-1

Having just read this article about why there is a time limit on editing questions, I thought about questioning why comments do not have an edit history.

I think (I couldn't find any statistics, so if anyone does, please tell me) that there must only be about 1 edit made to each answer/comment on average and the amount of space that would take is minimal.

Is there another reason not to have edit history on comments?

Improve this question
6
  • 2
    Comments are unimportant. They don't have the same status as answers.
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 8:35
  • @MrLister Fair enough, but what about answers that are in the comments of the main post? The answers that aren't long enough to warrant their own post.
    – Alexander Craggs
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 8:46
  • 2
    @PopeyGilbert: Answers in comments is wrong. Answers need to be answers, comments are second class citizen which might be wiped without a warning or second thought. Also if a question is answered with a simple comment, there's a good chance that question should be closed and downvoted.
    – Time Traveling Bobby
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 9:53
  • Comments are attached to, but do not form part of, your Question. Their main purpose is to help you edit to improve your Question by requesting clarifications wherever potential answerers are unsure of what you are doing, using or asking. meta.gis.stackexchange.com/a/3353/115
    – PolyGeo
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 10:17
  • Moderators have the ability to see deleted comments. i don't know if they have a history because i need to investigate on that but that will make it better for moderation
    – user270320
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 11:23
  • to be clearer, here's how comments look to a moderator i.sstatic.net/QOc4x.png i believe and you can see from the picture that it will clutter the comment section a lot
    – user270502
    Commented Sep 14, 2014 at 18:44

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
10

Comments on Stack Exchange have a very clearly defined, yet temporary purpose. They are intended to seek clarification on a post or to help a user improve that post. Comments aren't intended to answer questions. If someone has an answer to post, they should post it as a full answer.

Additionally, comments aren't ranked like answers are, and keeping useful information in comments potentially hides it, since that information isn't as visible as an actual answer.

Since the goal of Stack Exchange is to build a high quality repository of questions and answers, putting the focus on comments would take away from the design goal of focusing on the Q&A; thus, this isn't a feature likely to ever be implemented.

If you see a comment that is valuable, ask the poster to turn it into a full answer, or do so yourself. Then flag the comment as obsolete so that it can be deleted. See the "When should I comment" section of the comments privilege in the help center for more details.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .