ghs1974 - Commenting

I have disabled Commenting to keep things simpler for everyone. --Grant 9/22/04

The commenting feature ("Comment on this page" at the bottom of each page) presents some problems. (See #13 in Hints.) There is a choice in the site settings, as follows:

Comments

Use this setting to define who can comment on pages. Comments appear as formatted text below page content.

Anyone - Anyone can comment on pages. Unregistered users will be labelled with their IP address.

Registered Users - Only allow Registered Users and Administrators can add comments to pages.

Disabled - Comments are disabled. Nobody can add comments to pages.

Currently anyone can add comments. Maybe we should just eliminate the feature, and have people edit comments into the page. It seems that it would be simpler. Especially for those of us who are challenged by typing. What do you think? Add your comments here.

I don't like the comments because if you type something wrong your up a creek-too bad, so sad- if you disabled the comments- you are forced to edit into the page but you can at least undo what you have done if you change your mind and don't like it. Otherwise this could get real messy if half of us make comments and half edit into the page. And since you can not disable the edit portion (obviously) that only leaves the comments. That is just my opinion though...You can use Clorinda's page as an example. I was going to edit into it but decided to comment onto it...now if she doesn't like it....there wouldn't be much she could do except wait for it to be deleted off only after she asked. So I vote to eliminate the comment section. Diane

Arguments for disabling comments:

If you added a comment by editing, you could later edit it or delete it yourself. (Less dependence on admin)
The date/time is EST, so it's misleading for most of us.
There are separate email notification for comments. It is better to have the notifications all in one email.
If the link is removed from the bottom of the pages, there is less clutter.
If someone forgets to log in, the comment is signed by their IP address (see Steve Filice).

Arguments for keeping comments:

It is easier for discussions and commenting, when your name and date are added automatically.
Outside people can add comments, but cannot delete anything.