About the forum software I'm writing called TLF.
TLF = Thread Linear Forum. Looking for a new name maybe, IDEALS?
When you see
Comments with replies box below the topic message you will see a new link called
>>>>View as Linear
After clicking on the link this will display all post in the message in linear style. You can click on the POSTREPLY icon to far right of each post to reply to any message in the thread. This will start a new thread off of the message.
KEWL!