Captcha for comments?

[TheLobster]

My comments always get reviewed. I was not aware this wasn't a thing that everyone dealt with.

You eventually get whitelisted after leaving a good number of comments. How many? Hearsay speaks of 50 to 100; there might be other criteria at play, too, since the process isn’t transparent at all.

 

[Reliant8432]

You eventually get whitelisted after leaving a good number of comments. How many? Hearsay speaks of 50 to 100; there might be other criteria at play, too, since the process isn’t transparent at all.

I don't leave that many comments, so that's probably why then.

 

[BeechLeaf]

Could be some combination of number of stories, number of comments, and time you've been here. I'm low on two of those, but recently got whitelisted after some 140 comments, which is on the high side of numbers that have been mentioned.

But I know a long-standing author who had instant comment powers despite having made very few comments.

 

[StillStunned]

But I know a long-standing author who had instant comment powers despite having made very few comments.

I was whitelisted after perhaps 10 comments and a handful of stories.

I suppose I'm just very likeable.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Has anyone else had to fill in a captcha to comment on a story? And my comment will be reviewed first too, for the first time in nearly three years.

Fuck this!

I can’t even reply to a comment on my own story without a Captcha and moderation. What the actual fuck?

 

[BeechLeaf]

If you're getting that, looks like a transient error, not a site policy. Something screwy has been going on with comments recently, but it doesn't look like a permanent change.

edit: on, not in

 

[qidniz]

If you're getting that, looks like a transient error, not a site policy.

Increasing their moderation load hardly seems rational. With captcha in place, why are comments moderated at all? (And if there is a need, why not farm this off to volunteers, like the forums?)

 

[BeechLeaf]

Just checking again. I just commented on one of my own stories, and it appeared instantly - no Captcha, no moderation. Whatever bug is happening for some people isn't a general roll-out.

 

[Britva415]

With captcha in place, why are comments moderated at all?

Botspam isn't the only abuse of the comment system. The captcha surely must be making moderation more effective by keeping the botspam out of moderators' faces.

 

[ElectricBlue]

With captcha in place, why are comments moderated at all? (And if there is a need, why not farm this off to volunteers, like the forums?)

To remove html and spam from comments. The site doesn't moderate content, that's left up to the recipients.

 

[qidniz]

To remove html and spam from comments.

The simplest way to deal with that is to make plain text the only format for comments. Nothing to render, nothing clickable. This can be fully automated.