## Auto-converted by kwiki2moinmoin v2005-10-07
ThreadMode pages are a great way to get to DocumentMode, and many pages start out in ThreadMode by someone asking a question on one page, creating a wiki link, and then putting a simple description of the question in the new page.  You can tell you're in ThreadMode when you see many signed comments in a row, or even in a series of nested paragraphs.  Heavy signing is a good indicator of ThreadMode.
If you find a page in ThreadMode that appears to have come to a resolution, it may be time to refactor it into DocumentMode.

For more on this, see:

 * Wiki:ConvertThreadModeToDocumentMode
 * Wiki:HowToWriteAndEditThreadMode
 * Wiki:RefactorByCondensingConversation
 * and really everything under Wiki:RefactoringWikiPages

There's a lot of good meta-wiki stuff in WikiWikiWeb that would be pointless to try and reproduce here.

----
Elements of good [[DebianWiki/EditorGuide#writing-style|WikiStyle]] for ThreadMode pages

 * Sign your comments.  It helps people understand the flow of the thread.
 * For long discussions between 2 or 3 people, use indented lists for replies (see below for an example).  This is like a newsgroup thread.
 * For more people, try signing at the beginning, like a script.  Don't go back and reply under specific points, but just comment at the end. This is closer to a real-life or chat room/IRC discussion.
 * When the discussion starts to wrap up, strive for synthesis and summarization.  ThreadMode should almost always lead to DocumentMode.
 * Try not to be too critical
 * Avoid sarcasm, unless it helps the discussion

----
Sample Thread with bullets

 * I can't get 'cheese' to compile --!DebUser
   * Did you try it with the {{{--foo}}} options to configure?  --!DebDevel
 * Yes.  It still errors out with{{{
  Gah!  Unknown option:
   foo
  What are you, stupid?
}}}
 * I don't think that is a very nice thing to say, either.  --!DebUser
   * Weird.  I'll look into it.  --!DebDevel
     * Try {{{--extra-opts}}} ... it worked for me.  --!OtherUser
 * That's it!  Thanks
   * I'll add that to {{{README.Debian}}} ... Thanks to both of you.

Notice that after a while, indent level served as a signature.  If you're always consistent, this can work OK.

----
Sample thread with pre-signing

DebUserA: I can't get 'cheese' to compile

DebUserB: Me too!  What's the deal with {{{--foo}}} ?

DebDevA: Yep.  That's completely broken.  Did you file a bug?

DebDevB: See DebianBug:123456

DebUserA: I think I found it.  Line 47 of {{{debian/rules}}} has a typo{{{
  ./configure --extra-otps --foo
}}}
needs to be{{{
  ./configure --extra-opts --foo
}}}

DebDevA: Thanks!  I'll make the change and upload.

DebUserA: Excellent!  Thanks to all.