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The New Auto-collapsing Text Box For Comments

  1. genehowington
    Member

    Actually this is about using WordPress Blog in general (an option that should be on the pull down list, since I'm already making a complaint).

    In re: the new auto-collapsing text box for comments "functionality".

    It sucks. Not just a little. It sucks a huge giganitic lot. I cannot tell you in words strong enough how much I hate it.

    It hinders any kind of long form response by constantly opening and closing when I change tabs.

    I suggest either giving it a "lock open" option or ditching the function in favor of the manually resizable text boxes of old, but as it is, it simply pisses me off.

  2. raincoaster
    Member

    Which blog are you talking about? There is more than one kind of WordPress, therefore more than one kind of solution.

  3. metan1
    Member

    I have commented on a few of my regular favourites this morning and I have noticed this expanding comment box too, it is very annoying! The blogs are different themes so I expect this is a new widespread thing. It does make it hard to edit your comment for clarity at the end, as soon as you move the cursor it shrinks down to three lines!

  4. zebathome
    Member

    I don't like it either, just noticed it, thought it was a glitch on my computer....

  5. zooey
    Member

    It's an absolute nuisance. It almost prevents any comments that are longer than a few lines -- it's just too frustrating to write long comments. I suppose this is one more 'improvement'. I have had complaints from commenters who, like zebathome, thought it was a glitch.

    Is there any way to disable the expanding comment box and return to an old-style normal comment box? (I've checked the discussion settings, nothing there as far as I can see.)

    I'm using the Vigilance theme.

  6. timethief
    Member

    I agree. Typing into the comment boxes previous to this shrinking was easy even for visually challenged people like me. Now it has become a nightmare as the blasted shrinking box shrinks as one is typing and the only way to get it to open up is to click "enter" at the brginning of the comment and then later delete that space. It was so annoying and frustrating that after 3 tries to create this one comment, I chose to create replies to comments on my personal blog (Fresh & Clean) by creating them offline and then copying and pasting them into the annoying shrinking box.
    Do not need! Do not want! (she wept ...)

  7. zooey
    Member

    I completely understand you -- I hope they change it back or, at least, do something about it to make it easier to use. (Tried to contact support about it, but that's apparently not an option right now...) I would think the idea is to make it easy and welcoming for people to comment, not to make it more difficult or off-putting...

  8. timethief
    Member

    @zooey
    I tagged this thread for Staff attention and another one so our feedback as WordPress.com guinea pigs, without BETA tester status that WordPress.org users can have, will be communicated to the WordPress developers. That "modlook" tag has since been removed, so I'm trusting that macmanx will communicate what our experience with this has been. I am hoping that they will listen to our unofficial feedback and improve how the Auto-collapsing Text Boxes For Comments operate.

  9. zooey
    Member

    Great, thank you!

  10. knashermac2009
    Member

    We'll done WP for fixing something that wasn't broken yet again. The super improved collapsible reply box now covers up the "submit button" when using an IPad.

    Ho hum.......

    Now here's a suggestion.... Can we have a reply box like the one used in this forum?

  11. jayinames
    Member

    When entering a comment, if you enter multiple lines, then go to another tab (cutting a link, getting a pic, etc), when you come back the comment box shrinks to it's original size, and will not let you scroll down to the bottom of the comment. I had to select ctrl-a, cut, and paste it back in to the comment box to get the comment box to expand again.

    I've experienced this with 2 blogs: http://uncivilpeasants.wordpress.com/ and http://thehostages.wordpress.com/

    Just putting examples up, in case they are needed.

  12. izaakmak
    Member

    I first noticed this yesterday and it is VERY annoying. I'd use the "reply by email" feature to get around it, if it weren't for the fact that WP doesn't actuality post such comments as actual replies to a specific commenter. I think I'll just go with copying and pasting via an external editor, as timethief mentioned.

    Goo looking out WP!

  13. zooey
    Member

    knashermac2009: 'Now here's a suggestion.... Can we have a reply box like the one used in this forum?'

    Yes, this comment box is very good.

    I cannot stress this enough (in case wordpress staff actually read this), having had to use the new collapsing comment box for a few more days now, it's absolutely hopeless. It does not work, at least not for comments longer than two lines (which are most comments, at least on my blog). It must be taken care of. The sooner the better.

    There are absolutely no benefits to the collapsing comment box and I can't fathom the reason why it has been introduced. It's purely destructive.

  14. gaudetetheology
    Member

    Chiming in to add that the collapsing comment box makes commenting much more difficult.

  15. thesacredpath
    Member

    shakes head

    Another bright idea brought to you by AutoMATTic.

    #occupyAutoMATTic

  16. shoreacres
    Member

    I'd thought this was a theme-specific issue, as I first encountered it when commenting on other people's blogs.

    But no - I've just struggled through leaving comments on my own blog, and have no idea what the rationale was for this one.

    I've worked and worked to encourage my readers to leave longer comments, and I respond in kind. It's called "a conversation".

    Since WP seems to encourage this sort of thing as well, why in the world would they institute a change that makes it more difficult?

    Perhaps they've completely eliminated bloggers from the decision-making process, and substituted code-geeks.

  17. knashermac2009
    Member

    Didn't I read somewhere that WP was suggesting ways in which we could encourage people to comment more on our blogs - by giving away cash prizes etc?

  18. ludusnaturae
    Member

    I just tried and see that the comment box grows while I write. Then I see no problem with the initial little box.
    Firefox 9.0.1 (Linux Mint Debian). Theme INove with custom CSS.

  19. feartheseeds
    Member

    dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb... it is easily the least user-friendly type of comment form.

  20. absurdoldbird
    Member

    Yeah, I had this shit today, too. I hit 'enter' which worked once and then nearly tore my hair out.

    They don't learn, do they?

  21. absurdoldbird
    Member

    Of course, even though they won't post them, we could always comment HERE about it....

    http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/how-to-get-more-comments/

  22. zooey
    Member

    Ludusnaturae -- then you haven't actually properly tried it. The comment box does grow -- but then it shrinks, collapses, again and that is the problem, not that it is initially small. But if you want to know, for example, what the previous commenter wrote that you're responding to in the blog thread, and you leave the box to scroll up the page, the box shrinks to just a couple of lines again -- even if the text in it is long. And it's very tricky and annoying to get it to expand again. If it just stayed expanded the problem we're talking about here wouldn't exist. It's the auto-collapsing all the time that is the problem. If they stop that from happening, then ok.

  23. ludusnaturae
    Member

    Yes, you are right. I didn't try properly. I didn't notice when the box collapses or not, I was confused about this.

    Really annoying! I hope developers fix this soon.

  24. raincoaster
    Member

    Why would anyone think this was an improvement?

  25. absurdoldbird
    Member

    What worries me more is the people who have sight problems and particularly need to see all the text as they are typing. What about them? What about people with accessibility problems?

    And - if my memory isn't playing tricks - didn't they try this in the past? It didn't work then either.

  26. nixonradio
    Member

    I'm on Firefox too and noticing the same behaviour. The auto-expanding is a really nice touch, the auto-collapsing makes leaving a long comment nearly impossible. If it auto-expanded and then stayed expanded, I could understand it, but the auto-collapse? Surely this is a glitch - I can't imagine it's actually supposed to work like that?

  27. absurdoldbird
    Member

    I wonder if it has anything to do with this, from a different site, but related to Intense Debate which is one of Auttomatic's 'things':

    http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2009/11/22/so-we-tried-intense-debate/#comment-1320530

    And, surprise surprise (not) the person talking here is Beau Lebens who most recently wrote in one of the recent sticky posts in these forums, about what - about the commenting problems:

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/recent-update-to-commenting?replies=4

    Either this is a change intended to stay (which I suspect) or it's an unpleasant bug that needs dealing with now.

    What I want to know is what the flying f*ck do they think all this will achieve apart from getting people to move away from wp.com. Maybe it's all a ploy to sell more guided transfers. Not that those are much in evidence at the moment. Have they not sussed why the transfers might have become so popular all of a sudden? (I might even go that route myself one of these days.)

  28. absurdoldbird
    Member

    I thought I'd seen this comment box behaviour before, it was here (though I think there was another thread about it, too, and I can't find that). At the time it was a bug. Let's hope it is this time, too.

    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/bug-in-new-comment-forms?replies=4

  29. zooey
    Member

    For the time being, the auto-collapsing issues seem to be gone, the comment box stays expanded -- I hope it's permanent. If so, a huge relief. Just managed to write a comment without being constantly annoyed.

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