Forte Board Reply Tree — Step 2: Feature Description

Problem

The board view hides each thread's replies behind a "Show N replies" button that fetches them over the network on click, adding an unnecessary extra step and a noticeable delay.

User Stories

• As a Forte board-view reader, I want a thread's full reply tree already visible when I select it, so that I don't have to click an extra button and wait for it to load.

• As a Forte board-view reader who just posted a reply, I want to land on my new reply already visible in the tree, so I don't need an extra expand step to see it.

Core Requirements

• Selecting a thread on the board immediately shows its complete reply tree inline below the thread body — no button, no fetch, no collapsed state.

• The board page renders each thread's full reply tree server-side up front, the same way the single-thread reader already does, rather than a reply-count summary plus an on-demand fetch.

• The "Show/Hide replies" button, its lazy-load endpoint, and the client-side fetch/cache logic behind it are removed as dead code once every thread's tree is embedded up front.

• Board page load stays acceptable at current data volume (513 threads, 503 replies total, one thread as high as 65) — this is a known trade-off accepted in Step 1, not something to re-litigate here, but a regression check belongs in success criteria.

• The existing "new reply gets scrolled into view and lightly highlighted" behavior (forte_board_reply) keeps working now that the tree is always present, without needing an expand step first.

Shared Component Inventory

• templates/partials/paned_thread_reply_tree.php — the existing reply-tree renderer, already used by both the single-thread reader and the (soon-removed) lazy board endpoint. Reused as-is, just invoked eagerly per thread during board render instead of once per click.

• buildReplyTree() (Application.php) — canonical tree-building helper, already used elsewhere in Forte. Reused, called once per thread at board-render time instead of once per click.

• /forte/threads/{id}/replies endpoint + renderForteThreadReplies() — removed; no longer needed once every thread's tree ships with the initial board render.

• paned_board_reader.js's toggleReplies() / replyCache / reply-toggle click handling — removed as dead code; the existing highlight-and-scroll-to-new-reply logic is simplified to skip the now-nonexistent "expand first" step.

Simple User Flow

1. Reader opens /forte.

2. Reader selects a thread.

3. Reader immediately sees the thread body and its complete reply tree together, with no extra click or visible delay.

Success Criteria

• No "Show N replies" button or collapsed-reply state remains anywhere in the board view.

• Selecting any thread shows its full reply tree immediately.

• Board page load time/size at current data volume (513 threads / 503 replies) stays acceptable — spot-checked, not required to match the old lazy-load page weight exactly.

• The new-reply highlight-and-scroll behavior from forte_board_reply still works correctly against the always-rendered tree.