Advanced Comment Threads

Advanced Comment Threads provides a flexible interface for threaded Drupal comments, designed to make long discussions easier to read and navigate.

The module uses Drupal's comment entities, access controls, text formatting, and server-rendered Single Directory Components (SDCs). It is intended for sites that need more control over how discussions are presented without replacing Drupal's comment system or requiring a separate discussion service.

Most of this module's code was generated with an AI assistant under human direction, review, and testing, using Kenkeep for improved Drupal code generation.

Scenarios

Here's what we had in mind when developing this module:

• Provide comment support for Drupal Canvas/Drupal CMS sites.
• Make commenting a much more pleasant experience, with modern Javascript (HTMX) that posts comments inline without taking you away from the page -- this is a huge improvement for forums!
• Support custom comment bundles with extra fields for things like project management tools.
• Synchronize comments with live chats, with support for Matrix chat rooms.

Features

• Flexible presentation: compact, teaser, and full comment representations, with configurable thread depth, sibling limits, and sort direction.
• Thread-aware navigation: render individual comments, direct replies, or a selected comment with its surrounding context.
• Server-rendered fragments: HTML endpoints for progressively loading comment content, with Drupal handling access checks and rendering.
• Themeable components: SDC-based markup that can be styled to fit your site's design.
• History integration: foundations for identifying new comments using authenticated users' per-node read history.

HTMX live-loading of comments

Inline comment moderation

User preferences and Search Filters

Matrix integration

See our video, Drupal Meets Matrix 03 - Better Comments with Advanced Comment Threads - https://youtu.be/M2xj173Sc7Q.

Development roadmap

The module is under active development. The planned discussion interface includes:

• Unread-only viewing and navigation between new comments. Done.
• Quick filtering with thread context. Done.
• Live comment insertion with accessible status announcements. Done.
• A movable inline reply form that preserves drafts when changing the reply target. Done.
• Configurable blocks for independently placing the discussion and comment form. Done. (Actually these are canvas components, not blocks.)
• A push submodule module to provide Server-Sent Events (SSEs) through a side channel, using Mercure and supporting other options (experimental submodule included).
• A "background" cache warming system to support high volume sites (like the upcoming Drupal.org replacement for groups.drupal.org (experimental submodule included).
• A Messenger submodule that implements the background queue worker using Symfony Messenger (experimental submodule included).
• A Content Push submodule that pushes fresh comments out through SSE, and not just sync triggers.

The interface features are all available now, and we're looking for feedback! Review the release notes before evaluating a particular version.

Requirements

• Drupal 11.4 or later, subject to dependency compatibility.
• Drupal's Comment module.
• The contributed History module.

The base module does not require Canvas, ECA, Matrix, Mercure, a Node.js service, or a WebSocket server.

Project status

Main module - Late beta. APIs, configuration, and markup are being more widely tested before a release candidate. Testing, accessibility feedback, and contributions are welcome.

Submodules - Experimental/early alpha. These are being actively developed and changed. The Push module will make updates much quicker, particularly for sites that want to integrate with chat. The background and messenger modules are mainly necessary for very high-traffic sites -- none of these modules are necessary for most low-to-moderate traffic forums or regular sites.