Is/Can there be a way to browse topic before clicking in?

I would really love to be able to browse topics before clicking in, like on some boards you can see the first few sentences of the OP's post without actually going into the thread. It would free up a lot of my time to be able to scan and then go on to a topic I am more interested if need be. I have just been very disenchanted lately by topics not actually matching subject....

Thank you!

Yes, but only if the moderators begin to use AJAX.

What is Ajax?
and why would mods have to use it?
I know how to surf and I don't even do that very well so I need guidance

AJAX has to do with web development

I'm sure you have been to web pages that generate a small pop up that might contain text and images. This is AJAX

Simply put, the format of the web pages would need to be slightly altered to allow you to briefly preview the content of that page without clicking.

Just click and drag on a Google map to see.
All the action is done behind the scenes and you never have to reload the page.

Very good suggestion.

I have visit some boards that implemented this feature.

It is very user friendly.

Unfortunately ATS' database is so huge already that this feature would cause more frustration than it could it ever overcome with convenience.

The file size of the pages would be increased greatly thus slowing down the whole site. On a forum that has 20 or 30 people browsing it this is not a problem but ATS always has thousands of people browsing all at once.

We recently re jiggered lots of the code in order to reduce the file size and db queries for page loads and it helped tremendously, this would effectively destroy the advantage we gained from that work.

Springer...

The thing that would help more than anything is if members would give good informative titles to the threads that they start. For instance, if you're starting a thread about a nuclear site in Iran, don't title it "OMG This is crazy!!!!!" Who knows what lurks behind that title. Wouldn't it be better if your title was something like "New nuclear site found in Iran"

The thread title is the thread preview. Unfortunately, a lot of members don't feel the need for informative titles and prefer the dramatic title just to suck people in. It's members, not the staff that are making it difficult for you to find what you want.

My $0.02

reply to post by dbates


Your .02 is worth many times that if people took your advice, dbates. Bad titles are a waste of many people's time. They should be subject to a small penalty, such as the one for excessive quoting, imo.

reply to post by jsobecky


I agree, I just get so frustrated opening threads only to find it is not what I expected, seems like such a waste of time.

Thank you all for your input, just thought I would throw the idea out there and Thank you Alxandro for explaining the Ajax

I have an easy way to preview, fist I look to see who posted it then I look to see who the last post was by, if its by someone I have read before I'm more inclined to look. If its an unknown its 50/50 if I look.