Is it possible to have Directories, whereas a GM creates what looks like a thread, but when you click into it, there is a list of threads to choose from?  That way, you can create a subject title on a thread and within that is a menu of threads related to that subject.

It is done manually but yes. I find it quite useful. The gm can just use the <a href=thread url>Thread Name</a> format to make it a clickable link by thread name.

Edit: Just noticed this is in the development thread. Sorry. But the method works as a manual process.
This message was last edited by the user at 16:56, Sat 20 July.

Given the logistics of setting up an interface to manage that to automatically create a directory, I think the manual process is the easiest.

Subscreen would need controls for the GM to specify which links to show - bearing in mind the GM might want everything in one group or some groups or all groups, and, similarly, one, some or all threads within a particular group.

Slight complication in that if a player doesn't have a character in the same group that the target thread points to, in that directory listing, they're going to get a message telling them that they don't have access, but that's the control in itself - a way around that would be to manage the links using the Secret function to select only those characters in that particular group, but the GM would have to be prepared to edit the directory thread to update the character list for each link in the event they edited groups or added new players.  Possibly could make that easier setting up private groups say A Team, B Team etc, if you knew everyone in A Team was going to be able to access a particular group or groups - then you just need to add the characters to the right private group and set up Secret to point to that group.   Personally I'd let the normal group access error handle it.  ;>

I'm kind of with Skald, in that the current capability is probably sufficient if you need a specific directory thread that provides links to other threads, but (at the risk of asking the really stupid question) don't we already have the ability to sort threads by subject with the main game page? I mean, it's pretty much already a 'thread directory', isn't it? <.<

If the goal is to sort threads by subject within the thread, you can just label the threads somehow. For instance, every thread that dealt with a circus could have '(Circus)' appended to its title, and every thread that dealt with the zoo could have '(Zoo)'. Then your players can just scroll down the main game page to see which threads deal with that subject matter.

But we don't have the ability to sort them at all besides notices. If you have pages of threads in a game you won't know that you missed (circus) "the lion tamer pit" on page 3.

The problem with sorting threads, and believe me it's something that I've agreed with requests for before but then thought the better of it, is that half of what makes RPoL work is that new posts in threads push them to the top, so that players can't really ignore them. (Okay, they can, and do...but not because they didn't SEE them there.)

If threads are grouped together in some other fashion, then the 'new posts to the top feature' will either break that, or if the to-the-top feature stayed locked within sorting groups, people might miss new posts if they're not on the first page.

Either way, if your players won't bother scrolling through a few pages of threads to look for what they need, they'll miss it.

The fact that highlighting threads with new posts breaks every other day doesn't really help that bit either...

Exactly.... that is what I was trying to reduce; the number of pages for say [MAP] Region X, whereas I might have five or ten regions.  Clutters the main gaming page and adds pages of threads to sort through.

But, tbh, I just looked into the Game Wiki and it will do what I am asking easily.  The thing about that is that not everyone uses the Wiki (or wants to), but I suppose that is their loss.

Thanks for all the input.  I sort of figured there would way more to it than my lack of coding knowledge could comprehend.  I love this site and appreciate the work that goes into it.

One of those 'your mileage might vary' things - I've never had a problem with threads with new posts being correctly highlighted.  :>

I think jase's conclusion was that when such problems arise, it's most likely because of accessing the site from multiple devices (eg PC and mobile).