Viewing Threads: Threaded vs Linear Mode

IBS 2.7 > Class Discussions

A video tutorial is available on this topic. Select Participating in Class Discussions from the IBS Help Page, or click here to view it.

There are two ways to view the threads in the Class Discussions forums: Threaded Mode and Linear Mode. 

Threaded Mode

• In Threaded Mode, you see only one post at a time. 
• If you scroll to the bottom of the post, you can see where it "fits" in the discussion. The post you are currently viewing is in black text; all other posts in the thread are in blue. 
• The indentation of each post's title indicates how students have posted replies to the original thread and to each other. You can read the full text of any reply by clicking its title.
• The dates next to each posting show that the chronological order is not maintained when Threaded Mode is selected. The purpose of Threaded Mode is to display the conversational order -- or "who responded to whom" -- not the chronological order.

Linear Mode

• You can switch quickly from Threaded Mode to Linear Mode by clicking the "Linear Mode" link in the top right corner of the post you are reading. To switch back to Threaded Mode, just click the "Threaded Mode" link.
  
• Linear Mode offers the great advantage of displaying the entire text of all posts within the thread at the same time. (In contrast, Threaded Mode displays only one post at a time, along with links to the other posts in the thread.) You may find Linear Mode very helpful when you need an overview of the conversation, or when searching for specific text.
• Threads that are very long may be continued over several pages in Linear Mode. To move from one page to another, click the appropriate link at the top or bottom of your screen.
  
• In Linear Mode, all messages that have been posted in response to the thread are displayed in chronological order.  However, it may be difficult to discern the conversational order; that is, you may not be able to tell exactly which post each reply is responding to.

Setting your preference
You can set your preference for the mode you will use most often. To do this:

1. From anywhere in the forums, click User CP to open your User Control Panel.
   
2. The User Control Panel appears along the left side of your screen. Scroll down to locate the "Your Profile" heading.
3. Under Your Profile, click Edit Options.
   
4. In the Thread View Options section, select the desired view mode from the dropdown menu.
   
5. At the bottom of the screen, click Update Options.