Mon Nov 09 2020 -

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Sorting Comment Threads with FastComments

Target Audience

This target audience for this article consists of both administrators and commenters.

Introduction

Comments have always been sorted using a combination of their age and karma (up + down votes). Up until now, that was the only sorting direction allowed.

New Sorting Directions

The FastComments comment widget now additionally supports sorting by Newest and Oldest First.

Changing Sort Direction

When the number of top-level comments is greater than one, a new dropdown will appear to allow changing the sort direction.

When selecting Newest or Oldest First we do not take the karma of the comment into account.

Changing The Default Sort Direction

While the default sort direction is Most Relevant, the default sort direction can easily be customized by creating a customization rule.

Keeping it Fast

In order for FastComments to continue to live up to its name a considerable amount of time has been spent to ensure sorting in all ways is well optimized. Comments get sorted as they are left, so no actual sorting happens when you load the page. This ensures that loading the comment widget, and changing the sort direction, is fast no matter how many comments you have.

In Conclusion

We hope you've found this update helpful. Feel free to comment below with any questions.

Cheers!