Add a tree structure to manage comment and replies

[walter]

Similar to other forums and comment sections online: Allow us to reply to specific comments in threads instead of just a single list of top-level comments on each post. I.e. allow each comment to have a tree of sub-comments using a 'reply' button. It would go a long way towards cleaning up the currently very messy comment sections.

[anchskier]

@walter -  Some of the pages have that, but others don't.  I agree that it would be nice to have an easier layout to follow the discussions.  In the meantime, I try to tag the person I am replying to so it is clear by using the "@" followed by their username.  

[walter]

@anchskier yes tagging people in replies to the list is the current solution but it's pretty awful from a usability standpoint. If there's anything more than two unique logical threads in the same comment list it's a total salad.

[Jane]

​​Thanks for submitting your idea. It has been reviewed by our moderation team and is now open to voting.

The idea title was edited so it will be easier for others to search and vote on. Thank you for your contribution.

As a workaround, I would recommend the workaround recommended by @anchskier to tag the Athlete you are replying to.  Thanks again.

[Jan_Mantau]

The sites with the tree structure are confusing and messy, new comments are hidden between old ones. The single straight list I find way better. But it should be possible like on virtually every other chat forum to quote previous comments to make it clear to what someone is answering to.

[walter]

@Jan_Mantau While preferences are a matter of opinion, I will point out that including a quoted reply in comments is sufficient for threads of length no greater than 2 and often a single step back is not sufficient context. If any longer (original, reply, reply-reply) then there will inevitably be a linear search through the list of comments to pick up the missing context. One workaround is to include more than just the most recent context:

reply-reply

 | reply

 | | original comment

However, comment sections will grow quadratically in total length because each reply will duplicate it's entire parent path to the root: a total mess. It'll look like poorly formatted emails from the early 2000s.

If strava has ambitions of growing the "social" part of it's social platform this navigational model will surely drive interaction between strava members down because it will be so cumbersome. Implementing structured tree-like comment sections is the obvious solution (in my opinion).