Reply button?

As I peruse and post on the various forums, I often wish there was some sort of *Reply* button to the left of each post that would take you directly to a dialogue box that begins with the name of the member to whom's post you are responding. I think this would aid in continuity of the threads, and it would also save having to go back to see how someone's screen name is spelled or what the person's real name is so that you can properly address them.

I don't know how complicated the programming might be for such a feature, but we could make it even more so by having the *Reply* button search for the member's address name preference. For instance, gardenwitchofthewest might like to be addressed as Sue. This preference could be retrieved from a membership information source.

Is this feature feasible, Dave? Do you agree that it would be desirable?
....Pen

If you click on the member's name, it takes you to his/her page, where you can e-mail them through DG. Most members, if they want to be called something other than their username, will sign their posts. I'd think most wouldn't be offended by reference to their username.

gardenwife, yes I know I can post mail to them with a couple of clicks, but what I'm talking about is posting to a thread. It would need to be a separate button. I know I can go to their post, highlight their name, and then copy and paste to a message block, but I was thinking a single click for this would be cool. Just being able to address their screenname would be fine--I was just trying to make it more complicated. Figured Dave might not have enough to do. ;)
....Pen

I've visited some message boards (About.com's, I think) that allowed you to post a reply to a specific poster within a thread or address your reply to the whole thread audience.

To be honest, it left me pretty confused - I never quite got the hang of remembering to look at "who was talking to whom" and so the messages didn't make a lot of sense. It was like trying to listen to a dozen different conversations all at once, since people were directing their comments directly to one another.