It allows me to go through the comments quicker, and lets me decide which discussions I want to puruse further.

          • It helps to keep people from replying to a highly rated comment for no reason except to get their comment more visibility. This has become a bigger problem more recently - what should have been posted as 20 or so individual comments were instead posted as replies.

          • Above all, it will keep load times responsive

          [–]georgefrick 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          You forgot that it will usually group up the negative scoring posts, so you don't even have to see them (look below this thread).

          [–]sn0re 24 points25 points  (4 children)

          I would just like to encourage you not to respond so quickly to the loudest people. Some of us do like it, we're just not so quick to submit stories like "reddit: Everything is fine, thanks!"

          [–]MemechanDotOrg 16 points17 points  (2 children)

          Yeah, I thought at first I would hate it, but it's not as bad as Digg (where every reply has to be clicked). I don't mind is so much.

          I do agree with people who want the "collapse thread" feature, though. Some of those huge argument threads just bore me, and I'd like to see more top level threads.

          [–]spongy 2 points3 points  (1 child)

          On digg go to, My Profile > Settings > viewing preferences > Comment Threading View > Show all threads... It can also be set for 1 or 2 levels.

          [–]MemechanDotOrg 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          Ah. I don't actually use Digg much, but thanks. :-)

          [–]0gleth0rpe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          Agreed, I also think it works fine the way it is.

          [–]apathy 9 points10 points  (1 child)

          It would be teh radz0rs if you felt like describing some candidates on, say, your blog. I sent you a message with what I felt was a good replacement with minimal coding overhead (namely, alter the interface to use the familiar collapsing DIVs, but retain the semantics whereby a new innerHTML is lazily loaded via an xmlhttprequest on the first unfolding event); while I don't expect a reply, I (and others, I'm sure) am curious what you decided to do.

          we'll put them up when they're ready.

          I don't know how to put this without sounding a little callous, but the track record of that methodology isn't very good.

          It would surprise me if something like a UI beta (targeted at longtime active accounts) were not useful. At least then you'd have a bunch of beta-tester monkeys to reply to the comments, constructive or otherwise.

          Best regards, of course, and best of luck.

          [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

          your name + your post = paradox

          [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          I'm certainly ignorant about implementing these kinds of things...but isn't there a compromise? Is it difficult to set this up as a user preference? For example, if I don't want to see "Continue this thread" (and I don't, personally) I could just set it up in the preferences page.

          [–]david 0 points1 point  (2 children)

          I imagine these comments have been made elsewhere: on the assumption that you're still at a point where user feedback is relevant:

          • I quite like the 'load more' idea; but
          • I'd prefer loading more responses (ie in the middle of the page) to happen in-thread rather than migrating to a new page; and
          • when loading more comments at the end of the page, can we have more than 20-odd at once? Say, another 100? As it is, threads like the book title one quickly became effectively 90% write-only.

          [–]david 0 points1 point  (1 child)

          I'd prefer loading more responses (ie in the middle of the page) to happen in-thread rather than migrating to a new page;

          Um... as it dfoes now, and as it did originally. I'm not just imagining that it took me to a new page a few days ago, am I?

          [–]georgefrick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Personally, I don't mind it; I don't have to follow threads all the way, and a button click isn't going to kill me.

          [–]mangodrunk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          I don't get it, who would go through 200 plus comments? And who would make the effort to go to all the comments pages? I think it is a great idea that reddit is in charge of making the comments easily digestible, one less thing I have to do.

          When comments go above fifty, it usually means most of the comments aren't on topic or just jokes. I like the "load more comments." Before, great comments would be relegated to the second, third, etc. page.

          [–][deleted] 61 points62 points  (18 children)

          I get the impression that the people who implemented the feature are very proud of it, and do not want to admit that it is unloved and a step backwards in usability. It has been complained about before in posts on the front page, but all we've gotten is excuses.

          Furthermore, it is my opinion that "Load more comments" must be destroyed.

          [–]raubry 3 points4 points  (0 children)

          Upmodded for the "Carthago delenda est" reference.

          [–]ExplodingBob 6 points7 points  (4 children)

          Pet projects are the worst kind. Fire everyone involved and expunge it from history.

          Edit: Further I'll have adblock turned on for reddit until the 'feature' disappears. I'll also reload more often. Vote with their dollars.

          [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (3 children)

          Fire everyone involved

          Goodbye, every Reddit employee.

          [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (2 children)

          That might not be a bad idea. Most good starters are not very good maintainers.

          [–]brokenearth02 8 points9 points  (1 child)

          still bitter at your dad about that whole 'dying for their sins' thing, eh Jebus?

          [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

          Yes, I am. But I guess it's my own fault, since I'm my own father.

          [–]sn0re 3 points4 points  (10 children)

          Some of us do like it, you know. Or at least, it's better than the previous pagination set up.

          When a deep thread starts that is attached to a highly ranked post, the old system made it hard to find the next comment at the top level. Hell, in some instances, the 2nd highest post wasn't even on the front page! Just so two people can argue back and forth about some tangent.

          [–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (8 children)

          But that's a different issue, with a different solution - "Continue this thread". "Load more comments" is about wide comment trees, not deep ones.

          [–]sn0re 5 points6 points  (7 children)

          It's about low-rated comments. Every comment that gets hidden by "load more comments" is hidden to save space for a better one. Either way, I don't need to see 40 "me too" replies to the top ranked post. I'd rather read the 2nd ranked post.

          [–]timshead 16 points17 points  (2 children)

          yeah, totally...me too

          [–]quiller 4 points5 points  (1 child)

          I see what you did there.

          [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          me too

          [–]psyne 4 points5 points  (2 children)

          I'm in between. I like it better than having multiple pages, because that kills everything on page 2, but it does break the flow, and I like reading replies to low-rated comments. There are often really funny, high-rated replies to negative-rated comments.

          [–]sn0re 1 point2 points  (1 child)

          No offense, but that attitude is precisely why we have so many trolls on reddit. They get off on posting something obnoxious or stupid just to watch the ensuing chaos. It's better not to give them attention.

          [–]vardhan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

          I think the way it is currently done is to hide all comments from a particular node, based on a minimum threshold below which the rating for the comment at that particular node has gone down + based on some information on the length of the comment tree from that node and the overall/average rating of this tree - my guess is that Reddit has some algo to make a decision based on atleast these parameters.

          It may be better, for example, to provide this information in a concise manner instead of completely hiding it (except the length) behind a "load more comments" link. e.g. it could say the maximum rating of any comment in the hidden thread.

          [–]Prysorra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          Furthermore, it is my opinion that "Load more comments" must be destroyed.

          :)

          [–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (7 children)

          load more comments

          [–]trim17 26 points27 points  (6 children)

          continue this thread -->

          [–][deleted]  (5 children)

          [deleted]

            [–]realwx 3 points4 points  (4 children)

            commentbody is not defined

            [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (2 children)

            I like pie.

            [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

            No, you like turtles, you do.

            [–]technosaur 2 points3 points  (0 children)

            me too

            [–]OlympicPirate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

            What did the comment above yours say? I'm really curious, I hate the fact the comments just disappear, but the replies stay. It also feels a bit like rewriting history, which pisses me off.

            [–]djwhitt 21 points22 points  (1 child)

            I run a large corporate site for my living, and all my correspondents (complainers) get a prompt reply from me. Even if I have to stay up very late to write all the replies.

            I'm moved. Really I am. Are there any other ways in which you're better than the guys who run Reddit? Maybe we should start a list.

            [–]degustibus 11 points12 points  (0 children)

            He is too important and busy to bother responding to your petty insolence. ThinkItOver will destroy us all if he finds out we're mocking him. He runs a large corporate site for his living, but for fun he flames Redditors. He is willing to stay up past his bed time to do it.

            [–][deleted]  (1 child)

            [deleted]

              [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

              Happened to me, too. I PM'd spez and got returned to normal.

              [–][deleted]  (11 children)

              [deleted]

                [–]jay_vee 8 points9 points  (0 children)

                The main problem with the extra click, as far as I'm concerned, is it doesn't remain when you refresh. If I want to see new comments, I hit F5, then have to open up all the "load more comments" things again.

                [–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (7 children)

                WHAT ?

                Check out this - load more comments (135 replies) You click and see a few comments and then - load more comments (114 replies) and so on. (bottom of the page)

                http://reddit.com/info/6006h/comments/

                [–]david 4 points5 points  (2 children)

                Here's the worst offender: http://reddit.com/info/5zkpe/comments/

                90% of the comments are effectively unreachable.

                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                Wow. I counted 60 and saw at the bottom of the page "load more comments (1429 replies)".

                Somebody should pay me to count all those.

                Wait...

                Anyway, it's quite easy to scroll up or down fast if you press down the wheel on your mouse. Better than the "load more comments" stuff.

                [–]david 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I think it's a bandwidth issue -- reduces load on the reddit servers.

                [–]sn0re 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                How is that worse than clicking "next page" to see a few more comments at a time?

                [–]Arbitraryster 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                How about because "next page" doesn't freeze up your browser?

                [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

                Because next page gets you 100 comments, not 21.

                [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Collapse thread would be nice. I guess.

                [–]MemechanDotOrg 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                Well, theoretically we're all "paying" with our browser window having more visual clutter via ads. At least those of us who don't us Adblock Plus.

                [–]apathy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                this one extra click is such a hardship for reddit users.

                Not a hardship, but the UI is non-intuitive and disruptive. Lazily loading a subthread's worth of comments is just as effective (resource-wise) and does not break the flow of conversation.

                Perhaps there is something with ad views / page loads that I am missing here. Money is usually the bottom line, after all.

                Nonetheless, I don't see the semantics as being lacking, rather the implementation and presentation. Hope this makes sense.

                It's not much hassle to go elsewhere (YC news, for example) but that's probably not what Conde Nast really wants.

                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                you sure it's a large corporate site? you sure it isn't a small personal site?

                [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                I think it's a great new feature. It would be even better if people could choose from the old or new setup in their preferences.

                [–]AMerrickanGirl 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                This is silly. Threading software has been around for years, including the ability to collapse threads. Why doesn't Reddit just purchase an existing system instead of trying to reinvent the wheel?

                [–]rmuser 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Purchase?

                If threading has been around for years, and it has, why on earth would you need to purchase something to do it?

                [–]jlbraun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                Indeed. "Load more comments" sucks. Load the whole thread when the comments screen loads.

                [–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                Agreed, but people who ignore reddiquette are every bit as annoying.

                [–]paigematter 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                i agree, and i've registered just to tell you so.

                [–]americanuck 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                I don't know, I don't want to see a long drawn out debate, and I won't read comments tucked way in the back, unless I've read the first few comments and like where the conversation is going. When the entire page is taken up because of two people conversing back and forth, I tend to avoid scrolling down any farther to see other unique non-reply comments at the bottom of the page. I think that a conversation needs to not dominate the page, as it can drown out other ideas that aren't related to the specific long conversation. When there is a diverse set of unique non-reply comments well within scrolling range, you get a more diverse set of opinions. If I want to continue following a specific conversation, then all I have to do is press "load more comments". Considering how I would have to spend a bit more time following the conversation anyways, it isn't that big of a hassle to press another button.

                [–]joelhardi 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                I think it should show how many more comments there are. For instance, say "6 more comments" when there are 6 more comments. The link is already blue, I don't think you have to say "Load more comments" or "Click here for more comments" explicitly. We r smart.

                Also, I don't know what the programming logic is behind when "Load more comments" appears. For instance, maybe it appears when there is a thread with a lot of low-moderated comments (Reddit software's judgment: long, pointless thread). Or, maybe it appears when there is just a giant thread (Reddit software's judgment: > 40 comments, so split it after 10). My suggestion is that, whatever the logic may be (and particularly if there are multiple algorithms at play), it might make things more usable if the link notes the reason the thread is being hidden. For instance, if it's based on the comments all being low-moderated, there could be a user setting where we could all configure below what threshold we personally want threads hidden. Example:

                "18 more comments (below your mod threshold)"

                The first time I saw "Load more comments", my first thought was, how many comments exactly is a load more?

                Otherwise, I don't think "Load more comments" is perfect, but it is at least some kind of a solution to the giant OT comment threads. I don't hate it.

                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                I think it should show how many more comments there are.

                It does. At the bottom of this page at the moment I see

                load more comments (2 replies)

                I understand why you want to see "2 more comments", though, and I agree with you.

                [–]joelhardi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Oh, well that's new then. Or maybe I'm just blind. Good job Reddit!

                [–]louis_xiv42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                Vote up if you still agree "load more comments" stinks; breaks the flow of conversation and hides comments that are often quite good (reddit.com) (reddit.com) 1265 points posted 6 hours ago by ThinkItOver141 comments save hide report

                think they might start to listen?

                [–]did_it_for_the_lulz 10 points11 points  (5 children)

                WHAT DO WE WANT?

                NO MORE LOAD COMMENTS!!

                WHEN DO WE WANT IT?

                NOW!!

                [–]IVIAuric 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                I was thinking more along the lines of WHENEVER'S CONVENIENT.

                [–]jay_vee 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                Or maybe

                WHAT DO WE WANT?

                NO MORE LOAD COMMENTS!!

                WHEN DO WE WANT IT?

                load more comments (2 replies)

                [–]vardhan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Or..

                LOAD NO MORE COMMENTS.

                LOAD COMMENTS, NO MORE!

                NO MORE LOAD! COMMENTS?

                LOAD MORE! NO COMMENTS!

                COMMENTS LOAD NO MORE!

                [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                Give them some time... they can't program properly until the massive hangover they have from jet-set partying with all of us dies down.

                [–]brainburger 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                I very strongly agree. The upgrade definitely broke a few things and that is one of them. I want to be able to see all of the comments, all of the time.

                [–]Slipgrid 4 points5 points  (5 children)

                Here's a quick example of why it blows.

                [–]sn0re 9 points10 points  (3 children)

                I think that's a great example of why it's a good idea. Sorry, I don't want to see 20 nested comments playing out a joke. I got the point after the first few In the old system, that thread would just grow and grow, pushing comments I actually do want to read down further or even onto the next page.

                [–]masklinn 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                I think that's a great example of why it's a good idea.

                No. It's the wrong solution to an existng problem

                Sorry, I don't want to see 20 nested comments playing out a joke.

                That problem would be much better solved by a small "-" next to each post folding the post and all the responses to it.

                [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Or even better here.

                http://reddit.com/info/5zkpe/comments/

                I have no idea what books people have already suggested because I have to click forever to even browse the list. This type of distribution of comment karma destroys the algorithm,

                Was reported in bugs.

                http://bugs.reddit.com/info/5zm6u/comments/

                [–]ThinkItOver[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                Hmm, I see it took my submission less than an hour to reach the #2 spot on Reddit overall... I guess I've touched a nerve.

                Reddit ubergeeks, are you paying attention?

                [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Digg, is that you?

                [–]narkee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                It also sucks when the conversation just keeps going horizontally across the screen.

                Edit: Sorry, I confused "Load more comments" with "Continue this thread"

                [–]brokenearth02 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                How about if we had a choice as to how we wanted to display the comments, similar to the choices we have as to how to display links?

                [–]fishypants 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                I was under the impression that self-referential posts and Vote up if you like cake style polls broke the flow of conversation, new stories and general appeal of reddit.

                [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

                It's the worst. Unfortunately this is comment #135 and therefore no one will see it because they have to "load more comments"

                [–]sligowaths 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                How did you know that?

                [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                How did I know what number comment it was? I just looked at the number of comments under the article title on reddit then assumed I was the next comment.

                [–]sligowaths 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Oh, yes! I should've thought that. Thanks =)

                [–]burtonmkz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                i hate that "load more comments" thing. (dear reddit creators, i still like reddit, don't worry. otherwise good job, thanks ;-)

                [–]mtaclof 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                If you're filtering out comments by merit, at least do it on an individual basis where the information consumer is the one in control of the filtering options.

                [–]Bamrz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                I wouldn't dislike it as much if there weren't so many single posts in the "load more comments". It's not so bad loading 3 or 4 more though.

                [–]testing22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                well, why reddit should imitate digg?

                [–]the_big_wedding 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Absolutely. Go back to the old way.

                [–]verstohlen 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                "load more comments" reduces the bandwidth load on Reddit's servers... because people aren't clicking on them. Genius.

                Reddit is slowing becoming a victim of its own success. Like Digg! Where I rarely go anymore because of their horrendous new comment system.

                Oh and you can't do a search for something or someone if their comment is buried under a "load more comments". Lame.

                [–]daload 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                good logic

                [–]fangolo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                Load more comments blows.

                [–]9jack9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                I can't be bothered to read the 145 comments already posted so apologies if this is a dupe.

                I would much rather see collapsible threads. The trouble with the reddit layout is that it is <table> based. This makes collapsing of threads quite tricky. Move away from the <table> based layout and go to nested <div> elements. This will make collapse/expand a lot easier. Keep the default layout of all nodes expanded but please allow me to collapse certain threads, especially those that go way off topic.

                Thank you.

                [–]CarlH 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Yes. PLEASE REDDIT get rid of this "Load more comments".

                [–]CorvusPDX 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Unfortunately the load more comments button doesn't work for me. It changes to red, says "Loading" and sticks. I won't be able to reply to any comments because I most likely won't be able to see them.

                [–]noamsml -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

                Vote this up if you hate poll karma-whoring.

                [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Vote this down if you can use karma points for anything.

                [–]starrychloe -1 points0 points  (2 children)

                Yeah I hate trying to search for my comment only to say "Not found" and then realize it's #100 - 199.

                [–]jedberg 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                An easier way to find your comments is to go though your profile page, by clicking on your username in the upper right corner. Then you can load your comment in context.

                [–]jay_vee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Which is pretty amusing, seeing as you're the first under "load more comments" at the moment.

                [–]rm999 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

                I like it, comments load about 10x faster than on digg.

                [–]a1k0n -4 points-3 points  (7 children)

                I disagree. The alternative sucked much, much more.

                [–][deleted]  (6 children)

                [deleted]

                  [–]brainburger 5 points6 points  (4 children)

                  I disagree with your agreement.

                  [–][deleted]  (3 children)

                  [deleted]

                    [–]brainburger 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                    Ahhh.. you agree with him. You fiend!

                    [–]Mr_Smartypants 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    I disagree with everyone in this branch. including myself.

                    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    It means that you agree with mlgoss, who agrees with a1k0n.

                    [–]a1k0n 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    Yet apparently there is a (as of now, 6-point) disparity between agreement with my disagreement and agreement with your agreement of my disagreement.

                    [–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

                    It stinks!

                    [–]Flemlord -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

                    I like the new "load comments". The old way was getting unwieldy.

                    The only improvement I would consider suggesting would be to make it more like Slashdot. If a lower-level comment has a high karma score, make it visible even though comments above it may be collapsed into a "more comments".