Extension:DiscussionTools/Comparison

Various extensions and tools have emerged over the years to improve the support MediaWiki offers people to communicate with one another on-wiki: Structured Discussions (Flow), LiquidThreads , DiscussionTools and Convenient Discussions.

This page offers an overview of these various extensions and how the features they offer compare to one another.

Comparative Review

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Main characteristics

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Status of each tool, and their integration to the wiki's key features.

LiquidThreads Structured Discussions DiscussionTools Convenient Discussions
Type of tool MediaWiki extension Gadget/Userscript based on DiscussionTools
Release status Unmaintained Maintained (Wikimedia Foundation) Maintained (Volunteers)
Activation Pending removal[1] Deployed on all wikis as the default discussion system.[2] User configurable (including opting-out). User opt-in and configurable
Visual editing  N Not done   Done   Done  N Not done
Backwards-compatibility with wikitext  N Not done  N Not done   Done   Done
Templates support   Done   Done   Partially done – Tables, templates and parser tags aren't allowed in replies in visual mode   Done
Full history integration with the rest of the wiki   Done  N Not done   Done   Done
Mobile web support  N Not done   Done   Done  N Not done
Mobile app support  N Not done  N Not done   Done  N Not done
Permalink to a given comment   Done   Done   Done – if the signature of the comment is not altered.[3]   In progress

Discussion features

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Interaction with talk pages and other comments.

LiquidThreads Structured Discussions DiscussionTools Convenient Discussions
Dedicated workflow for starting a new topic   Done   Done   Done   Done
Topic and contents preload   Done   Done   Done   Done
Indication of new comments when you read a topic  N Not done  N Not done   Done
Indication of edited comments when you read a topic   Done   Done  N Not done   Done
Each conversation has a permalink   Done   Done – Each topic is a different page.   Done – By linking to the title, or by using the first comment's permalink.[3]   In progress[3]
Move topics between pages   Done  N Not doneplanned but not implemented   Done – via wikitext editing; title and signature mustn't be altered during the move.[3]   Done
Include discussions on another page and reply to them there  N Not done  N Not doneplanned, including cross-wiki transclusion , but not implemented   Done – via transclusion
Editing comments   Done   Done   Partially done – via wikitext editing the whole page or section. See T242562 and T245225 for the editing of individual comments.   Done
Thank a comment from within the talk page   Partially done – via Page history   Done   Partially done – via Thanks in Page history.
  In progress – Work on supporting "Thanking" from the DiscussionTools UI is being tracked.
  Done
Sort topics by recent comment   Done   Done  N Not done  N Not done
Sort topics by start date   Done   Done  N Not done  N Not done
Summarize a discussion at the top of it   Done   Done   Partially done – by editing opening comment.
Mark a message as read or unread   Done  N Not done  N Not done  N Not done
Show/hide (collapse) subthreads   Done  N Not done  N Not done   Done


Notifications and interactivity

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LiquidThreads Structured Discussions DiscussionTools Convenient Discussions
Highlight a set of unread comments  N Not done   Done   Done – only when subscribed to a topic and using links from notifications   Done
Subscribe to be notified about new comments to a topic   Done – via Watchlist   Done – via Echo   Done – via Echo or itself
Be notified when a new topic is started on a talk page
Auto-subscription to a topic you created   Done – default
Highlight a quoted comment  N Not done – can link to comments but only as standalone pages   Done   Done   Done
Notification of edited comments   Partially done – only on your own comments   Done  N Not done  N Not done

Maintenance and moderation

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LiquidThreads Structured Discussions DiscussionTools Convenient Discussions
Direct access to user talkpage, contribs and more   Partially done – if linked in the signature   Done   Partially done – if linked in the signature
Hide (moderate) a comment   Partially done – no undelete UI   Done   Partially done – via undo/rollback (requires searching for edit in edit history) or archival templates, not included and requires editing wikitext   Done
Hide or delete a topic   Done   Partially done – same as DiscussionTools
Archiving discussions   Not needed   Not needed  N Not done – see T337293
  • Requires 3rd party bots for automatic archival
  • Requires wikitext editing or 3rd party gadgets for manual archival
 N Not done – Same as DiscussionTools, though moving topics can be used for manual archival.
Report an inappropriate comment  N Not done  N Not done   In progress[4]  N Not done


References

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  1. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T332022
  2. A few wikis have Flow as the default discussion system.
  3. T339247 – Create entry points for the Incident Report dialog with DiscussionTools