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I use the AutoReviewComments userscript with the following comments:
[Q] Too broad
Please only ask one question per post - only ask several if they are so closely related that it wouldn't make sense to split them up since they cannot reasonably be answered separately. That way, answerers that might be able to answer one question but not the others ...
21
Absolutely
My take on the Code of Conduct (AKA the Be Nice policy) is that it is not just a matter of what the two people directly involved in the conversation think about the language used.
It also has the purpose of making our site look welcoming and consistent to readers. If someone isn't familiar with this site, and they read a question and see people ...
18
Personally, I think that if a statement answer the question, even if it's just a few words long, it should be posted as an answer and not as a comment
Yes, that is correct.
Should the commentator have written the comment as an answer instead?
Yes, they should have.
Should I delete my answer because the comment was posted first?
No, you shouldn't. One ...
17
when should simple questions be given answers like this in the comments?
NEVER
For at least two reasons: comments can be (and often are) deleted, and comments can't be downvoted, so our ability to deal with wrong information in comments is limited.
Of course, this is not something we moderators enforce too aggressively, because if someone posts a good ...
17
One problem with answer-comments you seem to not have considered is that they can be wrong. Answers can be downvoted, but comments can only be upvoted, so there is no proper mechanism to show that an answer-comment is considered wrong and the one-sided upvote mechanism may make it look more authoritative than it is.
We do leave comments like "Please ...
15
They're allowed, in the sense that you don't get in trouble for posting them. (Within reason of course. If somebody e.g. spams joke comments on many posts then that's a separate issue.)
But comments are prone to deletion, and those which don't offer a substantive contribution to the physics are especially prone to deletion. They do tend to attract flags, ...
15
It looks like the comments were removed, so I can't say anything about this particular situation (which is probably a good thing). Some general points.
Questions stand on their own. Comments on questions don't degrade the questions then themselves.
If you think a user is making derogatory comments, please flag them for a moderator to review and continue on ...
14
First, I can't help but comment on OPs (over)reaction. We get people complaining about deleted comments very often, but this must be the first time someone deletes their account because of it. OP has contributed to the site for more than eight years, and this was the last straw? What really happened here? It baffles me that you chose to delete your account ...
answered Jul 17 at 15:21
AccidentalFourierTransform
43.9k1 gold badge14 silver badges34 bronze badges
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Good idea to make this a question so I can post my comment there as an answer: yes, this is fine. Actually, in order to avoid arguments over whether it does constitute an answer or not, I'll say this:
The fact that the content of an answer is taken from someone else's comment is not, itself, a problem.
This means that you can post the content of someone ...
13
The homework policy remains a contentious issue and feelings can run high about it so I'm reluctant to stoke the flames any higher.
However if we take the narrow interpretation of homework as the verbatim posting of a question set as homework or some other form of course work then I suspect most would agree we do not want to see such questions here. So we ...
12
We are not a forum, but a question and answer site. It is not the aim of the SE model to encourage debate, but to provide (more or less) definite answers to definite questions. Though comments may contain worthwhile information, reputation is granted for contributions towards good questions and answers.
Comments are transient by design, and subject to ...
12
A large proportion of these comments were made by users who have been repeatedly told not to have lengthy discussions in comments, and not to use comments in lieu of providing an answer where they can be properly downvoted if what they say is false. So I deleted them, since apparently moving to chat has so far not enticed these commenters to play by the ...
11
It's unfortunate to hear that you are so personally offended. I assure you that the people who implemented this policy were probably not aware of your existence when they made it, so I hope that knowledge helps to lessen the amount you feel personally insulted.
The sad reality is that this policy works extremely well. 50 reputation points is not difficult ...
11
I hope Manishearth won't mind if I steal his comment, but they're not. The reason it seems like they might be is that we usually don't get around to cleaning them up unless someone flags them.
To be more precise: Stack Exchange gives us (moderators) some slightly contradictory guidance on comments. On one hand, the intent of comments on main sites is that ...
11
Comments are not really intended for chit-chat. So, if you wish, you may flag comments that don't add any clarification are are purely social using the reason:
It's no longer needed.
This comment is outdated, conversational or not relevant to this post.
However, generic positive comments are not a significant impediment to the smooth operation of the ...
10
The Physics SE is a community, and like all communities it needs everyone to pull together to keep it vibrant. The two most important things we expect of site members are:
ask interesting and informed questions
provide interesting and informed answers
There are of course other supporting activities like processing the review queues, up and downvoting, ...
10
So I've read his answer many times now and I don't see how you reach the conclusion you reached here. It says:
Posting links in comments is not banned, nor should it ever be banned.
What should be banned is the repeated posting of a link to an
alternative physics Q&A site (such as PO, PF, Quora, etc)1. It is the
repetitive nature of the act that ...
10
First, thanks for coming to meta and asking!
It's not your hunch, though. We don't discourage using external sources; actually, it's encouraged to link or cite useful and relevant external resources whenever appropriate, but when doing so in a question or answer, you need to do it in such a way that your question or answer makes sense even to a reader who ...
10
I saw that comment. Even if it didn't bother you, we don't want stuff like that hanging around. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
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Comments are not for follow-up questions, comments are for clarifying or criticizing the post being commented upon, and hence your comment was removed (I deleted it together with some other obsolete comments). It seems likely that you expect comments to fulfill a different function than they do.
We - both SE at large ("Comments are disposable: unlike ...
10
Technically, yes.
According to our policy:
Comments are not recommended for any of the following:
[...]
Compliments which do not add new information ("+1, great answer!"); instead, upvote it and pay it forward;
[...]
From the same page:
Comments are temporary "Post-It" notes left on a question or answer.
That is, they are not meant ...
10
Nothing happens if you simply cast an upvote on it. Whenever a user votes to close as a duplicate, they also automatically cast an upvote on the corresponding comment. If the user is the first one (and therefore the comment does not exist), they will automatically create the comment.
Therefore, the number of upvotes on the comment does not necessarily ...
9
You're seeing fewer comments because the close reasons are now more specific, and they explain what needs to be improved about the question, which is what we used to use comments for. If you would write a comment that simply restates what is in the close reason, there's no point in doing that. Of course if you have something to say above and beyond what the ...
9
If the comments from OP add clarity, and if they are new users, I would personally edit the comments into the question myself. I would then leave a comment to the effect of:
@OP I took the liberty of editing the clarifications from your comments into the question. Please let me know if I did not represent your intentions correctly. On future questions, ...
9
Discussions on meta Stack Exchange sites are discussions, but they are still expected to have some structure. If you post an answer, then just as on the main site, it is expected to address the question itself, not another post. If your answer is not an answer, it may be deleted, as per site policy. It is also possible that a moderator with convert the ...
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No, this would go against the Stack Exchange Code of Conduct (also known as the "Be-Nice" policy).
To quote from it:
No subtle put-downs or unfriendly language.
No name-calling or personal attacks.
I would say this falls under both, so it definitely violates the policy.
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Comments aren't a good medium for back-and-forth; that's that chat is for. There's a Chat FAQ which is useful to re-read once a year or so. The privileges of talking in chat and creating chat rooms come pretty early in the privilege hierarchy.
If you leave a comment with the text
Let us continue this discussion in [chat]
then the special comment markdown ...
9
There is no automatic consequence for repeated flags for rudeness or abuse. However, there are automatic flags raised when particular users accrue a number of these flags in a certain timeframe, prompting moderators to review the behaviour in question. This system is not perfect, so if you observe a pattern of rudeness and you want to make certain the ...
8
The reason is that answers are ranked by score, and comments are ranked by time:
useful answers get upvotes and move to the top
bad answers get dowvotes and move to the bottom
average answers stay in the middle
So, downvotes help the best quality emerge.
Comments have upvotes to express agreement and avoid multiple "I agree with the previous" comments. ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible