I don't know if this would be possible but it occurs to me that it would be very useful.

What I've noticed in reading the Forge is that many threads are spawned either as offshoots of existing threads, or as daughters when a thread is closed. Also sometimes a long-dead thread is referred to either in the first post or in a reply to a current thread.

The current arrangement makes it difficult, especially when reading old threads, to follow a discussion that fully investigates a topic in all its ramifications.. (Well, this may only apply to old threads, which is the bulk of my reading these days. Still, today's current threads are tomorrow's old threads.) It also makes it hard to investigate whether a topic that hasn't been fully explored in an older thread has ever been addressed (and possibly resolved) in a later thread.

Getting to the point: what I propose is that there be a way to create a formal two-way link between two threads. I.e., when I want to create a daughter or offshoot, I should be able to click a button that automatically generates a new thread that has a link back to the current thread. At the same time the current "mother" thread will get a link to the child, placed at the end of the "mother" or possibly as part of the particular post that inspired the new thread.

When referring to an old thread within an existing thread, one would likewise use a button to place the link in your post, but at the same time it will create a forward link in the "threads that refer to this thread" section of the old thread.

I think this would facilitate discussion and also aid in avoiding misunderstandings over the Forge moderation policies.

ewilen wrote:
I don't know if this would be possible but it occurs to me that it would be very useful.

What I've noticed in reading the Forge is that many threads are spawned either as offshoots of existing threads, or as daughters when a thread is closed. Also sometimes a long-dead thread is referred to either in the first post or in a reply to a current thread.

The current arrangement makes it difficult, especially when reading old threads, to follow a discussion that fully investigates a topic in all its ramifications.. (Well, this may only apply to old threads, which is the bulk of my reading these days. Still, today's current threads are tomorrow's old threads.) It also makes it hard to investigate whether a topic that hasn't been fully explored in an older thread has ever been addressed (and possibly resolved) in a later thread.

Getting to the point: what I propose is that there be a way to create a formal two-way link between two threads. I.e., when I want to create a daughter or offshoot, I should be able to click a button that automatically generates a new thread that has a link back to the current thread. At the same time the current "mother" thread will get a link to the child, placed at the end of the "mother" or possibly as part of the particular post that inspired the new thread.

When referring to an old thread within an existing thread, one would likewise use a button to place the link in your post, but at the same time it will create a forward link in the "threads that refer to this thread" section of the old thread.

I think this would facilitate discussion and also aid in avoiding misunderstandings over the Forge moderation policies.