Flagging an answer

After pressing "Flag" under an answer there are 3 radio buttons to choose from:

Flagging questions and answers

Some changes would benefit both types of post. Changes specific to only questions are listed later.

Radio buttons "other reason" or "needs author's attention"

Warning of required 15 characters

Choosing "other reason" or "needs author's attention" requires 15 characters be entered in the "Details" field. There is no advance warning that this is required. After attempting to submit the flag, the red message at the top of the screen may be far away (particularly for an answer) and may be overlooked.

Could we change the label of the "Details" field to "Details (at least 15 characters)" when the selected radio button requires this (for both questions and answers)?

Character count

Could there be a countdown (for example, "12 more characters required") that is only visible for radio buttons it applies to (for both questions and answers)?

Flagging a question

After pressing "Flag" under a question there are 5 radio buttons to choose from:

Radio button "needs author's attention"

Red warning message contains no wording

Unlike the meaningful message for "other reason", with "needs author's attention" there is only a number in the red error bar:

(The cause of the error is the same - fewer than 15 characters in the "Details" field.)

Supposedly private flag is posted publicly

The button to submit says "Flag for moderator attention", but if the radio button "needs author's attention" is selected this posts a publicly visible comment and does not notify a moderator. It is reasonable for a user to assume that what they write here will be private. The small print under the radio button saying "This flag will be added as a comment to the post's feedback thread" is much less prominent than the the big button saying "Flag for moderator attention" and the big title saying "Why does this post require moderator attention?".

Should this radio button be in the Flag modal at all? It seems like it belongs with the "Close" button rather than the "Flag" button.

If it does stay in the Flag modal, should the button wording change to say "Post a public comment on the question" to reduce the risk of a user posting something they wanted to remain private?

Radio button "is a duplicate"

Accepts empty input

Choosing "is a duplicate" allows submitting the flag with empty "Details" field, even though the radio button label says "Please enter the URL of the proposed duplicate in the details field below". Even with an empty "Details" field it still adds the flag to the moderator queue. Is this correct? This is no longer the case - the "Details" field cannot be left empty if "is a duplicate" has been selected.

posted almost 2 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

12mo ago by Monica Cellio‭

trichoplax‭

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