Developer Update: Comment System Part 3 (Patreon)

I finally got this to a place where I feel OK about the structure. It's taken a more youtube like approach to hiding comments where it will show 4 most recent replies before allowing you to expand it. I am still working on showing more "active" threads, such as threads spawned within the last 6 hours (they should start expanded since they could be a relevant ongoing discussion). So right now, the logic behind it visually is:

• If more than four recent replies, show 4 most recent then a 'show more replies' button
• If expanding a child that has hidden siblings (the above case) click to show more
• Lazy load all images

Additional Changes

• Show full trees for replies that happened in the last X hours
• Allow sorting root nodes by popularity rather than most recent
• Image uploads may be limited to patreon users only due to budget constraints

Lastly

Still iffy on the intersection observer usage for this. I am  not sure how much that is needed now that I am limiting the tree & descendants based on siblings. It should depend on the volume of root notes, and I may be able to remove it and rely on an infinite scroll handler for root nodes using this system. it feels better that way, too. 

Anyway, here is a video of it in action. 

Have a great Sunday everyone!