One of the most notable and important features of the London Commons is the threaded discussions of it's users. Some of these discussions can become very long and confusing. With replies the original post and replies to replies, it can be difficult to discern who is replying to whom and to follow flow of the conversation. With the comment viewing options provided for threads on the London Commons, users can customize how comments and discussions are presented to suite their style of web-surfing.

Comment Listing Options:

The following options are available:
Flat list - collapsed
Flat list - expanded
Threaded list - collapsed
Threaded list -expanded

"Flat List" means that all comments are displayed in the order they were posted (Oldest to newest by default but this can be set to display comments from newest to oldest, see below). The main drawback to a 'flat list' is that as it showes comments in the order they were posted, it may make it more difficult to discern which comments are replies to which.

The above is an example of 'Flat - collapsed' view.

"Threaded list" means that Replies to the original post are displayed chronologically (Oldest to newest by default, but this can be set to display comments from newest to oldest. See below). Any replies to a previous comment will be displayed below (and indented from) the comment it is replying to. Think of a tree: the tree trunk is the original post, the limbs are comments replying to the original post, the branches are replies to the comments about the original post, twigs, leaves and so on... Replies to a given comment will also be displayed chronologically.

The above is an example of 'Threaded - collapsed' view.

"Collapsed" means that only comment titles are displayed. Clicking on a Comment's title will bring you to the comment itself.

"Expanded" means that the full text of all comments are displayed to be read on the same page.

The above is an example of 'Threaded - expanded' view.

Date Options:

Oldest First: Comments will be displayed with older comments or sub-threads (depending on whether you are viewing the discussion in 'Flat' or 'Threaded' mode) towards the top of the page and newer comments towards the bottom. In longer discussions that span multiple pages, Older comments and/or sub-threads will appear on the first pages and comments will become more and more recent as the pages progress. Having the oldest comments first makes it easier to read the discussion as it unfolded.

Newest First: Comments will be displayed with newer comments or sub-threads (depending on whether you are viewing the discussion in 'Flat' or 'Threaded' mode) towards the top of the page and older comments towards the
bottom. In longer discussions that span multiple pages, the most recent comments
and/or sub-threads will appear on the first pages and comments/sub-threads will
become older as the pages progress. Having the newest comments displayed first makes it easier to find new developments in a discussion, reducing the need to scroll or go to subsequent pages.

Number of Comments per page:

This menu allows you to set how many comments you want to appear on a single page. Selecting fewer comments per page will break up longer discussions onto multiple pages (This may make it harder to find multiple new post, as they may only be marked "New" on the first page you're brought to from the recent comments page). you can select 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, 150, 200, 250 or 300 comments per page.

Rated comment options:

This option allows users of the London Commons to decided whether or not they want to display and read comments that have been deemed rude or hostile by other community members (see the Karma and Rating Comments documentation for more information on how comments are determined to be rude, hostile or offensive by the community). 

Show low-rated comments: Comments with low average ratings (i.e. those that have been rated as hostile/less civil) will be displayed along with comments with high average ratings (i.e. comments rated as polite/more civil) and unrated comments. 

Hide low-rated comments: Comments with low average ratings (i.e. those that have been
rated as hostile/less civil) will be removed from your view, leaving only comments with high average
ratings (i.e. comments rated as polite/more civil) and un-rated
comments. This setting can have the effect of making heated threads difficult to understand, as replies to low-rated comments will not be accompanied to the comment they reply too and other references to low-rated comments may lack context.