Post a Comment Should Have an Anchor Tag

October 9, 2001 6:34 PM

Add an anchor tag to the MetaFilter "Comments on" page and the MetaTalk "MetaTalk detail" page so clicking on the "Post a Comment" link goes directly to the comment form. This would save scrolling through a long page to post something.
posted by kirkaracha (staff) to Feature Requests at 6:34 PM (4 comments total)

You go to the top of the details page regardless of whether you click the "# comments" text or the "Post a Comment" text. Having a link read "Post a Comment" strongly implies that the link takes you directly to a place where you can, well, post a comment, where on longer pages you have to scroll all the way to the bottom before you can post.

Counter argument The current setup means you have to read through or at least scroll through the posts before you can add your own comment. This is a good thing, but the way the link works now can be confusing, particularly for newer users.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:40 PM on October 9, 2001

"post a comment" on the front page has always seemed strange to me. why would you commit to posting something before reading the existing comments? I think changing the verbiage there makes more sense than shuttling someone directly to the posting form without reading what others had to say.
posted by machaus at 6:53 PM on October 9, 2001

Yeah, I was planning to remove those "post a comment" messages for ages now. It was initially done to spur people to comment (so they didn't just see a vast array of zeros). I think I'll leave the post a comment only for threads with zero comments.

I don't want to anchor-jump to the posting area because I've always tried to encourage people to read everything before they post.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:29 PM on October 9, 2001

Gee, I sure could have been clearer in my orginal comments. I agree that taking the "post a comment" text out unless there aren't any comments is the best solution.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:32 PM on October 9, 2001