This is something I think the site could benefit from having: You have a nice, convenient "reply with quote" button, but a disadvantage to clicking it is that it automatically quotes the entire post you're replying to. It is rarely the case that a response requires review of an entire previous post, and even, often times the context of your response is almost completely lost if placed beneath a complete quote, requiring other users to go on a search-and-find mission within the previous post. So you are pretty much required, more often than not, to edit out and delete the content from the previous post that is not directly related to the response. A nice function that I've seen on other sites is that you can highlight a string of text from a post, hit 'reply to the post' / 'reply with quote,' and then only the highlighted text is included in the quote.
Thanks mate. Some additional suggestions: The simple “reply” button now seems to be obsolete save for the sole purpose of opening the prompt to instruct new users how to use the new highlight-quote function. Additionally, the prompt that comes up is vague, and will potentially frustrate new users. A more specific explanation would be: “To quote a specific passage of text from another user’s post, highlight that text with your mouse, and click the “quote” button which appears at the end of the highlited section. To quote an entire post from another user, click the “reply with quote” button at the bottom right of their post.” And then, the text with the option box to shut off the prompt is also confusing to us meagerly, uneducated laymen. A more universally understandable caption would simply be “stop showing this prompt.” The ‘reply with quote’ button should stop deleting any text entered into the quick reply box. It should rather just add the quote beneath any already entered text (lol I actually had to type this post twice because of my experimenting with that function). Lastly, a way to give the simple “reply” button a purpose that might have some value: it could be used to reply to specific posts, without any text quotation. So, hitting “reply” would identify who is being responded to, and the number of their post, with maybe some text: “In response to Post #394023 from User493584:”
I have encountered similar situations where the reply with quote button poses a challenge to delete a thread. While it may be helpful to keep one abreast with its gist, some posts take ages to delete. If you place your comment below the quoted thread and post, you will be in essence be reposting the quoted reply. Other problems I have encountered in other sites are the absence of an edit button.
