Visual indication for comment timer

Question

I ran up against the comment timer and its “Only 1 comment allowed per 15 seconds; timer reset. (click on this box to dismiss)” message and then proceeded to get stuck in the 15 second penalty box loop trying to guess when the coast was clear. It's very easy to get stuck since there's no indication as to when the timer has cleared, and since I have horrible short term memory I tend to try and add my comment before the timer has cleared, therefore continuing my timer hell.

I propose a visual indication, like a textual countdown timer or image, that clearly indicates when you're able to post another comment. The best place for this might be on the actual popup warning so that it doesn't need to clutter any of the site.

Answer 1

I like your idea, but I have a counter offer.

Out loud try this:

1 Mississippi,   
2 Mississippi,   
3 Mississippi,   
4 Mississippi,   
5 Mississippi,   
6 Mississippi,   
7 Mississippi,   
8 Mississippi,   
9 Mississippi,   
10 Mississippi,   
11 Mississippi,   
12 Mississippi,   
13 Mississippi,   
14 Mississippi,   
15 Mississippi!   

Tap foot twice

It always works like a charm for me ^_^

---

If you want to pace yourself, run this in your browser's console to check how fast you are actually counting, and adjust accordingly:

var i = 0; var t = setInterval(function(){
    if(++i === 15) clearInterval(t);
    console.log(i, "seconds");
}, 1000);

Answer 2

If you ask me, I think it's bad design that the timer would be reset. Why not just show the warning and let the timer just keep counting down the original 15 seconds? That would put an end to this timer hell for everyone. Isn't the point of the timer to prevent people from successfully posting a second comment within 15 seconds of posting one? The fact that it's not letting you post one within that 15 second window means that it's doing its job. The timer should not have to be reset if the user jumps the gun. That's just plain silly IMHO, and all it does is add unnecessary frustation on the user's part.