Growing Successful Communities

[#1]

I've noticed that when a file is attached to the 1st post of a thread, the board view puts a little paperclip icon to the right of the thread. However, if a file is not attached to the 1st post, and is instead attached to later posts in the thread, no paperclip icon appears next to the thread. This makes it difficult to see which threads have file attachments. Is this by design? A bug? A known issue? See screenshot below if my rambling is as incoherent as I think it is

Since it's not very clear...both threads contain attachments.

[#2]

No, your rambling is perfectly clear.

That is something I had never noticed before.

Speaking more as a forums user, rather than a Lithium Customer Success Manager, I've never really cared about indicators for attachments...unless the thread was focused on having an official document, image, song, etc.  And usually that means that the original poster fully intends on having the readers focus on the attachment as the main point of conversation.

For example, if I started a thread asking what your favorite Beatles album is, I would not expect it to have an attachment.  That is a text oriented discussion (but people often use album art as ammo in discussions like that)...anyway...if the 3rd or 4th post in the thread attached an image of an early Rickenbacker bass that Sir Paul used, do I really need to know that?

I'm not trying to debate you as much clarify what would be the point in having that little icon show up all the time?  Maybe if you were a Mod or Admin that was really wary of what people wanted to attach, I would be concerned, but if that is the thought, then I would just fall back to the Lithium permissions system.

[#3]

Fair enough. On our forums, the only files that can be attached by users are .txt and .log files. This is something we've recently changed to address the growing practice of users pasting in their logs text and making THE LONGEST THREADS IN THE WORLD. Superusers are reviewing these logs to help troubleshoot problems.

So, ideally, when a superuser is working with another user on his problem, and revisits the thread to see the ATTACHMENT icon, he knows right away that the logs are attached. However with the current implementation, the only way that could happen is if the user attaches the logs to the first post in the thread.

Also, I don't mean the files that are part of the "galleries" - both image and video. Rather, I mean files that are attached to a post.

[#4]

Ahhh, I see.  The use-case that you cite makes perfect sense.  A super-user or somebody looking to help the user in the thread is checking back to see if the file to be scrutinized has been attached.  I wont say that is a fringe use-case, but it is somewhat uncommon.

Again, I dont mean to debate you, but couldnt the super-user / helpful user just subscribe to the thread and check back?

I've been thinking about this more (because, yes, I do ponder these things while I'm out and about).  In a community where people throw on attachments quite often, and they are NOT the original poster, you could potentially have a whole row of threads with attachment icons, which would look a little strange.

Anyway, I see the use for what you're describing.  It would maybe make sense to make it configurable from the Admin panel.  Something like:

Display attachment icon any time there is an attachment in the thread (if this box is not checked, then an attachment icon will show up only if there is an attachment in the first post of the thread).

Put this suggestion on the Ideas board and I'll vote for it.