Send notifications of unscreened comments in tracked threads

[elf]

Title:
Send notifications of unscreened comments in tracked threads

Area:
Commenting, tracking threads, notifications

Summary:
I'd like to get notifications of comments in screened threads, where a moderator later unscreens them. Right now, if you subscribe to a thread, you get notified of new comments--but not if they're screened. And there's no notification sent out on unscreening.

Description:
I don't know how technically difficult this would be to implement. All I know is, when I try to track threads in anon love memes, where comments are often screened until a moderator opens them, I don't get email notifications. I assume there are similar problems in some gaming journals and some kink memes--if you're not the person being replied to, you have to keep checking back to find out if there are new responses.

I assume that the "send notification" code activates immediately upon commenting, and is interrupted if the comment is screened. There may not be an easy way to implement "when comment is unscreened, check to see if anyone's subscribed, and send notification," especially if that includes "...but first, check to see if that person's already been notified, either because they were the reply-to person and got notified when the comment was made, or because the comment was originally unscreened, later screened, and is now being unscreened again."

I can't think of any drawbacks to this (other than, of course, it may be horrendously difficult to code), but I can easily believe I'm missing some. I don't know if there are any comms that make use of the lack-of-notification as it currently exists.

Poll #14084 Send notifications of unscreened comments in tracked threads

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 50

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
40 (80.0%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
3 (6.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
1 (2.0%)

(I have no opinion)
6 (12.0%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[pauamma]

If it's too hard to code "don't send multiple notifications for the same comment", I'd rather have them than not be notified at all. (I also get multiple notifications when comment content is edited, so this wouldn't be that much of a problem to me.)

[azurelunatic]

Plus in the case of communities, there may be multiple other people who can change the screening status, and sometimes an admin needs to know. (Recall the Great Screaming Screening Incident of like '08.)

[elf]

There's drama about screening?

Wait, it's a feature that displays content. Of course there's been drama about it. There are probably communities that get into regular scream-fests about "you MAY NOT screen/unscreen comments without a moderator's approval; doing so may get you BANNED."

In which case, presumably this feature would help moderators enforce the standards they want for their communities?

Shrug. Mostly, I want to be able to subscribe to threads that have screened comments, and get notified when those comments go live.

[azurelunatic]

Fortunately it was a one-off, but yeah. The maintainer had screened some stuff on purpose; the entry creator unscreened it; the maintainer came back and screened it again. There was yelling. I can't recall whether the entry creator wound up banned from the community or not.

[kerravonsen]

I can see why this is desirable, but it will be tricky to do, I think.
One thing that we really DO NOT want is for people to be told the contents of screened comments, because it is often the case that comments are screened for privacy reasons.
So if it could somehow be done that notifications could go out when the comment is un-screened, that would work for the purposes of following things like comment-fic and role-playing games etc.

[elf]

Yes; that's exactly what I'd like. I don't think anyone should be able to track a post or thread and see comments as they come in, like the author does; I'd just like tracking not to be useless in cases where screening is used for privacy or content-checking (as in, "go ahead and make OOC comments here; they'll stay screened; only in-character conversation will be unscreened").

I suppose there's a chance that the author of the orig post and/or thread will also be notified (again): "A reply to a post/comment you wrote/track has been unscreened" would go out to everyone who gets notified.

[azurelunatic]

I wonder if the subscription could be split like:

You have unscreened a comment in your own journal. (For paid users? Maybe not useful at all?)
A comment to an entry you have made in a community has been unscreened. (Useful if that's something an administrator did that you need to know; not so useful if you were the one who did it.) (Or: Screening status change to a comment to your community entry.)
Screening status change to a comment in a community you administrate. (Paid perk: split this by community, or paid community perk: that community only? Useful as administration tool, not so useful for administrators who are there as emergency backup and not active.)
A reply to your comment/a tracked item has been unscreened. (Useful to basically everybody.)

[silveradept]

The fourth element would have been immensely helpful in Words and Deeds Love Meme 4 by jjhunter, as the lack of notification on unscreening meant having to go back and check the threads regularly to see if new content had been posted. A notification of unscreening would have been very helpful.

[elf]

The love memes are exactly what I was thinking of, although there are other memes where all comments are initially screened and they have the same problem.

[jjhunter]

Mm. I'd actually really like a modified version of this such that in the places where the journal owner / community admin has the option of screening / unscreening a comment, e.g. DW inbox etc., there was some icon or ticky box such that — if the comment is currently unscreened — a comment notification email for that comment can be sent/resent to anyone who would normally receive it.