# feedback: give me feedback via the updated commenting system

I updated the feedback system on this blog. Now this site lets the readers give me feedback both in the form of a comment or a reaction.

• Guests: Readers can register an account on @/account or just comment away anonymously. In the latter case a guest account is auto-created upon interaction.
• Threading: It uses the github discussions inspired model. Each top level comment starts a thread. Users can either reply to a thread or start a new one. This model allows parallel discussions while at the same time avoids the usability horrors of the tree-model.
• Cooldown: Leaving a comment consists of the following phases: write comment, press preview, wait for the cooldown to pass, send comment. The separate preview phase reduces the chance of accidentally sending incomplete messages, reduces the need for edits. The @/cooldown dynamically increases as more comments get posted. It's meant to slow down discussion to keep things manageable and to ensure commenters take a breath before posting too much emotion. Guests have a higher cooldown period compared to registered users.
• Limits: Comments are limited to 2k bytes. It's an arbitrary limit. The comment section lets readers shout at me when I say something stupid but it's not a soapbox.
• Markdown: Comments have reduced markdown features. E.g. links are not allowed to make spamming not be worth it here.
• Reactions: Sometimes people do want to give some feedback to me or to a comment but leaving a full comment with +1 clutters the discussion (see https://go.dev/wiki/NoPlusOne). Reactions in a discussion is efficient so this site provides them. Readers can react both to my posts and any other comment other readers made. There's a small smiley button for it at the bottom left of the main post and each comment. I use the ideas described in @/reactions to ensure each reaction provides a strong signal. I made the process multi-click to further increase the signal-to-noise ratio. They are anonymous in order to increase the honesty. Note though that as an admin I can look up the username of each reaction so be nice.
• Slow reactions update: The reaction counters are updated only twice a day. The primary reason for this is to avoid making this site too addictive.

The previous system's description is at @/comments. It's all obsolete now. My @/feedbackbg post talks a little bit about the background.

# Plans

For now the system is pretty barebones. But I will consider the changes if the needs arise:

• Add the possibility for users to edit their own messages. I will consider this if people ask for it or if I feel the need for it.
• Add moderation features so that I can easily edit or hide messages I don't like. My site, my rules. Do it in a transparent way though, so any edits from me should be apparent.
• Enable additional markdown features for some trusted users (e.g. links).
• Restrict commenting only to registered users only if I ever reach the state where guests comment too much or I get too much spam.

Does this silly blog warrant such a complicated system for commenting? Probably not. But I like experimenting with stuff so might as well do it in my hidden corner of the internet.

published on 2025-04-28, last modified on 2025-04-29

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