Removing comments from core

ruud · 2015-07-09 13:08:33

+1 on keeping comments and making them threaded ;)

maverick · 2015-07-09 13:29:33

I do like the idea to hide the forms, etc. when comments are turned off.

zero wrote #292967:

When custom fields and themes are all nicely embedded, the world will have moved on again, and perhaps then will be the time to revisit this debate.

+1

This is a discussion that reappears every so often, as Bloke noted. I think the state, quality, and future of the current commenting system is worth having. But later. It seems 4.6 and perhaps the immediate following release(s) that with custom fields landing matter a whole lot more than removing/changing quasi peripheral features.

It also seems to me that when custom fields land, and the possible input capability Bloke is thinking about adding (probably to the custom field tag), it may provide a new way to approach comments.

bici · 2015-07-09 15:29:51

maverick wrote #292972:

I do like the idea to hide the forms, etc. when comments are turned off.

+1

It seems 4.6 and perhaps the immediate following release(s) that with custom fields landing matter a whole lot more than removing/changing quasi peripheral features.

+1

custom fields can’t come soon enough

hcgtv · 2015-07-09 16:07:34

Bloke wrote #292957:

I made a start (somewhere, could maybe dig out the code, though it might not apply now given all the many other changes around the patch), but any willing volunteers who want to wade through the comments system would be doing Textpattern a massive service.

Allright, I will trace a comment through the system, see where it goes, what it does. We have better tools at our disposal these days, and the Textpattern core code is not Magento.

hcgtv · 2015-07-09 16:47:08

CeBe wrote #292952:

-1000. At least.

Commenting is great, we’re carrying on a conversation right now. The only difference is that we’re using a forum, designed from the ground up to handle discussions.

At no time have I advocated leaving current users without a home grown alternative, I’d just like to make it optional. The current commenting system works, yes I’ll grant you that, but the backend interface to manage comments leaves much to be desired.

Were it come to pass one day that a plugin can take the place of the current built in functionality, then I don’t see the problem, I only see possibilities. I envision someone taking the txp_comments plugin and forking it, enhancing it, and maybe enticing you one day to make the switch to txp_comments_rethunk.

My thoughts are always with the users, past, present, and an all important eye towards future users.

gaekwad · 2015-07-09 17:14:50

hcgtv wrote #292981:

[…] the Textpattern core code is not Magento.

*shudder*

etc · 2015-07-09 19:38:56

hcgtv wrote #292981:

Allright, I will trace a comment through the system, see where it goes, what it does. We have better tools at our disposal these days, and the Textpattern core code is not Magento.

FWIW, I don’t mind if comments are delegated to plugins (provided bw-compatibility is respected), but please don’t consider disguising some Disqus-like service as txp tags. Otherwise all I will see is “Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus”.

Bloke · 2015-07-09 21:18:55

hcgtv wrote #292981:

Allright, I will trace a comment through the system, see where it goes, what it does.

Brilliant, thanks. fwiw, these were my notes last time I trawled through it:

Make the comment tags proper tags in taghandlers.php. Currently they’re a curious mix of some in there, and the rest in publish/comment.php which don’t act like proper tags (and they break if you omit the trailing space before the closing slash).
Give <txp:comments /> container ability.
Consolidate comment tags into two main tags:
- <txp:comment_display type="email | id | anchor | message | help" wraptag class break>.
- <txp:comment_input type="email | message | name | preview | remember | submit | web" label wraptag class break>.
Deprecate:
- comment_anchor.
- comment_email.
- comment_id.
- comment_message.
- comments_help (note: in comment.php so not a real tag yet. Implications?)
- comment_email_input.
- comment_message_input.
- comment_name_input.
- comment_preview.
- comment_remember.
- comment_submit.
- comment_web_input.
Update the built-in forms / theme to use the new tags.

Anomaly tags that probably need to be retained for convenience:

comment_name (takes link attribute).
comment_web (single or container, but could probably be renamed something more sensible).
comment_time (takes format attribute).

Other things to look into:

Minor improvements to the admin-side comments panel. The ability to comment on an article directly from the admin-side would be super handy for those people that moderate them (which means having a preview textarea).
The conditional comment tags: if_comments / allowed / disallowed / error / preview. Try to consolidate the functionality into one or two tags.
- Dedicated allowed / disallowed tags is just daft: use something like <txp:if_comments_allowed> ... <txp:else /> ... </txp:if_comments_allowed> instead.
- Also think about a way to differentiate between comments enabled (at the article level) and enabled overall (from prefs).

That last point is something that’s bugged me in the past. There’s currently no simple way to differentiate between “comments disabled, site-wide from the prefs” and “comments disabled just for this article” so it makes conditional logic messier. Sometimes you just want to say “Sorry, comments are not available on this article. If you feel strongly about the subject matter, send me an email instead”. If at some point later you turn off comments entirely, the same message will show up, which is not strictly true as comments have been disabled site-wide so it’d be nice to be able to display a different message (example: <txp:if_comments_allowed type="article"> vs. the version without the attribute to check for site-wide comment ability).

Lots to do, and it could probably be done piecemeal if we figure out what depends on what.

hcgtv · 2015-07-09 23:14:50

Bloke wrote #292991:

Brilliant, thanks. fwiw, these were my notes last time I trawled through it:

Awesome, copy/pasted will read it tonight.

Thanks Stef, you’re a good bloke ;)

Destry · 2015-08-25 11:20:27

/* hopes this exploration is still on a low burner */

Bloke · 2015-08-25 14:34:21

Destry wrote #294349:

/* hopes this exploration is still on a low burner */

Ruud’s done a sterling job on part one already. The half-breed comments tags are now proper tags as of the other day. As for the rest: well, one day…

ruud · 2015-08-25 16:01:16

The second bullet may soon be fixed as well

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#25 2015-07-09 13:08:33

Re: Removing comments from core

#26 2015-07-09 13:29:33

Re: Removing comments from core

zero wrote #292967:

#27 2015-07-09 15:29:51

Re: Removing comments from core

maverick wrote #292972:

#28 2015-07-09 16:07:34

Re: Removing comments from core

Bloke wrote #292957:

#29 2015-07-09 16:47:08

Re: Removing comments from core

CeBe wrote #292952:

#30 2015-07-09 17:14:50

Re: Removing comments from core

hcgtv wrote #292981:

#31 2015-07-09 19:38:56

Re: Removing comments from core

hcgtv wrote #292981:

#32 2015-07-09 21:18:55

Re: Removing comments from core

hcgtv wrote #292981:

#33 2015-07-09 23:14:50

Re: Removing comments from core

Bloke wrote #292991:

#34 2015-08-25 11:20:27

Re: Removing comments from core

#35 2015-08-25 14:34:21

Re: Removing comments from core

Destry wrote #294349:

#36 2015-08-25 16:01:16

Re: Removing comments from core

Board footer