How are comments displayed?

We've been asked why some comments posted later seemed to appear above comments posted earlier. The answer is that comments are displayed in a threaded view. In other words, it's possible for you to respond to a specific comment rather than to the overall conversation.

To illustrate....

• post X
• comment 1 (reply to post X)
• comment 2 (reply to comment 1)
• comment 5 (reply to comment 2)
• comment 6 (reply to comment 2)
• comment 3 (reply to comment 1)
• comment 9 (reply to comment 3)
• comment 4 (reply to comment 1)
• comment 7 (reply to post X)
• comment 10 (reply to comment 7)
• comment 8 (reply to post X)

Here, the comment numbers represent the order in which they were posted. The threaded display, however, lays out the comments as shown. (This is what we mean when we say threaded comments allow people to respond to a specific comment rather than to the overall conversation.)

To reply to a post, use the comment form at the bottom of the page. To reply to a comment, click Reply within the comment (and your comment will be threaded to that comment).

Pay special attention to the pagination at the bottom of long comment strings. Your comment may have appeared on the second page (or beyond!) of the discussion.