kip's dashboard

Jeannie, we will see how this turns out. Currently I don't have a timeline to disclose, but I'll keep you posted as we proceed and the dust starts to settle. – Michael Koenig, on October 02, 2008 00:03

I'm curious to know how this will change now that Automattic has acquired Intense Debate. I'd really like to start using this soon, but find myself unable to under current conditions. Do we have a timeline of when this will be fixed?

Thanks for letting us know your thoughts. I suspect that when the dust clears we will land on a policy that is similar to that of other forums, message boards and sites. Thanks again. – Michael Koenig, on August 26, 2008 21:58

Editing comments is a basic feature that most forums, message boards, and other sites have allowed for ages. It's not been a problem there, and I fail to see why it would be a problem with ID. There are a few things that could be done:

- Make it a per blog setting, default option = off.
- If the option is on, place a "all comments subject to moderation" under the post comment box.
- Add to the edited comment a (uneditable) "edited by" line at the end. i.e Edited by d3bruts1d on 1/1/2008 @ 4:59 pm
- Send an email to the user and let them know that a comment was edited, and give them the ability to remove the comment within x hours of the edit...
- Allow a person to "report" a site for abusing the editing so that the site can be reviewed and banned / limited from ID.

I always expect something I post online to be subject to edit by the site owner, even if it is not stated. If I were to visit a site that constantly edited my comments for no valid reason, I simply wouldn't go there anymore.

In addition to copyright law, you also have to think about legal issues such as defamation. If a blog owner can edit a defamatory comment, he/she lessens the risk for the commenter, for his/herself and for Intense Debate - depending on the law in your country, all parties can be legally responsible. Sure, it's the internet and you can just delete the comment but you then lose a potentially valuable element of the discussion.

Done! – Michael, on June 17, 2008 19:24

No worries. Don't forget to mark my answer as useful :P – db0, on June 17, 2008 06:25

db0 - thanks for helping The Nugget out! It's cool to see Get Satisfaction in action like this.

The Nugget - did db0 answer your question? Please let me know. I'm more than happy to help.

Sincerely,
Michael

@The Nugget: People definitely don't have to login or register in order to comment. This is similar to most blogging software in the sense that a commenter only needs to provide an email address (that is not even checked) in order to leave a comment.

If you're talking about this not being absolutely clear (although I don't see how), you can consider putting it as a note before the comment field (i.e. "You don't need to register in order to leave a comment")

If people are afraid that someone is going to impersonating them, then they have the option to register with an IDC account which would then make it obvious when someone else if posting as them (lack of rating, avatar etc).

Any updates on this? I have a blog that gets about 12,000 hits per day and I'd love to make it more social friendly. However, I know they will be some members that won't bother to comment if they know they need to enter their username, etc. to comment on a post.

Plus, our site sometimes people thrive on spamming our blog, and am sure some spammers would take advantage of iimpostering users on the comment system when they can just enter any username.

Thank you.

Jeannie, that US copyright you're talking about. For example in sweden (AFAIK) things do not fall under copyright unless they have some artistic value (which is the argument the Piracy Bay used to post and ridicule take-down letters)

As to this discussion I would say that I'm all for shared control. Specifically, I want to have some control on the comments I have (Such as editing typos, broken links, placing replies where they belong etc) but I think that the creator of the comment should have the option to know that his comment was edited and what the difference was.

Is it possible to turn off comments for a specific kind of page (not just a post, but a page type)? It is not built into my theme and I'd like to avoid having code it myself in WP.

I voted. Tried to leave a message and I think the system ate it. Truly this is a decision that Intense Debate will need to make based on what it thinks is the right way to go. Relying solely on the results of a limited vote would seem short-sighted to me (and I say that not knowing what the current vote results are). Look at Jeannie's comment below. – Brent Logan, on June 05, 2008 02:53

Why is this so hard? International Copyright dictates that a person's words are their own until they assign the rights to them to someone else. Many people dictate on their sites that by commenting, you assign certain rights of those words to the site. This would include editing.

The fact of the matter is, the creators of publishing platforms (blogs, forums, et al) have made editing comments easy for a reason. Respect that, and don't take away rights which are considered obvious and necessary as part of a "service". Taking away the ability to control one's own site is in fact not a service at all but a disservice.

If I clearly state on my site that I have full editorial rights over your comment, and a user is happy with that and comments... why should ID override what 2 consenting adults have agreed upon?

Finally, please don't make assumptions based on other site owners who have not weighed in. Don't assume that everyone else must be okay with it. I am a new user, and have created several accounts according to various needs (2 business, 1 personal). I took for granted that I would be able to edit comments! That you wouldn't be taking away rights I already have natively! If I discovered this serious flaw in the service and NOT also discovered this question and your openness to reconsider, I would have just left quietly without making a sound. Please don't count silence for approval, acceptance, or even disinterest. Most people who are dissatisfied just quietly leave without complaining. It would be a serious error to not factor those people into your final decision.

I would also like to do this. I have sent an email to support@intensedebate.com and I hope to hear from you soon.

Actually, the votes are really close: 18 for publishers, 12 for commenters, 19 for shared ownership. Get in there Brent! – Michael, on June 03, 2008 23:32