Options Manager -- Ordering of Items

These options are set from the Conv/Msg tab of the Options Manager interface. These "ordering of items" settings control the ordering and reordering of messages and subtopics upon the addition of new messages and subtopics.

With this option, you can configure the order of items (subtopics and messages) that users add or post through the user interface. The "normal" order, applied when all boxes are unchecked, is that new subtopics are added to the bottom of the list, and new messages are added to the bottom of the list. You can reverse this order, meaning that new subtopics will be added to the top of the list, and new messages will be added to the top of the list. You can also choose to alphabetize the subtopics. (Choosing both to alphabetize and to reverse the subtopic order will result in the subtopic order being sorted from Z to A.)

Add new subtopics to top: New subtopics added by users via the "Create New Conversation" button are added to the top of the list, rather than the bottom of the list. Adding to the bottom of the list is the default.

Alphabetize subtopics upon addition: When new subtopics are added by users via the "Create New Conversation" button, all subtopics on the list are alphabetized if this option is checked. This option has precedence over the "Add new subtopics to top" option.

Move active subtopic to top of list: When any post is made to a subtopic and this option is checked, that subtopic is moved to the top of the subtopic list. In this way, active discussions are promoted to the top of the list.

Move active subtopic's parents to top of list: When any post is made to a subtopic and this option is checked, all of the subtopics above that message are moved to the top of their respective lists. Note that top-level topics are not reordered.

Add new messages to top: We have observed only a very few instances where reversing message order is desirable. Adding prayer requests to a list was one such instance. However, this is not a good choice for conversational flow, since your users will not find it intuitive to start reading at the bottom, scroll up to read a discussion, and then scroll all the way back down to the bottom to post their message. Thus, we discourage reversing message order unless you really know what you're doing.