rel-in-reply-to

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rel=in-reply-to is proposed method for linking from a comment to the original post that the comment is a reply to.

Publishers

In a post that is a reply/response/comment to some other original post on the web, the hyperlink from the reply to the original should be marked up with the rel value in-reply-to.

Consumers

WebMention

If your site implements receiving webmentions, implement the WebMention ping verification using rel="in-reply-to" as documented in the WebMention specification.

When your site receives a verified webmention with an "in-reply-to" link, provide a display of the webmention source on your webmention target page, e.g. as suggested in: IndieWebCamp: comment presentation (uses the h-entry at the source page to construct a comment on the target page with author, comment contents, date posted, etc.).

Issues

Replying To Multiple Original Posts

What if a post is a reply/response/comment to multiple other original posts on the web?

  • Example: (need a real world example of a reply to multiple other posts to better understand this problem and its importance)

Should the reply put rel="in-reply-to" on the hyperlinks to all of the other original posts? Or should the reply only use rel="in-reply-to" on the first or most important original post that it's a reply to?

Nature of a “reply”

How exactly do we define “reply” so that in-reply-to is used in suitable contexts? What factors differentiate a reply from, say, a comment or mention?

  • If the reply makes sense without the original content as context, is it a reply? If I write a blog post which is in response to another, but makes a point on it’s own, does it qualify to use in-reply-to? Does the content of a reply (and, by extension, multiple replies) have to flow like a conversation?

For example, a “reply” could cover almost anything from a short, two word comment (F1R5T P0ST) to a long essay, or even a video (e.g. youtube video responses). Handling all of these concurrently (e.g. trying to build a facebook/twitter-like chronological conversation UI) is likely to be a nightmare.

Previous Formats

YouTube uses a URL-qualified version of in-reply-to:

  • rel="http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#in-reply-to"

in their Atom API, e.g.:

<link rel="http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007#in-reply-to"
  type="application/atom+xml" 
  href="https://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/videos/2cd.../comments/978..."/>

Alternatives

u-in-reply-to

Alternatively, or in addition, there is the suggestion to use:

  • class=u-in-reply-to

on hyperlinks from comment posts marked up with h-entry to original posts.

Advantage:

  • can be used anywhere a post may occur, where-as rel=in-reply-to sh
    • post permalink page (which should also use rel=in-reply-to)
    • archive pages that contain the post
    • home page or recent updates that contain the post

See Also