mastodon / mastodon/documentation

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/quote-posts/ is inconsistent about "quote post", and ends up being contradictory

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Description

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/quote-posts/ starts describing "quote posts".

From the context, and how the web UI works, I think most of the time when it talks about a "quote post" it means "The post you get when you press the boost/quote button in the web UI".

This leads to the FAQ section saying:

Do quote posts appear in the same context as a thread, or do they create a new context?

Quote posts create a new context, and do not appear in the replies. Replies to the quote post will only notify you if you are also mentioned.

This suggests quote posts are always top-level posts; they start their own thread.

In a different section it then says:

Can I quote and reply at the same time?

Yes. Start writing a reply, then click the “Quote” button on the post you want to quote. The quote will be attached to the reply.

The "reply" created here is also a "quote post", and it does not create a new thread.

The document would probably be clearer if this information was presented as:

  1. A general discussion of a post that contains a quote, and the controls the quotee has
  2. How to quote a post and create a new thread
  3. How to reply to an existing post and include a quote

Then both those FAQ questions can be removed.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Open the quote-posts documentation page and compare its general description with the FAQ sections on context and replying with a quote. Reorganize the page around quoted posts, creating a new thread, and replying with a quote as proposed, then remove the redundant FAQ questions. Done means the page no longer implies that every quote post is top-level or contradictory.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
52/100

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