On Replying

On another thread there was the question of replying to a post in a topic, and where that should be done, and how that should appear.

First, no, you are not crazy. It is different now than before.

Basically there are three "reply" modes:

• replying to a topic, from the"Action" menu at the top or bottom of a topic page;
• replying to a post, from the "Action" menu at the bottom of each post;
• quick reply

The last two are nearly equivalent in that you are replying to a post. The main difference is that the quick reply has a smaller interface, and doesn't allow things like quoting. The difference between replying to a topic and replying to a post is that when you reply to the topic, you are essentially creating a new mini-conversation in the topic, as opposed to replying to something specific that was said by someone else.
Now, here is the real rub. Visually there is currently no difference between topic and post replies because that "threaded" view, with indented posts to show the  flow (e.g., what you might see on DhO) is not available in the specific theme for the site I am currently using. In the past, the theme allowed you to select how you wanted to see stuff, but since the upgrade that has been lost. While I don't like the threaded view, I am annoyed I cannot provide it, so I am looking into getting another theme. So if in your wanders here you suddenly see a different look-and-feel, it is me experimenting with things.