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Comments on Why are comments hidden by default?

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Why are comments hidden by default?

+5
−3

Why are comments deprecated to the point that none are visible without having to move away from the page?

With page loads and mouse clicks, less is MORE.

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1 comment thread

Can you clarify "have to move away from the page"? (3 comments)
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+2
−2

It's "status by design". I made the very same remarks when this feature was released, here: https://meta.codidact.com/posts/282342/282346#answer-282346.

Responses from the dev team were:

ArtOfCode‭ wrote 11 months ago:

Part of the intent of this change is to create slightly more friction to commenting. We've seen both here and on SE that comments being easy to leave makes people less likely to think about what they're writing. Opening a new page for a full comment thread is just that little bit of friction that might change that; we'll see how it goes. (There are a few technical challenges to inlining full threads, too, but it can be done if we try this and it really doesn't work out.)

Monica Cellio‭ wrote 11 months ago:

Going to a new page does remove ready access to context (like if you need to consult the post the thread is attached to). It's a link away, but I think that's one issue behind the requests for inlining the thread. Maybe the answer is inlining or maybe the answer is some other change to the thread page.

My feedback was overall positively received (+8 score), yet the feature has remained as it is.

We've been using it for almost a year now and my opinion still stands: loading a new page is cumbersome, unintuitive and confusing. Worst of all, you sometimes (upon following a comment notification) have to view the post and its related comments in separate windows, switching back and forth between two separate tabs - which is plain bad UI. I find no evidence that it makes people think more carefully before posting a comment.

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2 comment threads

Don't thread pages have the post with them? (4 comments)
Change in progress but stalled (3 comments)
Don't thread pages have the post with them?
Moshi‭ wrote almost 2 years ago

you sometimes (upon following a comment notification) have to view the post and its related comments in separate windows,

I thought that comment threads always have the post they are attached to (and the parent post to that, if applicable) on the page as collapsible sections? If there is a case that they aren't there, that would be a bug

Lundin‭ wrote almost 2 years ago

Moshi‭ Yes, but this is how it goes... I get a notification that I got a comment from Moshi. I end up on a page with comments seemingly out of the blue and a link on top. As I land on this page, I find that I must have previous written something in a post called "Why are comments hidden by default?" which I may or may not remember. In case I don't remember, I have to open the question in a separate page to read it, then go back to the previous page to comment. If you need to read the post as you comment, you have to switch back and forth. All in all, cumbersome and user-unfriendly.

Moshi‭ wrote almost 2 years ago

In case I don't remember, I have to open the question in a separate page to read it, then go back to the previous page to comment.

I'm a bit confused. Why do you need to go to a separate page to read what you've written? The post is on the thread page as well.

Lundin‭ wrote almost 2 years ago

Moshi‭ Now that you mention it, I noticed a sneakily collapsed option at the top. I didn't know that! :) Was that always there or was it added at some point? And why would I ever want it to be collapsed instead of fully expanded...