I've been here for a while, and something that's always bugged me is the fact that the only way to reply to a node is to view its parent -- i.e. if you're looking at a Meditation node, you have to be viewing the Meditations page to post a reply.

I became a monk for the same reason I joined freenode #perl - I want to offer my assistance to others who need help, and receive advice/help when I am need of it. For that reason, I usually read a node and most or all of its replies before replying, so that I don't post a reply that repeats something somebody else said (since that's pointless, as it doesn't really contribute anything).

Another problematic situation is a <readmore> node, where you *have* to be viewing the node itself to see the entire contents.

I therefore propose that 'reply' and 'd/l code' links should be placed at the top of nodes, next to the 'print', 'w/replies', and 'xml' links.

Comments?

Update: sporty informed me that the blue bar at the bottom -- the one that looks like a heading -- is actually a pair of links.

As such, I change my proposition:

  1. Make that box not blue (a white box with a blue border might be appropriate).
  2. Make the links blue on white like all the other links on the site.
  3. Change the text to 'Offer your reply to <node>' to match the text on the main pages.
  4. Make both links the same fontsize (presently 'download code' looks like a subheading)

Update 2: Some people (who have been using these links for a while now) probably don't realize that, the "unvisited" CSS rules have those two links NOT underlined. Once you click them, they underline themselves and become more visible as links.

Update 3: (Lots of CB discussion on this!) theorbtwo has discovered the secret. When a site changes the color of a link, Opera doesn't change the color of the underline that goes with it. Therefore, the link's underline is a dark blue line on a dark blue background, rendering it invisible. Visiting the link changes the underline color to change to a light blue that stands out from the dark blue background.

--Stevie-O 
$"=$,,$_=q>|\p4<6 8p<M/_|<('=>
.q>.<4-KI<l|2$<6%s!<qn#F<>;$,
.=pack'N*',"@{[unpack'C*',$_]
}"for split/</;$_=$,,y[A-Z a-z]
         {}cd;print lc

[download]

In reply to "Offer your reply" link on node page by Stevie-O

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