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So I recently saw add comment (requires 50 reputation) on a deleted answer. After looking around a bit, it seems to be on all deleted posts now (only deleted posts, normal posts still say just add comment).

I'm sure it wasn't there before (I think it just said add comment (unclickable) or possible nothing).

It is also on locked posts, presumably the root cause is the same.

And yes, I do have more than 50 reputation (in case anyone was wondering).

Just to clarify, requires 50 reputation obviously shouldn't be there for users with 50 or more reputation. Choices:

  • Display nothing
  • Unclickable add comment - probably not ideal
  • Unclickable add comment (disabled for deleted posts) or something along those lines

FYI - You may be somewhat confused right about now if you can't see deleted posts yet.

Image

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    It's also on locked posts, for that matter. I assume the reason's the same, so I'm just adding this here. – user98085 Jul 24 '13 at 17:38
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    Worth to mention it's "requires 1 reputation" here on Meta. :) – Shadow The Princess Wizard Jul 24 '13 at 17:40
  • Also happens in locked posts: stackoverflow.com/questions/5508110/… – It'sNotALie. Jul 24 '13 at 17:52
  • It also effects places where you can't comment in review queues - for example when on the 'Duplicate 1' tab on a reopen vote. – Rory Jul 24 '13 at 17:57
  • Is it a case where it just requires you to have 50 rep, or does it actually cost you 50 rep? If the second, that seems bizarre, and if the first, how is it even applicable? Who would be able to even see the post that wouldn't have the rep to comment on it, that we'd be trying to filter out? – Ben Barden Jul 24 '13 at 18:01
  • Also, how is this a question? – Ben Barden Jul 24 '13 at 18:02
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    @BenBarden It just says that, even if you already have 50 rep. Also Meta is kind of special. – It'sNotALie. Jul 24 '13 at 18:03
  • Yup - just noticed it as well... very odd... I would expect nothing at all there, rather than a non-clickable "add comment" and a reminder about rep. requirement... – Jon Clements Jul 24 '13 at 18:05
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    @BenBarden I've got quite a bit more than 50 rep, yet it still shows the "requires 50 reputation", which it shouldn't. This is not really a question, it's simply a bug report (the rules on Meta is a bit different to those on StackOverflow). – Dukeling Jul 24 '13 at 18:08
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    Interesting; good catch. +1, even though you failed to draw a freehand circle to emphasize "requires 50 reputation" ;) – Andrew Barber Jul 24 '13 at 18:29
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    @AndrewBarber Added free-hand circle-like shape. – Dukeling Jul 24 '13 at 18:35
  • @Dukeling Wow!! That is awesome! I love the tail! lol – Andrew Barber Jul 24 '13 at 18:37
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    I'm not sure everything here is a bug. I am able to comment on locked and deleted posts, and I don't think there are any special dev privileges for commenting. Just to be sure, though, I tested with non-dev moderator accounts and had no trouble commenting on both types of posts. Given that, it seems that the real bug here is that the text on disabled "add comment" links for locked and deleted posts should say something more accurate, like "comments disabled on locked and deleted posts" rather than a rep level that doesn't apply in that situation. – Ben Collins Jul 24 '13 at 19:09
  • @BenCollins, it's at the least a change in behavior. I've never seen "add comment" text on deleted posts before, and certainly not the "requires 50 rep" (which I already if I'm seeing a deleted post that isn't mine). I haven't looked for a test case on a site where I'm a mod yet, but on a site where I'm a trusted user but not a mod I'm seeing the text sans link. (As a non-mod I shouldn't be able to comment on deleted posts so "no link" is correct; it's the text that's new.) – Monica Cellio Jul 24 '13 at 20:05
  • @MonicaCellio: right. that was something we updated recently to give users who can't comment for some reason a clue as to how to get the required privilege, but didn't hide the text on locked / deleted posts. – Ben Collins Jul 24 '13 at 20:14
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The real issue here is pretty minor: the text explaining about the rep levels doesn't apply in the case of locked and deleted posts. Mods don't have a problem here because they won't get that text. They are able to comment as usual. However, the text can be confusing for users with comment privileges and can see deleted content who then wonder why they can't comment on it (only mods can).

enter image description here

This will be fixed soon (I'll update again when it's in an outgoing build).

Update: this, and several other fixes will be in the next build. Thanks to @Sklivvz for jumping in on several of them.

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  • Expand the comments on the answers of this post and you will see the problem still exists. – Antony Jul 25 '13 at 3:34
  • @Antony: do you have a screenshot to share? It looks fine to me. – Ben Collins Jul 25 '13 at 3:35
  • Here it is. – Antony Jul 25 '13 at 3:37
  • It is interesting to note that I am able to add comment here, despite I'm a new user and only have like 1 reps or something. I wanted to comment on a programming related post to say that "I also have the same problem - as the original poster." However, since I'm a new user, I could not because I lack the 50 required reps. So I posted it in the "answer" section. And of course I get voted down because I should've commented. This procedure contradicts itself because now I'm losing reps as opposed to gain them and so it will take a lifetime or more to collect 50 reps just to be able to comment. – pentool Jul 25 '13 at 6:41
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    @pentool Saying you had the same problem as someone else is not really an appropriate comment for StackOverflow as it is not constructive. The reason one requires 50 reputation to comment is probably because new users tend not to know what comments are appropriate. And if you follow the checklist before asking questions, or give a few half-decent correct answers, you should get to 50 reputation pretty quickly. And posts can be deleted by yourself or by moderators, giving you the reputation back. – Dukeling Jul 25 '13 at 7:35
  • Of course, you are correct. But it depends on the context. If you look at the comment on that particular thread, one poster commented "Restart also worked for me". To which, I wanted to reply that it did not work for me. In this context, I'd think my reply/comment would be appropriate, but I wasn't able to just simply post a reply as you usually do on "conventional" discussion boards. Thread: stackoverflow.com/questions/16838245/… – pentool Jul 25 '13 at 9:08
  • @Ben I think you better remove the tooltip from "comments disabled on deleted / locked posts" as well, it's quite misleading. :) – Shadow The Princess Wizard Jul 25 '13 at 9:30
  • I've seen this fixed now. Thanks. – Lightness Races with Monica Jul 25 '13 at 10:19
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    @BenCollins This is still happening on "Duplicate" tabs in the review system - comment link is disabled with the requires X rep phrasing. – Rory Jul 25 '13 at 11:20
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    @LightnessRacesinOrbit only partial fix, answers in locked questions are still misbehaving. example. – Shadow The Princess Wizard Jul 25 '13 at 13:18
  • @pentool you are allowed to comment here because meta doesn't require as much rep for commenting. meta.stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/comment – Ben Collins Jul 25 '13 at 14:34
  • @ShaWizDowArd: yeah, there are a few other nits to fix with these changes. trying to get to all of it as fast as I can :-) – Ben Collins Jul 25 '13 at 14:36
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    @pentool except SO is by its nature not meant to be a conventional discussion board. Answers should be informative and attempt to solve the problem at hand. Instead of saying just saying "Restart didn't work for me." You could have said "Restart didn't work, BUT <real answer here> did work". – ardent Jul 25 '13 at 23:01

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