Extension:DiscussionTools/Comparison/en

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

Main characteristics

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]		Wiki opt-in, user configurable	User opt-in and configurable
Visual editing	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Backwards-compatibility with wikitext	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Templates support	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – Tables, templates and parser tags aren't allowed in replies in visual mode	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Full history integration with the rest of the wiki	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Mobile web support	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Mobile app support	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Permalink to a given comment	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – if the comment is not moved elsewhere.^[2] File:OOjs UI icon reload-progressive.svg <translate> In progress</translate>

Discussion features

Interaction with talk pages and other comments.

	LiquidThreads	Structured Discussions	DiscussionTools	Convenient Discussions
Dedicated workflow for starting a new topic	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Topic and contents preload	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Indication of new comments when you read a topic	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Indication of edited comments when you read a topic	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Each topic is a different pages/each conversation has a permalink	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon reload-progressive.svg <translate> In progress</translate>^[2]	File:OOjs UI icon reload-progressive.svg <translate> In progress</translate>^[2]
Move topics between pages	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate> – planned but not implemented	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – via wikitext editing, breaks links.^[2] See discussions on moving with the DiscussionTools UI.	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Include discussions on another page and reply to them there	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate> – planned, including cross-wiki transclusion , but not implemented	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – via transclusion
Editing comments	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – via wikitext editing the whole page or section. See T242562 and T245225 for the editing of individual comments.	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Thank a comment from within the talk page	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – via Page history	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – via Thanks in Page history. File:OOjs UI icon reload-progressive.svg <translate> In progress</translate> – Work on supporting "Thanking" from the DiscussionTools UI is being tracked.	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Sort topics by recent comment	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Sort topics by start date	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Summarize a discussion at the top of it	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – by editing opening comment.
Mark a message as read or unread	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>
Show/hide (collapse) subthreads	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>

Notifications and interactivity

	LiquidThreads	Structured Discussions	DiscussionTools	Convenient Discussions
Highlight a set of unread comments	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – only when subscribed to a topic and using links from notifications	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Subscribe to be notified about new comments to a topic	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – via Watchlist	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – via Echo		File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – via Echo or itself
Be notified when a new topic is started on a talk page
Auto-subscription to a topic you created	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate> – default
Highlight a quoted comment	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate> – can link to comments but only as standalone pages	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Notification of edited comments	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – only on your own comments	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>

Maintenance and moderation

	LiquidThreads	Structured Discussions	DiscussionTools	Convenient Discussions
Direct access to user talkpage, contribs and more	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – if linked in the signature	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – if linked in the signature
Hide (moderate) a comment	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – no undelete UI	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – via undo/rollback (requires searching for edit in edit history) or archival templates, not included and requires editing wikitext	File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>
Hide or delete a topic		File:OOjs UI icon check-constructive.svg <translate> Done</translate>		File:Orange check.svg <translate> Partially done</translate> – same as DiscussionTools
Archiving discussions	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Not needed</translate>	File:Orange check.svg <translate> Not needed</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate> – see T337293 Requires 3rd party bots for automatic archival Requires wikitext editing or 3rd party gadgets for manual archival	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate> – Same as DiscussionTools, though moving topics can be used for manual archival.
Report an inappropriate comment	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>	File:OOjs UI icon reload-progressive.svg <translate> In progress</translate>^[3]	File:OOjs UI icon close-ltr-destructive.svgN <translate> Not done</translate>

References

↑ https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T332022
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Support for offering permanent links to talk page comments and topics is being worked on. Links to comments already exist but aren't permanent without Help:PermanentLink . See T302011. While DiscussionTools doesn't have a UI for acquiring links, Convenient Discussions does and can automatically generate PermanentLinks.
↑ T339247 – Create entry points for the Incident Report dialog with DiscussionTools

[1] ttps://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T332022

[permalink-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Support for offering permanent links to talk page comments and topics is being worked on. Links to comments already exist but aren't permanent without Help:PermanentLink . See T302011. While DiscussionTools doesn't have a UI for acquiring links, Convenient Discussions does and can automatically generate PermanentLinks.

[3] T339247 – Create entry points for the Incident Report dialog with DiscussionTools

[1]

[2]

[3]