Re: Question for MacSoup-ers
- From: me3@xxxxxxxxxxx (zoara)
- Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 21:25:14 +0100
The Rev Gaston <me2@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> OK, after playing with MacSoup I am gradually coming under the spell of
> the Graphical Display.
You are powerless to resist...
> Which leads me to an important question:
> when you select a message to read, and the display pops up, do you have
> a preferred strategy for selecting the next article to read?
Spacebar. If you set up a rule (in the, er, killfile) to tag all posts,
you can spacebar through the lot.
> For example, I find myself clicking on the article that gives rise to a
> large number of branches. On the other hand long uninterrupted branches
> may indicate an interesting exchange.
If I get bored with a thread I will kill it by hitting '-', but
sometimes I will dive into 'interesting-looking' branches before doing
so. I will also use the diagram to tell where a thread splits - if I'm
getting bored just before a junction I'll go past that junction a couple
of posts and see if the topic veers one way or another, then decide from
that whether to kill the subthreads.
Actually, I've never really thought about how much I use the thread tree
and what for, I've just always felt comfortable with it. You may find,
after a little while, that you start interpreting the display as a
tangible representation of the thread itself; you'll recognise threads
by shape, you can tell by the shape how the subject progresses, etc etc.
Long, non-branching lines will only be of interest at the end if they
already are at the beginning (they'll be very specific issues discussed
between two people, or a to-and-fro of puns and silliness, though more
likely the former). Single-post branches are indicators that the thread
they branch off from is a pun/joke thread. Threads taller than they are
wide indicate a starting post that's an almost survey-like question
(which do you prefer, daddy or chips?) or a contentious quote from a web
page. Odd-shaped threads (some tall bits, some wide bits) indicate
off-topic drift (or just 'change of subject' drift) from an originally
on-topic post.
Wow. I didn't realise I got *that* much from it. Colour-coding would
give even more info....
> Anyone else got a favourite technique?
Spacebar and '-' key 99% of the time, keeping an eye on the shape of the
thread.
-z-
--
6th June 2005: Hell freezes over.
2nd August 2005: Hell freezes over *again*.
.
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