We deployed a new comments interface last night on Permanent Style, with the aim of adding useful functionality.
The new system allows:
Posting of images in comments
These should appear as thumbnails in your comment, once the image is uploaded and we have published the comment. The image can then be enlarged by clicking on it. This will save readers having to post images elsewhere, for example on Flickr, and then linking to them. And make all points easier to illustrate.
Pinning of comments
The PS editorial team will now be able to 'pin' some comments, and their replies, so they always appear at the top of the feed. If readers ask particularly useful questions, or there is an update contained in a comment, we will pin them so that any new readers don't miss them. Do feel free to suggest pins yourself.
Resorting comments
Comments can now be resorted, so the newest appear top rather than the oldest. If you are revisiting a post with a lot of comments, this may well save time.
Better subscriptions
You can now receive alerts when someone replies to your comment, rather than only all new comments on the article. Either or. There is a section to do so at the top of the comments section - called 'Subscribe' - and an option to sign-up to replies when you leave a comment. Hopefully that will make it easier to follow discussions without your Inbox being flooded.
I'm sure there will be teething problems with these changes, even though they have been thoroughly tested. Please do let us know what you spot, and we will fix them ASAP.
Do also shout if you have any other suggestions - all these changes were built on previous reader requests. We haven't, so far, been able to add rating systems for each comment, however. And the signing-in options with social media are being added later. Anything else, please say.
Thank you
Simon
Nice functionality. Spotted one issue: when, in the main page or the “All Comments” page, I click on one of the comments, the link takes me to the top of the article where the comment was made, but not to the comment I clicked on itself (as it did before).
Aha, thanks Juan. Good spot. I’ll get that fixed now
Nice update Simon. I see there are also new formatting options like:
bold
Regarding new functionality, I would like tags for the lookbook, so if I want to find say linen shirts or summer outfits I can filter by that.
Thanks Noel, yes noted – we are working on that!
Nice update
You could add the function of liking comments, but not sure if that is quite what your going for.
Thanks. Yes, that’s what I mention at the end of the post above. It’s something we haven’t been able to apply yet
Also, the comment won’t go through unless the name is in two separate parts
CS won’t work
C S will
Thanks
Interesting, thanks. I’ll look into that now.
Adding images could be really handy – be good for readers to attach their own images of products from makers you review for comparison, stuff like that.
Hi Sam – as mentioned in the post above, that is now possible?
I think these are some great additions. My personal two cents (pence?) would be to avoid a rating system altogether. On one hand, when done right in a good community it can be helpful; on the other, it’s really refreshing to have at least one message board that isn’t dominated by the subtle tension of “thumbs up/down”, “like/dislike”, “up/downvote”. Don’t know if people agree or not — ironically, this is the ideal type of comment for a rating system.
Ha!
Yes Dante, I think that would be my concern
My concern too. The ratings work with social media sites, where posters can tot up who loves them; here, where the content itself is central, one doesn’t want to see angling for popularity. If someone has something to say about a comment, they of course should be able to do that, as they can now.
I completely agree. I enjoy not having the pressure of likes or dislikes—and the concomitant groupthink that can come with it. This lets comments stand on their own, for readers to assess them on their own. (As Dante said, the irony of this comment benefiting from likes and dislikes is not lost.)
Not sure If I approve that email address is needed to be honest! I think I (in principle) shall be Anon henceforth
Interesting, not sure that should be the case. I’ll investigate
A nice update, Simon. Have your team given any consideration to hosting a reader discussion forum? I’ve not found a menswear forum that I like elsewhere.
On another note, do any readers know where one might find RTW trousers with medium to high rise (not ghurka style) chinos for ideally under £150? I’m loath to spend more on trousers while having a one and four year old to crawl about after.
A forum has been suggested before Guillaume, though it’s hard to feel it would be worth it given how many others there are.
What dissatisfies you with the others?
Nothing in terms of functionality, but I’ve not found the content of the posts or threads to be as insightful as the comments which readers leave here. Perhaps a PS reader group on Facebook would suffice.
Thanks Guillaume, good to know.
I guess the only major difference from discussions on PS posts would be that readers would start the discussions, rather than me?
Guillaume, you should check out Natalino for the trousers. They have a very good product for the price point.
Hopefully you find what you’re looking for there.
I had a rather odd issue when clicking through to this page from a comment in the “other threads” section at the bottom of this morning’s chino post: the link took me to the comments area on this page, but with a “your comment is awaiting moderation” popup which wouldn’t close. At that point I hadn’t posted a comment! Navigating directly to this page from the site front page worked fine. Mobile Safari on iPhone, iOS 14.5.1.
Thank you Paul. That was a bug early on, which seemed to be fixed when clearing your cache. Would you mind trying that for me on your phone and seeing if that fixes the issue?
Thanks for your help
That fixed the problem but, thanks to the very brute force option on iOS which clears the cache, nuked my browsing history as well. Nut <- Sledgehammer springs to mind…
Damn, sorry. You can opt to clear just the cache on desktop of course. Sorry you couldn’t on mobile
Ironically, it works just fine on my main machine (a mac running Big Sur latest patch) without having to bother with clearing the cache. Go figure.
I was having exactly the same issue as Paul, but your suggestion has worked for me Simon.
thanks
Simon-
Same issue here. Not sure what clearing the cache means.
The browser saves old versions of websites in order to make them quicker to load when you visit again.
You can remove these old versions by clearing the cache, usually in the same place you can clear your browser history or cookies.
Thanks. Got it .
Hi Simon, some points/observations for your consderation:
1. It would be nice to have a comment box at the end of the last comment, to allow me to post a new comment and not a reply. I ended up having to scroll all the way up to post this.
2. Whenever i click the latest threads at the home page, the notif that my “comment is awaiting moderation” pops up, even if I didnt post anything. It dosnt even properly redirect to the latest thread.
Thanks
1. Thank you, good point. Perhaps a link that jumped you back up to the top of the page would work as well?
2. This is an issue a few people have highlighted above. It should change whenever your cache of the site updates next. You can also clear the cache yourself manually if you want.
Well if the purpose is to post a comment, then a jump back link would be superfluous? because then anyone who wanted to post a comment would have to click twice, the jump back link then the comment box. Plus if they click the jump back link then maybe they would get lost as to what they wanted to say since their new comment was related to, but not a reply to the most bottom comment, if that makes sense.
Well it wouldn’t be superfluous, as a click would be quicker than a lot of scrolling back to the top. But it wouldn’t be perfect either. I’m just thinking of a quicker, simpler solution.
I can see how they might get a little lost, yes.
I meant that
clicking a link > being jumped back to the top > clicking the comment box
Would have more steps than simply clicking a comment box at the bottom of the thread.
Just trying to share my thoughts here Simon I hope I dont sound hostile haha
Don’t worry, you don’t at all!
I completely understand, don’t worry. It’s just that a jump link might be a quick solution while we work on a comment box.
Thanks again for the suggestion
Thank Simon!
So, I write my comments in “notes” on my iPad so I can easily edit them. And sometimes, I write something that I let sit and decide it’s not worthy of posting – a bit of a process, but okay as I only post on PS and not frequently (although apparently a lot this week!).
I format with a space between paragraphs because I think it’s easier to read. When I cut and paste it in the new comment box, it appears with a double space between paragraphs, so I clean it up in the box. Then, when it actually posts, there is no space between paragraphs. Not really a big deal, but go figure….
This time, I’ll just leave it alone and see what transpires.
Interesting, thank you I didn’t try that in testing.
Do let me know what happens when you leave it alone. I do want people to be able to post with paragraph breaks.
Thx. I left it alone and it looks fine on my iPad screen.
Great, thanks
I’d love to have a functionality that allows me to find all the comments that have been left in certain period of time (a day, a week, maybe a month). It would allow me to follow the discussions without checking the site several times a day.
Hi Manuel,
Do you mean all the comments on the whole site, or on an individual post?
If on the whole site, then you can find them here. I guess you’d just need some sort of filter on that page for particular weeks or months?
If on an individual article, I guess it would be the same kind of filter on the comments on that article. Although you do realise you can subscribe to comments on the post, so you get emails with new ones, rather than having to check the post yourself?
On the whole site. What do you mean by “here”?
Found it, sorry for being that stupid.
Any chance of a Facebook type edit function, Simon? You have an erudite following and some of us would like to correct typos or improve the way we’ve said something.
Sure Russ, I can look into that
Can we add avatar photos/images to our posts? Everyone except Simon is a blank face at the moment.
Yes, if you log in you should have an image – that’s always been the case. Currently that’s only possible with Facebook or WordPress/Gravatar, but we will add more
Is it possible to edit or delete a comment? I misstakenly wrote my full name in the comments, which I do not prefer to do.
Done.
I remember seeing a page where you can see all new comments from all posts.
May you link it?
Sure, it’s here