I found these two settings:

fold_threads, whether the threads are folded (1) or not (0) by default
default_view, default tree structure view (0) or table view (1)

If I set both of them to 1, I'll end up with an index ( /forum/index.php?mode=index ) that only shows the original post for the topics in it. I like how it looks, people have to click on the topic to see the replies ( /forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=1 ) and the default view in the threads is set to hierarchical, with posts expanded. I like the default view in thread mode, the conversation is completely displayed and the responses are indented to show the context in which they were written. This display allows people to simply say what they're going to say, without everyone quoting large blocks of text. What I am looking for, is the setting for the view displayed in thread mode.

Say for instance that I wanted to set up 2 forums on a site, using one as a regular forum for everyone to talk on, and using the other like a bulletin board for moderators to post things like a F.A.Q., news, awards, etc. The second case wouldn't really be allowing replies though, instead the reply function would be used to insert information at different points in the page. If, in the second case, I could be sure that the view would be linear, then I could set this up to give a site a consistent look, while avoiding the confusion that a hierarchical view would create in this situation. mylittleforum is perfect for both uses, so I wanted to be able to control the default view in threaded mode.

I looked in both of the settings forms:

/forum/index.php?mode=admin&action=settings
and
/forum/index.php?mode=admin&action=advanced_settings

but I did not see any that were marked "Open in thread". If it is called something else could you tell me please? I read through all of the settings and their descriptions, but I didn't see any that appeared to do what I'm asking about.

Thank you for reading my very long post. :)