Extension:DiscussionTools/Comparison/dtp
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Various extensions and tools have emerged over the years to improve the support MediaWiki offers people to communicate with one another on-wiki: Structured Discussions (Flow), LiquidThreads, DiscussionTools and Convenient Discussions.
This page offers an overview of these various extensions and how the features they offer compare to one another.
Comparative Review
Main characteristics
Status of each tool, and their integration to the wiki's key features.
| LiquidThreads | Structured Discussions | DiscussionTools | Convenient Discussions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of tool | MediaWiki extension | Gadget/Userscript based on DiscussionTools | ||
| Release status | Unmaintained | Maintained (Wikimedia Foundation) | Maintained (Volunteers) | |
| Activation | Pending removal[1] | Deployed on all wikis as the default discussion system.[2] User configurable (including opting-out). | User opt-in and configurable | |
| Visual editing | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Backwards-compatibility with wikitext | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Templates support | Yes | Yes |  Partially done – Tables, templates and parser tags aren't allowed in replies in visual mode
|
Yes |
| Full history integration with the rest of the wiki | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile web support | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app support | No | No | Yes | No |
| Permalink to a given comment | Yes | Yes | Yes – if the signature of the comment is not altered.[3] |  In progress
|
Discussion features
Interaction with talk pages and other comments.
| LiquidThreads | Structured Discussions | DiscussionTools | Convenient Discussions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dedicated workflow for starting a new topic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Topic and contents preload | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Indication of new comments when you read a topic | No | No | Yes | |
| Indication of edited comments when you read a topic | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Each conversation has a permalink | Yes | Yes – Each topic is a different page. | Yes – By linking to the title, or by using the first comment's permalink.[3] | In progress[3]
|
| Move topics between pages | Yes | No – planned but not implemented | Yes – via wikitext editing; title and signature mustn't be altered during the move.[3] | Yes |
| Include discussions on another page and reply to them there | No | No – planned, including cross-wiki transclusion, but not implemented | Yes – maya Transklusi | |
| Editing comments | Yes | Yes | Partially done – via wikitext editing the whole page or section. See T242562 and T245225 for the editing of individual comments.
|
Yes |
| Thank a comment from within the talk page | Partially done – via Page history
|
Yes | Partially done – via Thanks in Page history. In progress – Work on supporting "Thanking" from the DiscussionTools UI is being tracked.
|
Yes |
| Sort topics by recent comment | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Sort topics by start date | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Summarize a discussion at the top of it | Yes | Yes | Partial – by editing opening comment.
| |
| Mark a message as read or unread | Yes | No | No | No |
| Show/hide (collapse) subthreads | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Notifikasi om interaktiviti
| LiquidThreads | Structured Discussions | DiscussionTools | Convenient Discussions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highlight a set of unread comments | No | Yes | Yes – only when subscribed to a topic and using links from notifications | Yes |
| Subscribe to be notified about new comments to a topic | Yes – via Watchlist | Yes – via Echo | Yes – via Echo or itself | |
| Be notified when a new topic is started on a talk page | ||||
| Auto-subscription to a topic you created | Yes – default | |||
| Highlight a quoted comment | No – can link to comments but only as standalone pages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Notification of edited comments | Partially done – only on your own comments
|
Yes | No | No |
Maintenance and moderation
| LiquidThreads | Structured Discussions | DiscussionTools | Convenient Discussions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct access to user talkpage, contribs and more | Partially done – if linked in the signature
|
Yes | Partial – if linked in the signature
| |
| Hide (moderate) a comment | Partial – no undelete UI
|
Yes | Partial – via undo/rollback (requires searching for edit in edit history) or archival templates, not included and requires editing wikitext
|
Yes |
| Hide or delete a topic | Yes | Partial – same as DiscussionTools
| ||
| Archiving discussions | Not needed
|
Not needed
|
No – see T337293
|
No – Same as DiscussionTools, though moving topics can be used for manual archival. |
| Report an inappropriate comment | No | No | In progress[4]
|
No |
References
- ↑ https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T332022
- ↑ A few wikis have Flow as the default discussion system.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 DiscussionTools has its own system of permalinks based on signatures, while Convenient Discussions can automatically generate PermanentLinks.
- ↑ T339247 – Create entry points for the Incident Report dialog with DiscussionTools