Allowing readers to edit comments

[davemcnally]

Working through the new design for my blog and thinking of new features to add, I decided to add a plugin to enable readers to edit their comments after they had been submitted - I dislike not being able to edit them elsewhere when I leave one so thought it would be a good feature.

So, I started looking through a couple of different options, lots of ajax and time-frame based stuff but wasn't really sure on what the best option was. I want something to allow a reader to edit a comment they have left, regardless of when they left it - a lot of the ajax things I came across only gave the reader an editable time slot in which to edit. Also, I would want to make sure only the person who commented could edit their own comment on the site without having to be at the same computer (in case some plugins are cookie based etc).

Is there anything like this available you could recommend? Thanks ;)

[BPartch]

I am not aware of any plugins but I think a commenter should only be able to edit their post until a newer comment has been left, so as to avoid any confusion.

[davemcnally]

I am not aware of any plugins but I think a commenter should only be able to edit their post until a newer comment has been left, so as to avoid any confusion.

That could be an issue - if the person doing the edit completely alters the comment or updates it without noting it has been updated. I would have a message above the comment form with some pointers to make sure people are careful when editing things. I think that should sort out any problems there....hopefully

[samwoodfin]

I agree with Ben. And I know I have readers who would edit their comments just to screw with my head.

[sgtpeppers]

I would love to have a plugin like that but unfortunately i have not found any so far. and like sam said i kno tons of people would just like to mess around and change comments maybe even after approval for spam or some foul language crap

[SarahG]

There are the downsides to allow someone to edit a comment any time after they've left it as mentioned. The only way you could combine a plugin with the option of editing their comment from any previous time and any previous computer, would be to make them register for a subscriber account on your blog first. Then at least you could combat the editing with an update like you get on a standard forum (last edited at whatever time).

Personally I'd just go for the edit comments plugin that you can set up to allow editable comments for X minutes. Most people will edit their comment within minutes of posting it and if they want to change what they wanted to say after that then they can just leave another comment to contradict it or contact you directly to edit it. This way your comments won't get messed about with as such, just check on them after the X minutes are up.

[davemcnally]

Thanks for the advice everyone, seems there are a few issues with what I originally wanted that I didn't think of. It is indeed looking like the best idea to use a plugin with a timeframe restriction.