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Forte Board Reply — Step 2: Feature Description

Problem

Forte's board view (/forte) has no way to reply to a thread at all — no toolbar button exists there (unlike the single-thread reader, which now has one) — forcing readers to open a thread individually just to reply.

User Stories

  • As a Forte board-view reader, I want to reply to whichever thread I have selected without leaving the board, so that I don't have to open the single-thread view just to respond.

  • As a Forte board-view reader, I want the Reply action to only be available once I've actually selected a thread, so that it's clear what my reply would attach to.

  • As a Forte board-view reader, I want the composer to look and feel identical to the one already in the single-thread reader, so the two views stay visually consistent.

Core Requirements

  • Add a "Reply" toolbar button to forte_board.php (it currently has none — not even a disabled placeholder), enabled only once a thread is selected (board view has no default selection, unlike the single-thread view).

  • Clicking it reveals an in-pane composer targeting the selected thread's root post (thread_id + parent_id = that thread's root_post_id); no per-reply-post targeting, since board view doesn't support selecting individual replies within the expanded tree.

  • The composer reuses partials/reply_form.php and the existing /compose/reply endpoint unchanged — no new backend logic.

  • The composer reuses the forte.css classes already added for the single-thread reader (paned-compose-panel, paned-compose-form, etc.) as-is — no new styling expected.

  • Selecting a different thread updates the composer's target; deselecting (no thread selected) disables Reply and hides/clears the composer.

  • Submitting returns the reader to the board view (not the classic thread view), extending the existing resolveComposeReplyReturnTo() guard rather than duplicating it.

Shared Component Inventory

  • partials/reply_form.php — canonical reply form. Reused as-is (third surface now, after classic and single-thread Forte).

  • POST /compose/reply / Application.php::handleComposeReplySubmit / resolveComposeReplyReturnTo() — canonical reply-submission + redirect logic. Reused, with resolveComposeReplyReturnTo() extended to also accept a board-view return path (currently only matches /threads/{id}/forte).

  • templates/partials/paned_compose_panel.php (built in forte_reply) — not reused directly: it's written for a page with exactly one thread/$thread in scope and always-valid root_post_id. Board view has many threads and no default selection, so it needs a board-specific variant (or a parameterized rework) rather than a straight include.

  • forte.css's .paned-compose-* rules (built in forte_reply) — reused unchanged; no board-specific CSS anticipated.

  • paned_board_reader.js's selectThread()/resetContentPane() — extended, mirroring how paned_reader.js's selectPost() was extended in forte_reply Stage 3, plus new logic for the "nothing selected" state that the single-thread view never had to handle.

Simple User Flow

  1. Reader opens /forte, sees the thread list with nothing selected and Reply disabled.

  2. Reader clicks a thread row; it previews in the content pane and Reply becomes enabled.

  3. Reader clicks Reply; an in-pane composer appears, targeting that thread's root post.

  4. Reader selects a different thread while composing; the composer's target updates to match (or reader submits as-is).

  5. On submit, the existing /compose/reply flow processes the reply and returns the reader to the board view.

Success Criteria

  • Reply is disabled with no thread selected, and becomes enabled/usable the moment a thread is selected, matching that thread's root_post_id.

  • The composer is visually identical to the single-thread reader's (same forte.css classes, no new rules needed).

  • Submitting creates a reply via the existing /compose/reply endpoint with no new backend logic beyond extending the return-path guard, and returns the reader to /forte afterward.