Suggestions

[ex_peasant441]

1. format=light should not exist, or if it must exist then it should be subordinate to style=mine. Perhaps the best compromise would be to replace it with a style=light so it was immediately apparent what was going on.
2. There needs to be an option to have the standard navigation toolbar appear as text links, not images. I like to browse with images on so I can see people's icons, but on days when I am having cognitive difficulties I don't want to have to work out what a bunch of icons means - text is always understandable.
3. When reading a sub-thread of comments, the standard navigation toolbar needs to include a link back up to the main entry so the person can read all the comments not just the sub-thread. I got linked directly to a sub-comment thread and couldn't work out how to break out using the on-screen navigation.
4. The page title of a sub-thread also needs to clearly reflect that this is a sub-page not the top level one - it took me some while to work out where I was and what was going on.
5. Most users don't understand the difference between a link that goes to a specific comment and one that goes to the entry as a whole, therefore on every comment both options should be available and clearly distinguished.

Comments

[sophie]

There's actually a couple of bugs in Bugzilla already for #1 - one is simple, bug 586, and it's about doing exactly what you propose.

The other is more complex - bug 168 - and talks about not only your request, but also a more general reworking of the system, too, including the addition of a style=owner argument, to allow you to override a permanent style=mine or style=light and view the journal in its original style.

The first bug I mentioned is simpler and will most likely be done first, I imagine.

(I can't comment on the rest of the post, but I can certainly comment on that first point.)

[ex_peasant441]

Thanks. It's great to know they are already on the ball.

[jeshyr]

1. We're already working on this - see sophie's reply.

2. Navigation toolbars as text links is a GREAT idea which I don't think anybody has thought of yet. With my low vision I often have trouble with them too, just because they all mostly look like multicoloured blobs to me. We'd have to figure out how to do this without messing up the site layouts though - text usually takes more space than icons. It could be done fairly easily for the Lynx site scheme if the site scheme code allows it. I shall ask the coding people about this!

3. Comment sub-threads are indeed confusing and not always obvious. At the top and bottom of the page there's a "Read Comments" link which will take you to the top level threads but this is also not terribly obvious (after all, you're already reading comments!). I'm not even sure who one would talk to about this, but I'll investigate it for you.

More in another comment ...

[jeshyr]

I have logged the text links idea in Dreamwidth's bug tracker so the coding people can have at it. For reference, the bug can be viewed here:

http://bugs.dwscoalition.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1254

Although you probably want to ignore that - Bugzilla can be confusing and rather overwhelming if one isn't used to it!

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

[ex_peasant441]

In LJ, for pages displaying sub comment threads, both the title and the navigation toolbar can be changed using S2. There is a property: viewing_thread which exposes the fact that it is a thread not the top level. I haven't familiarised myself with the DW code yet, but I assume it is similar. So this would probably be an issue for whoever codes the S2 Core.

[jeshyr]

4. I agree with you about this, I think it goes with number 3 too.

5. I agree that lots of users confuse the two - often us who've been using DW and previously LJ for a long time and have a high level of technical knowledge forget what it's like to be new to it all! Do you think it would work if the links on the comments said "link to comment" (or "link to this comment") and the ones for the whole entry said "link to entry", rather than having both available on every comment? It would be easier to do and less redundant.

Thanks for the FANTASTIC feedback by the way! It's great to know what issues are a problem for people and almost all of these are ones which haven't been reported before so I have learned lots. Feel free to leave more feedback in the future please :) :)

- Ricky

[ex_peasant441]

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful.

I know enough about S2 to know that both the text links and the more explanatory links would be fairly easy to implement.

Do you think it would work if the links on the comments said "link to comment" (or "link to this comment") and the ones for the whole entry said "link to entry", rather than having both available on every comment?

That sounds fine and clear. Having both available would be clearest, but reducing clutter is probably more important.