1FPS|by David Chartier

Mark Jaquith, one of the lead WordPress developers, had the same trouble many users did when trying to figure out how to edit comments in WordPress 2.5. Turns out that, like clicking a post’s name to edit, you click the commenter’s name:

This sort of mirrors how post edit links work. To edit a post (or a page), you just click the name of the post. That is quite intuitive. I learned that behavior in about a day, and now the old way of clicking the “Edit” link seems strange. I’ve not had the same experience with comments. I think the problem is that comments don’t have a title, like posts do.

I agree, this really isn’t intuitive. I get the line of thinking that led to this decision, but it still just doesn’t feel right. Perhaps a simple “(edit)” link next to each commenter’s name would do the trick.

And suddenly that disturbance in The Force Kenobi was complaining about was silenced, perhaps due to my new harmonious balance of posts and comments on TUAW.

Or perhaps I’m just surprised that I’ve been spending this much time in the comments with readers. Wow. I just hope it’s doing some good.

Why yes, yes they are.

That said, I still don’t agree that comments should be eliminated entirely. That solution is using a sledgehammer to silence what I believe to still be a minority of off-balance jerks who were never taught - and never bothered to learn for themselves - the meanings of such wonderful colloquialisms as ’self-restraint’ and ‘being civil instead of a jackass.’

Of course, there could be a discussion surrounding how useful it could be to truly use a sledgehammer to quiet said jerks, but that’s a chat for another time.