Following feedback and discussions and a failed attempt to make things better, I’ve implemented a new layout for comments.
This layout takes into account deleted/unapproved comments.
Even though the numbering format has changed, our unique way of referring to previous comments can continue.
There may be one-or-two tweaks in the immediate future and I welcome any feedback.
Comment 1 for demonstration purposes
This is an unapproved comment because it contains the word duck
This is a third comment. Comment #2 remains unapproved
Ah. I just left a comment about this on site feedback – which I was typing whilst you published this.
I suppose, if things have to change they have to change but I much preferred the identity of the poster being the headline of each poster rather than an avatar and the comment number. I did not ever feel that there were so many deleted or moderated comments to make a change necessary – it seemed to happen once in a blue moon – but, if there is a demand for change, I guess we have to live with it. I can’t pretend I prefer the new format which I don’t find as amenable when scanning for a particular poster but that’s just me.
Is there a way to insert a blank line between the dateline and the text of the comment? That would improve legibility. (At present there isn’t one. Or maybe it’s just me. I use Chrome on an Android device, if it matters.)
@5 your wish is my command
The dateline surely has an extraneous “at” at the end, doesn’t it?
@4 – adjusted
@7 – oops! Gone now.
Super! Thanks Ken, I think this ought to satisfy one and all…
It wasn’t broke so it didn’t need fixing!
@10
According to many recent comments, that isn’t true.
There are many reasons why comment numbers get out of sync.
For example, Dick Dastardly posts a distasteful comment at #48 and Sneaky Pete at #53 reports it.
Meanwhile Peter Perfect has posted a comment at #49.
Admin deletes DD’s comment, PP’s becomes #48 and then it looks like Sneaky Pete (now #52) has reported PP.
This new method will (should) prevent that ugly situation.
Well done Admin! Mine was Comment #31 at https://www.fifteensquared.net/2025/11/10/guardian-cryptic-crossword-no-29848-by-brendan/ which I deleted – by coincidence the first time I’ve ever deleted a comment (I didn’t know the functionality existed until recently), and fortuitously on precisely the day you changed this! It appears to be working as intended.
By the way, what happens if you now approve Comment 2 on this page?
Big Al@10, it was broke, as Admin has illustrated (and nobody was claiming otherwise when the other approach was briefly introduced; the issue before was that the cure was almost as bad as the disease.) But the new behaviour today seems to be exactly what most of us who commented wanted.
There’ll be time in due course to polish up the style a little, I’m sure.
AP @13
Take a look. It never used to be a “D” in the last word
Excellent!
The poster’s name and comment # seem jammed up very close to the avatar — I don’t know how feasible it is to shift them over slightly?
Could we have the poster’s name in a darker colour please? I find it hard to see.
The word Comment isn’t really necessary. It would be so helpful to have the hash # and number next to the poster’s name, (but only in black text as it is here, so the poster’s name still stands out as you’re scanning for it). That would enable us to simply cut and paste the poster’s name and the comment number instead of having to type them in when referring to a previous post.
Admin #1
3 steps to do that, currently
from
Admin
Comment #1
The hash #is very helpful when cutting and pasting, so that we don’t accidentally create a link when typing in @.
I quite like how the indication of comments awaiting moderation is appearing on today’s Brendan blog.