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No response when clicking on the title of a thread on a recently deleted post
When clicking on the thread title ("Welcome!" in this example) of a comment thread below a post:
I see the following error in the Firefox developer window (click image for a larger version):
The reason is that the post has been deleted since I opened the page, so I am no longer permitted to view it (including any comment threads on it). However, this is not communicated to the user. Without the developer window, there is no indication that anything is wrong - clicking on the thread title has no effect.
What should be the behaviour in this case? Should a message be displayed indicating that comments cannot be retrieved because the parent post has been deleted? Should the page redirect to the 404 page that would be displayed if the user had tried to view the parent post?
1 answer
I think we should match "interaction type". The person clicking on a thread title expects an in-page expansion, not a new page, so I think an in-page notification about the deletion is better than moving to a separate 404 page.
When the front-end code finds out about the deletion (by trying to expand the thread and failing), I think it would be a nice bonus to also add the deletion styling (pink background) to the post, as a reminder. Yes, you (probably) wouldn't be able to see that post on a fresh load, but if you're already there and thus able to see it, let's mark it as deleted on the client side. When you navigate away, you won't be able to come back.
Why not just kick you out with a 404 as soon as the deletion is known? Expanding a comment thread, which you might do while still reading the post if you notice a related title, seems like an odd trigger to have a post disappear right out from under you. I think it's better to let you keep reading what's already in your browser, without opening up more deleted content like comment threads, and communicate clearly about the state.
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