User blog:Susanolivia/Improvements to commenting

We’ve been taking a close look at how the different features and tools on wikis work and improving those that aren’t hitting the mark. With that goal in mind, we’ll be implementing some refinements to commenting next week. We currently have two systems for commenting - one for articles and one for blogs. It didn’t make sense to have two different systems performing the same function on one wiki, so we’ve consolidated them into one super-commenting feature to be used on both blogs and articles.

Here’s a look at some of the changes you can expect:


 * Threaded replies: You’ll now have the ability to add an indented reply directly to a specific comment. Threaded replies to individual comments allow for a better organized flow of conversation.
 * Paginated comments: Large numbers of comments slow down page load times and keep content from appearing quickly. To keep pages running speedily we’ve added pagination to comments. Right now each page can contain 20 comments, and allows for an unlimited number of threaded replies.
 * Comment sort order: To keep conversations engaging and fresh, the default sort order for comments will now be newest first. This mirrors best practices commenting on many other sites around the web including Youtube, CNN.com and Blogger. If you prefer to have comments sorted by newest last, don’t worry - you can adjust that setting to meet your personal preference.

Commenting improvements will be live mid to late next week. Let us know what you think!