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Step 3: Development Plan — Merge Same-Author Reply Chains on Thread Pages

Stage 1

  • Goal: compute and mark the continuation flag server-side, with zero visual change yet.

  • Dependencies: none.

  • Expected changes:

    • templates/pages/thread.php: while iterating posts (root, then $replyPosts in order), track the previous post and compute a boolean continuation flag per post using a named constant (e.g. CONTINUATION_WINDOW_SECONDS = 900); pass the flag + previous post's time/author into each partial's context.

    • Conceptual helper: isContinuation(array $previousPost, array $post, int $windowSeconds): bool — true when same author, time delta ≤ window, and neither post is agent-authored (author_label === 'reply-agent').

    • templates/partials/post_card.php: add continuation class, data-time, data-author attributes to the <article> when flagged.

    • templates/partials/thread_root_card.php: add data-author attribute (root post itself is never a continuation, but is the "previous post" for the first reply's comparison).

  • Verification approach: render thread-20260927234240-a72307ac and inspect raw HTML — confirm the 6 guest replies are flagged, the trailing reply-agent post is not, and a post following the agent reply (even same guest author, within window) is not flagged since the immediately-previous post is agent-authored.

  • Risks or open questions:

    • Confirm "previous post" means immediately-preceding post in thread order, not "previous post by the same author" (a gap post from someone else should break the chain).

    • Confirm behavior when the first reply immediately follows the root (root counts as "previous" for continuation comparison).

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: templates/pages/thread.php, templates/partials/post_card.php, templates/partials/thread_root_card.php.

Stage 2

  • Goal: merge a run of continuation cards into one visual block via CSS only.

  • Dependencies: Stage 1 (class/data attributes must exist).

  • Expected changes:

    • public/assets/site.css: adjust .stack spacing so a card followed by .continuation loses its bottom border/margin/rounded bottom corners, and .continuation loses its top margin/rounded top corners and gets a faint dashed top separator; hide .continuation > .meta; generalize .post-card-permalink hover/focus visibility to every post card.

    • content-interactions.css (or site.css): hover/focus-reveal rule for .post-card-actions on every card in a run except the last (:has(+ .continuation)), shown on :hover/:focus-within.

    • Hover timestamp: .continuation::before { content: attr(data-time) } in the left gutter, hidden by default, shown on hover/focus.

  • Verification approach: manual browser check of the acceptance-check thread in light and dark theme, and at phone width — merged run looks like one card; hovering a continuation reveals its time + its own action row; permalinks fade in on hover.

  • Risks or open questions:

    • :has() selector support — confirm acceptable across the browsers this project targets.

    • Touch devices have no :hover — plan a tap/focus fallback (covered in Stage 4) rather than solving it here.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: public/assets/site.css, public/assets/content-interactions.css.

Stage 3

  • Goal: collapse the root card's header to one meta line and reinstate a continuation-aware reply count.

  • Dependencies: Stage 1 (need the flag to count true replies).

  • Expected changes:

    • templates/pages/thread.php: compute a "true reply count" = count of $replyPosts where continuation flag is false; pass it into the root card's context (replacing reliance on the raw thread.reply_count, which counts continuations too).

    • templates/partials/thread_root_card.php: merge the existing byline / labels / agent-marker <p class="meta"> lines into a single combined line, appending the true reply count; title-duplication handling (already implemented) stays as-is and is not touched.

    • Existing title/body dedup logic and body rendering untouched.

  • Verification approach: render the acceptance-check thread and confirm one meta line reading roughly "guest · Sep 27, 23:42 · like · 1 reply" (exact wording finalized during implementation), with no duplicated first line of body text.

  • Risks or open questions:

    • A prior slice (thread_root_card_remove_reply_count) deliberately removed the reply-count line and likely has test assertions expecting its absence — those need to be located and updated, not just added to.

    • Confirm board/tag list pages (thread_card.php) are unaffected, per Step 2 scope.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: templates/partials/thread_root_card.php, templates/pages/thread.php, any existing test assertions on root-card meta content.

Stage 4

  • Goal: cross-theme and responsive/touch pass so the merge holds up everywhere, per the acceptance check.

  • Dependencies: Stage 2, Stage 3.

  • Expected changes:

    • Audit and adjust theme override files (theme-word97.css, theme-sticker.css, theme-arena.css, etc.) wherever they re-declare .card/.post-card/.stack in ways that would fight the Stage 2 merge rules.

    • Add a touch-reachable way to reveal a mid-run card's action row (e.g. tap-to-toggle or a small "⋯" affordance), CSS-first; confirm whether a minimal JS enhancement is acceptable or must stay CSS-only (open question below).

  • Verification approach: manual check at phone width and with touch/no-hover emulation, in each theme, in light and dark; confirm a deep link to a continuation's anchor still scrolls to and highlights it correctly under the new styles.

  • Risks or open questions:

    • Whether "no client-side JS for grouping" (Stage 1's constraint) also forbids a small JS-based touch-reveal affordance, or only forbids JS-driven grouping logic — needs a decision before this stage starts.

    • Highlight style (:target or similar) for a merged continuation may need a touch-up now that borders/margins around it have changed.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: theme CSS files under public/assets/.

Stage 5

  • Goal: add automated regression coverage for the new behavior.

  • Dependencies: Stages 1–3.

  • Expected changes:

    • New/updated cases in tests/LocalAppSmokeTest.php: continuation flag correctness (author match, window boundary, agent-authored break), true-reply-count computation, merged root-card meta content, and that a continuation's permalink/anchor still resolves and highlights.

    • Reuse or extend existing multi-reply fixture data (timestamps within/outside the window) rather than introducing a new fixture format.

  • Verification approach: php tests/run.php full suite — confirm no new failures beyond the existing tracked-pre-existing baseline.

  • Risks or open questions:

    • Existing fixture timestamps may not currently exercise both "within window" and "outside window" cases; may need small fixture additions.

  • Canonical components/API contracts touched: tests/LocalAppSmokeTest.php, fixture repository used by the test suite.