@JohnPhilpin Agreed. Lacks the appropriate affordance, I would say even for those of us who have an understanding of Micro.blog.

@JohnPhilpin One thing I just noticed is that the "replying to" link doesn't have an underline. That might help a little, or a more explicit "view conversation" link. It's also possible to completely customize this for each theme.

@manton well yes - but really - why not a single click on the post in the list to get you to the conversation - which is - right now a double click?

// @simonwoods

@JohnPhilpin A "double click"? Do you mean from the Replies page? As in, you have to first go through the individual reply to get to the conversation?

@simonwoods sorry - yes - should have been clearer.

on page with list of replies you have to click on a date, that isnt markeed as a hyper link to get to that exact same comment on a single page.

on the next page tyou click on the replies name - which is actaulally listed twice - one link takes you to that persona home page - but the first point where the name is listed - again - not marked as a potential link ... but click on that and you get to the full conversati - so now you have a context.

while I am here - I also notice that on that vry first page which is a list of all your replies - at the bottom it reads 'Older Posts >' ... I know why but better if it read something like 'More Replies'

Finally i have today jumped my site to a customizable template - and been playing around with the files - to add in better wording ... probably operator error - but whatever I do - cannot get changes to render.

first world problems ...

// @manton

really looking forward to the ability to edit replies and get rid of the typos !!

sorry.

@JohnPhilpin @simonwoods One thing we've heard is that there needed to be better links for a single reply, without getting lost in the full conversation. That's why it works that way by default. It would be good to have some tutorials for how to customize it, though.

@manton @JohnPhilpin Ah! Now I understand. The focus is on the design of the replies on Micro.blog, with the design of the replies on individual blogs left to the power of the owner of the blog.

This is how I generally see Micro.blog tbh; I agree that it's good when it is easier to customise the design of the individual blogs but we also have to be realistic about the likelihood of the number of people who this serves. I think most people will look at the replies on Micro.blog (via whatever app) and so that is the priority, the core concern as it were.

@manton @JohnPhilpin @Simonwoods I'm afraid I was the one who brought this latest complexity upon us all here. I wanted to be able to get the URL for one particular reply in a conversation, so I could directly reply to just that one person. It came up several times and I couldn't understand why I couldn't reply directly to just that one person, so I brought it up more than once to Manton, who finally said he could do something about it, but not right away. Many months later, I think this new feature is the answer to that!

I've noticed people thanking Manton for the new feature and a number of discussions about how to implement it. Gradually it dawned on me that it might be Manton's solution to my problem. I will never dare to try to implement it, as it appears to require programming skills, which I will never have. I'm just a writer.

I enjoy interaction with some of the people here, but it is a platform for technical experimentation which goes way over my head. At my age I will never even try to acquire the skills required here. It no longer even matters that Manton was never able to get his book written. I'm sure it would have gone way over my head too.

This has given me a new appreciation for FB, a platform that is easy enough for nearly anyone on the Internet to use. I think it probably requires a considerable amount of skill to design something that is that easy to use. And that is a major reason that FB has been adopted by such a huge number of people and micro.blog stays so small. That's okay, it serves a purpose for the tiny niche of Apple experts who have a use for such a platform. And it is great fun for Manton and those people. 💻 😃

@manton @JohnPhilpin My last reply didn't account for the inherent complexities of replying on somebody's site -- although I saw that you said something is in the works for that, Manton, and as ever I think once more pieces of the puzzle are put into place things will become clearer.

Still, for sure, more activity around themes (feedback, documentation, etc) will definitely help a lot of the core features shine brighter.

@Ron I continue to fail miserably in replying to your email and for that I am sorry. However, I am working on some things to do with Micro.blog and look forward to telling you about them; hopefully it will help to make Micro.blog a bit easier to use.

Either way I also think it is most important that we use the web in the manner best fitting our needs. As such anything I share with you to do with my work would not include any sort of expectation from my end that you find it works for you, since such pressure is not at all conducive to helping others get along with any sort of endeavour.