slightly off topic questionabout forum organization

[shermank 170]

Obviously, I have to much time on my hands this afternoon, but my question is, what determines when a thread can be accessed directly and when it must be accessed thru the "view all" link. Is this something that is built into the forum software, or do forum moderators decide when to make it a "view all" link...see, I told you I had too much time on my hands...:-)Sherman KaplanHighland Park Il

[Donmo 6]

When it gets to a certain number of posts, it will flip to a "view all" mode. I am guessing this, but it seems to follow that pattern.Don

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Do you have expanded threads set?To answer your question Sherm, the system assigns the view all link to all messages, even when there is only one message in the thread. It is automatic and we don't have anything to do with its individual setting against any message.

[Guest]

Sherman, if you are viewing the forums using expanded threads, you will always see the "view all" link available next to the initial message, with all the replies shown threaded below that initial message. If you are viewing the forums using collapsed threads (the default), then you will only see the single subject line and when you click on it, you will get all the messages displayed. This automatically changes once there are 15 or more messages in that topic. Once there are that many messages, the forum will only display the initial message when you click on it and then show you the list of replies for you to click on individually. There will also be a "view all" link now displayed next to that subject line that allows you to override the forum just displaying the initial message and instead displays all messages in the topic.How that explains it.

[shermank 170]

Is an expanded thread kind of like a sweater stretched out of shape? Thanks for all the info...:-)Sherm