This animation explains through a simple example why it is important to respect the queue in a discussion, to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. At the left, "Madrid is capital of Spain" is clearly an answer for the question starting the discussion "Is Barcelona capital of Spain?", so the user:Example4 correctly understands and confirms. While at the right, the double indentation brings confusion, since multiple spaces is not something we usually meet in written conversations. The user:Example4 incorrectly understands that the comment "No, it is the capital of Catalonia" is a reply to the previous "madrid is capital of Spain!" (wrong affirmation, including an indentation problem). Then the user:Example4 disagrees and contests the user:Example2, whereas the mistake was done by the user:Example3, regrettable side effect. Since the discussions can be long and complex, with many participants, the spaces in each contribution are difficult to spot. We usually don't check all the timestamps for every comment, thus it is important to avoid multiple indentations, for more clarity in general, but also by respect for the other participants.

For more details about indentation on the wiki projects, see en:Wikipedia:THREAD and en:Wikipedia:INDENT.

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[OK] respect the queue [No] avoid multiple indentations I speak first. -- Example (talk) 01:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) I come next. -- Example2 02:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) You're the second. -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC) My turn, now! -- Example3 03:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Then you're the third. -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC) I speak first. -- Example (talk) 01:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) My turn, now! -- Example3 03:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Then you're the second. -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC) I come next. -- Example2 02:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Are you the last one? -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC) [OK] respect the queue [No] avoid multiple indentations Is Barcelona capital of Spain? -- Example (talk) 01:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) No, it is the capital of Catalonia. -- Example2 02:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Madrid is the capital of Spain! -- Example3 03:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Exactly. -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC) Is Barcelona capital of Spain? -- Example (talk) 01:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Madrid is the capital of Spain! -- Example3 03:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) No, it is the capital of Catalonia. -- Example2 02:00, 1 January 2000 (UTC) Disagree. Madrid is not the capital of Catalonia. -- Example4 04:00, 2 January 2000 (UTC)