# Poll: Message board format **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791 "2006-09-07T15:46:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/1 "2006-09-07T15:46:49Z")
My partner and I are going to be writing a message board system for a Web site. We’re at odds about the format of the board - flat vs threaded. The SDMB is flat. Slashdot is threaded. Like this… Topic Reply to topic Reply to reply 1 Reply to reply 1 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/2 "2006-09-07T15:49:52Z")
Yikes! Tab + enter = new post…heh Anyway…go to [http://www.slashdot.com](http://www.slashdot.com) and see what a threaded board is. I can’t stand threaded boards - they confuse the heck out of me. I have never participated in a threaded board in the 10+ years I’ve been online. He, on the otherhand, reads Slashdot daily and another threaded board and he can’t see the value in a flat board like this. I showed him the “Reply” button with the built-in quoting and he still can’t understand. We’re at an impasse where the answer to “what is the best type of board” comes down to what we’re used to. So the poll is… 1. Which do you prefer? (“Either” is acceptable) 2. What is your age and gender (the site we’re doing has a definite demographic) ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/3 "2006-09-07T15:54:14Z")
Flat. I find that threaded results in threads inside threads. Not that it doesn’t happen here but in a threaded model, it seems to make the view more complicated than it needs to be. I am 30 years old and male. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/4 "2006-09-07T15:57:23Z")
I prefer flat. Female and 41. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I can’t stand threaded boards - they confuse the heck out of me. Me, too. They’re just awful. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/5 "2006-09-07T15:59:03Z")
Flat, female, 39. Threaded boards suck donkey. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/6 "2006-09-07T15:59:39Z")
Flat. Threaded is tolerable as long as it defaults to a “nested” version (so that everything is visible without clicking on a link) but flat is always more readable. Female. 1. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/7 "2006-09-07T16:04:00Z")
Oh, sorry for the double post, but I meant to add that your partner should probably do a similar poll over at a threaded forum somewhere to get a true picture of people’s preferences (Slashdot if they allow it). ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/8 "2006-09-07T16:08:41Z")
Flat definitely. I do read a threaded board, but usually not beyond the first post. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/9 "2006-09-07T16:16:26Z")
Flat is much better for reading. I dislike threaded. Male 39 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/10 "2006-09-07T16:19:39Z")
Years ago, I ran a threaded message board system. It was a pain in the ass for users; there were individual links for every followup post. To read an entire thread required intensive mouse clicking and use of the browser’s back button. When I moved to a flat system, the users loved it. No complaints. Most of the leading message board systems - vBulletin, Invision Power Board, phpBB, SMF, Burning Board, PunBB, MyBB, and so on – are flat by default. Same thing with the message boards that come with most content management systems, although Drupal has a hybrid system where replies to a post are indented. If users generally preferred threaded boards, message board systems like the ancient WWWBoard would be far more common. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/11 "2006-09-07T16:21:43Z")
BTW, 40 and male. The median age on my message board is in the early 30s, with about 35% being female. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/12 "2006-09-07T16:28:29Z")
Flat Male 51 Threaded sucks. I always end up skipping answers to the OP because I am buried in a threaded reply. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/13 "2006-09-07T16:34:00Z")
Flat, for all the reasons mentioned above. Female, 31. But even Threaded is better than whatever shite they’re using over at Yahoo in their “Discuss” pages. There is no thread format whatsoever - every post is it’s own entry, and they are simply listed (reverse) chronologically. It’s fine for “Comment”, but is not a good way to do a “Discussion”, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/14 "2006-09-07T16:40:18Z")
Flat. 32/M. I think a threaded message board gets too disorganized. The thread diverges into a dozen directions, and users can get trapped in one branch. It’s also more work to navigate through a threaded board, unless the software allows you to read through the entire thread easily. The Google Usenet interface (Google Groups) is the only threaded “message board” I can tolerate. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/15 "2006-09-07T16:45:46Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Most of the leading message board systems - vBulletin, Invision Power Board, phpBB, SMF, Burning Board, PunBB, MyBB, and so on – are flat by default. Same thing with the message boards that come with most content management systems, although Drupal has a hybrid system where replies to a post are indented. If users generally preferred threaded boards, message board systems like the ancient WWWBoard would be far more common. I totally agree with that (I mentioned this to him)…but what about LiveJournal and it’s seedy stepsister, DeadJournal? They are “new” and are red hot. They’re not intended as message boards but in many cases they are used as such. I figure there’s got to be a reason for the LiveJournal folks to set it up this way (threaded)…is it actually popular? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/16 "2006-09-07T16:49:12Z")
Nothing screams 1996 like a threaded message board. Except for Slashdot, but Slashdot is its own creature. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/17 "2006-09-07T17:35:23Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I totally agree with that (I mentioned this to him)…but what about LiveJournal and it’s seedy stepsister, DeadJournal? They are “new” and are red hot. They’re not intended as message boards but in many cases they are used as such. > > I figure there’s got to be a reason for the LiveJournal folks to set it up this way (threaded)…is it actually popular? i suspect the reason something like livejournal works as a threaded forum is that a) it’s livejournal, and is intrinsically popular enough for people to put up w/ it, and b) (i woudl guess) people tend not to be too interested in looking at older threads. If you’re looking up old topics on a threaded board, it’s hard to figure it out. If you’re following it close ot realitime, not so much so. As for me, It could be a forum for winning lottory numbers, and I wouldn’t read a threaded foum. male, 32 ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/18 "2006-09-07T17:41:55Z")
Flat! Anything more complicated than straight chronological order is just too complicated to keep track of. I’m a 24 year old male. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/19 "2006-09-07T17:43:47Z")
Flat. Always flat. Female, 27. Livejournal threading gets very annoying at times, especially with over 100 comments and threads within threads, not to mention deleted and reposted comments. With just a few comments (which most entries get) it’s not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791/20 "2006-09-07T18:31:04Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > My partner and I are going to be writing a message board system for a Web site. We’re at odds about the format of the board - flat vs threaded. > > The SDMB is flat. Slashdot is threaded. Actually the SDMB has three modes available to everyone all the time. If you look above the OP you will find a blue band with four links: View First Unread (on the left), and Thread Tools, Search This Thread, and Display Modes (on the right). Clicking on the Display Modes link reveals three different modes, including a threaded mode. FWIW, why create another message board when there are plenty of quality open source and commercial boards already out there? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-message-board-format/371791.md?page=2)