README

A Flarum extension that adds threaded discussions with visual indentation to your forum, making complex conversations easier to follow.

🚀 Features

• Multi-level nested threading with distinct colors and indentation for each depth
• Pre-computed thread structure - efficient backend thread calculation and storage
• Real-time updates - new replies appear in correct threaded positions instantly
• Seamless integration - uses existing Flarum mentions
• Works on existing discussions - will also create threads for past discussions
• Optional tag-based threading - thread all discussions, or only those with a chosen tag (e.g. for Q&A-style tags)

📋 Requirements

• Flarum v1.8.10+ (tested on 1.8.10)
• Flarum Mentions Extension - Required for threading to work
• PHP 7.4+

👀 Preview:

🔧 Installation

Via Composer (when published)

composer require syntaxoutlaw/threadify

Manual Installation

1. Clone/download this repository into your extensions/threadify/ directory
2. Run composer install in the extension directory
3. Run cd js && npm install && npm run build to compile JavaScript
4. Enable the extension in your Flarum admin panel

🎯 How to Use

Threading works automatically using Flarum's mentions extension:

1. Click Reply on any post
2. Keep the @ mention that's automatically inserted (e.g., @"Username"#p123)
3. Write your reply and submit
4. Your reply will appear indented under the parent post

⚙️ How It Works

Backend (PHP)

• Database Structure:
  • Adds parent_id column to posts table for basic parent-child relationships
  • Creates threadify_threads table for advanced thread metadata (depth, path, counts)
• Thread Processing:
  • Listens for new posts and extracts parent relationships from mention format @"Name"#p123
  • Pre-computes thread depth, path, and descendant counts for efficient frontend rendering
  • Maintains thread hierarchy with proper indexing for fast queries
• API Endpoints:
  • /discussions/{id}/threads - Returns complete thread structure with metadata
  • /threadify/admin/rebuild-parent-ids - Admin tool for rebuilding thread relationships

Frontend (JavaScript)

• Thread Tree Building:
  • Uses pre-computed thread metadata from backend API
  • Builds parent-child tree structures and flattens them to linear threaded order
• Visual Styling:
  • Applies CSS classes for visual depth styling (thread-depth-1, thread-depth-2, etc.)
  • Progressive indentation with color-coded depth indicators

🔍 Troubleshooting

• Threading not working? Ensure flarum/mentions extension is enabled
• Posts not loading? Check browser console for errors and run php flarum cache:clear
• Visual issues? Run php flarum assets:publish and clear browser cache
• Database issues? Run php flarum migrate to ensure all migrations are applied

📝 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Made with ❤️ for the Flarum community