Usability of comments

Question

User interface

I am currently developing the comments interface in my project. There were many questions and doubts. Which interface is more convenient to use?

Structure options:
1. Tree-like structure of comments (as on Habré, Dirty)
2. Two-level structure (as on vk.com, Drive2)

Navigation options:
1. Pagination navigation system (on Drive2)
2. All comments on one page (on Habré, Dirty)

Options for responding to a comment:
1. The response form is substituted for the comment we are responding to (on Habré, Dirty, Drive2)
2. The response form is at the very bottom, the name of the author of the comment we are responding to (on vk.com)

I'd like to hear any of your thoughts on this. Perhaps share links to sites that, in your opinion, have a convenient commenting system.

Answer 1

It seems to me that it is more correct not to advise, but to describe the characteristics of each, because it greatly depends on the circumstances, and you did not describe your initial conditions.
Each structure has its pros and cons.
The tree view simply does not track new comments. With active commenting, as in Habré, you have to introduce a bunch of “compensating functionality”. But it is convenient to conduct discussions plunging into the desired branch.
A two-level structure is only a special case of a tree structure, and with a large number of comments, you will also have to introduce a compensatory functional.
In a linear form, new comments are visible simply and without twists and it is easier to implement it. But the problem is with discussion, but with a small number of comments, this can be compensated by entering a “response marker” (for example, a comment number).
Whether to display everything on one page is a matter of volume. It seems to me that up to several. hundreds of elements are all perfectly displayed on one page.
Among other things, if you have a question about developing comments, then apparently the project is new and I would recommend spending less effort and implementing the simplest option (if necessary, providing fields for the "tree" for the future).

Answer 2

1 - for any number of comments with answers to them, the tree view is more convenient.
2
1

Answer 3

2
1
All conditional is not yet clear for which site. Social networks are one thing, the catalog of articles is another.

Answer 4

2 - with a large number of comments in a non-tree system, you just start to get confused about who answers to whom.
2 - well, it's more individual here, if possible, file a choice for the user in the profile settings
1 - ofk 1, 2 option is inconvenient.

Answer 5

I’ll add on my own - if this is an author’s blog or comments are a question-answer, then a two-level structure rules
otherwise 1 2 1