[Coming Soon] LJ comment editing

[matgb]

How great am I? You don't know? Things to cheer you up on the train home, a notification in your inbox from coffeechica entitled DRUM ROLL:

This suggestion has been planned for implementation. Please watch the lj_releases community for updates.

I knew what post it was before I opened it, but it was nice to be sure. So that's two fixes from one suggestion.

I'm still of the opinion that the concerns about trolls editing comments are missplaced, but those that run LJ abuse disagreed--we've come up with a way to get around the problem. I reserve the right to bitch about them messing up MY idea with poor implementation, but, y'know. I rock!

ETA: Changelog entry detailing how it works:

* Only paid users can edit comments.
* Only the comment poster can edit a comment.
* A comment cannot be edited if it has been replied to or frozen.
* Editing a comment does not change the screening status of either the comment itself or its parent.
* When a comment is edited, a small note is put at the bottom of the comment text with a timestamp of when it was last edited.
* When a comment is edited from an IP address different from the original IP address, and IP logging is on, both are shown (most recent and original IP).
* There is no way to view past versions of a comment. Only the most recent version can be viewed.
* Anyone who would normally receive a comment notification when a new comment is posted to a thread will receive a notification when a comment has been edited (no separate subscription).

---

Oh, had a great night out, met nhw in the Melton Mowbray and talked SF geekery and politics with a bunch of people, was rather nice. Time to sleep now methinks.

Comments

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Having run various fora, it won't just be trolls who edit comments, it will be "normal" people, who do it to make it look like they've made better points in a discussion, or to make it look like they never made a point at all, or even just for shits and giggles. I foresee this being a big headache for maintainers of more discursive communities. Of which I have three. Thanks a lot, love :P

[matgb]

http://community.livejournal.com/changelog/5872519.html

Paid users only :-( But edit time'll be timestamped, etc. Sure, some people'll be daft, but that's one of the reasons I normally copy the text of something I'm quoting out, and why I used that CSS to make quoted text more visible, it's a habit from forums.

But, y'know, you decided to run em--it's just a different headache now...

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

A comment cannot be edited if it has been replied to or frozen.

That's the important bit, I think.

[rho]

See also: http://community.livejournal.com/changelog/5872519.html

It's going to be paid users only, apparently, which pretty much sucks, but oh well.

[matgb]

Paid only? Ah well, I guess they need to give back some incentives to upgrade/keep the status. Danke.

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

I don't know why they've included the 'no edit if the post has been replied to' rule.

Over on GU, you're allowed to edit a post for a period of thirty minutes after you've written it. This of course leads, inevitably to an occasional spate of entertaining post reply edits (see my journal for examples), but it is by no means something that happens a lot, or even regularly; it mostly happens between groups of friends that are in a playful mood. And GU is far, far more troll prone than LJ.

The thing is, if someone edits post reply to make it look like they're winning an argument or to play games in mini flame wars on issues of importance, such as Kate McCann, or Britney, or the Iraq War, the other posters get to know who that person is ... there's almost always more than one person who has read the original post and can confirm that it has been editted (by searching in caches, often), and the person who does the socially dubious editting inevitably loses all poster credibility. It's a minor social crime, but it is paid for by social ostracisation, because it is incredibly difficult to hide the crime.

So I think they're over reacting to the trolls. This is one of the things that the culture of the interweb does sort out for itself, and even more so on LJ where you have the option of banning individual users from your journal, should they persistently commit that sort of social crime.

[matgb]

GU= Guardian Unlimited forums? I avoid them, like I avoid most forums TBH. I've commented at yours, but I mostly agree, I think people are overly worried.

But I also know that without restrictions the worries would have blocked any editing option at all, better to have something and then push for more once it's shown to work, right?

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do agree.

We've had the post reply editting option available on yer actual originating posts for sometime, and there have been no huge problems there.

So maybe we can point this out to 'them', whoever they are when it comes for implementation of Stage II!

[dainul.livejournal.com]

Thing is, before it's been replied to, us non-paying users can still use the 'delete, repost' option to correct errors anyway, so all this adds is a slightly easier way of doing things I do anyway without the gadgetry. And without giving my money away.

[matgb]

Oh, agreed--but there are some busy comms where delete/repost means people are replying immediately and similar, it really can look clunky. This is just easier.

TBH, I'm annoyed that it's a paid perq, I'd like everyone to be able to do it, but it's there, so it's better than nowt.

Besides, Now you can do a few silly things, and even just replace the userpic, which might be useful--and no copy/paste is needed.

[dainul.livejournal.com]

Why did I put that comment here rather than on the more recent post?

Anyway, yes, it's quicker, it's easier, it's tidier, but it's nothing I can't do anyway, without paying money to do it. So really I don't see it as a major reason for celebration (except maybe in a preemptive 'if this works, they might make it worthwhile' way), and certainly not a reason to get a paid account.