I just realized the only way to get to the reply box is to go to the end of the entire thread. Is there a reason you don't have a link on the bottom of each page to add a reply? If there's nothing new in a thread since the last time I read it, why should I have to jump to the end to add another comment?

(yes, I live most of my online life on message/discussion boards that are formatted differently than this one)

If you don't mind another opinion............When clicking into a thread, it always takes me to the end of it anyway, which is where the Reply Box is. I don't have to go there myself, it's automatic. Isn't that what it should do?

Or do you mean you'd like to add a reply to a specific comment, somewhere before the end of the thread? I have that option on another site I visit, and I don't especially care for it. It seems to get jumbled up, putting a comment in the middle of existing comments.

I'm curious to see what Dave will say about it.

I don't mind other opinions, but when I click into a multi-page thread, it takes me to page 1. Then I have to click "jump to end" or "first unread post" I'm not talking about replying to an existing post. And most message boards I've been to have the reply box at the bottom of every page, not just the last page. Your reply is added to the end of the discussion, because that's what the message board software does. The software here does the same thing, as far as I can tell.

Today, I knew that there were no unread posts -- I had been in the thread five minutes earlier. So I scrolled to the bottom of the first page expecting to see a reply box, and there wasn't one. The only way I could get to a reply box was to go to the last page of the thread.

That's what prompted my post.

nap, that automatic jump to the end was an option you selected in your preferences, so it bypasses the step that Mary is currently doing.
Mary, you can change your preferences by selecting the 'Yes' under "Automatically jump to the first unread post in threads?" on your profile page. From then on, you will automatically be taken to the end beyond the last post you read.

Oh, that's right, Sue. I forgot it was optional! Thanks.