We could use some more pro-forma comments

Question

I'd like to brainstorm some possibilities for the modal comment-interventions that we tend to do:

• Welcome to the site, but your question needs work because reasons
• Welcome to the site, but your answer needs work because reasons
• Please stop arguing in comments!
• Please don't answer in comments.
• Revise your answer instead of responding, here's an example of what it looks like.
• Here's why your question was closed and some meta discussion on it.
• This is a subjective question, so your answer must Back It Up!

(Edit in other modal comments that you see popping up.)

We can the use the auto-comment userscript to drop in these well annotated and linked comments in.

The specific use is to have a community-normed pattern for gently correcting infractions of our rules in comments.

Answer 1

I don't know how useful anyone else might find them, but I've been collecting Comments I Often Make in a txt file for a while and I might as well share some of 'em. You'll notice that they tend to be slightly verbose; partly that's my style and partly I think it helps seem more friendly and human, and less like the person got the wrong end of a rules-obsessed chatbot. Others I've based on moderator phrasings that I liked.

###[Q]New user introduction
Welcome to rpg.se! Please take a look at the [tour], it's a useful introduction to the site.

###[Q]Looks like a forum post
In particular, Stack Exchange isn't a forum, it's a Q&A site. The "answer" form is for answers to the question being asked, and new questions should be asked independently.

###[Q]Question is unclear
Can you expand your question, please? I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. Titles, while useful summaries for questions, cannot actually serve as the question itself.

###[Q]Opinion Based
[type here] are value calls that we can't make for you.

###Please no thank you comments
Comments are for improving questions. If you want to thank someone for their contribution, upvote them!

###Please no forums in comments
Comments are for improving questions. If you need to discuss things, there are many RPG forums (SE, as a Q&A site, is not designed to support discussion).

###Please no questions in comments
Comments are for improving questions. If you have follow-up questions, we welcome them as new questions, or as a clarifying edit to your original question.

###Link with no context
Links to external resources are encouraged, but [please add context around the link](http://rpg.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-answer) so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline.

###Third-party proprietary content link
Please don't link to third party hosts of proprietary content, as they're [highly succeptible to link rot](http://meta.rpg.stackexchange.com/a/2773/4398).

###New user chat invite
and once you have 20+ rep, feel free to join the [chat]!

###Chat invite
Let's continue this discussion in [chat].

Answer 2

Here are some comment drafts for the auto comment extension which can be easily imported/exported into the extension:

###New user introduction
You may wish to take a look at the [about] and [help] pages; they're useful introductions to the site.     

###Unexplained link to external resource
Links to external resources are encouraged, but [please add context around the link](http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8231/are-answers-that-just-contain-links-elsewhere-really-good-answers) so your fellow users will have some idea what it is and why it’s there. Always quote the most relevant part of an important link, in case the target site is unreachable or goes permanently offline. When in doubt, see [How To Answer](http://$SITENAME$/help/how-to-answer).  

###Answering in comments
@[type here], thank you for providing helpful information! If you believe you have enough information to post an answer, please do so. While I do appreciate the input, answering in comments is actively discouraged. Thank you!

###User should be editing post instead of responding
@[type here], thank you for clarifying your post! Instead of using comments to include additional details, it is highly preferable that you [edit your post instead](http://$SITENAME$/privileges/edit). 

###[A] OP using an answer for further information
I'd like to request that you use the *Post answer* button only for actual answers. You can modify your original question to add additional information or expand; however, if you have a new question entirely, I ask that you instead [ask a new question](http://$SITEURL$/questions/ask). Thanks!

###[A] OP adding a new question as an answer
If you have another question, please ask it by clicking the [Ask Question](http://$SITEURL$/questions/ask) button. Thanks!

###[Q] Question is not clear
Would it be possible for you to expand upon your question? I'm not entirely certain what you're asking; please provide as much information as possible when asking. Thanks!

###[A] Cut it out with yer' bickerin'.
@[type here], while I appreciate your efforts, arguments in comments tend not to be constructive. If you believe you have a differing interpretation, you are welcome to post a new answer below. Thanks!

###[Q] Cut it out with yer' bickerin'.
@[type here], while I appreciate your efforts, arguments in comments tend not to be constructive. If you believe you have a differing interpretation, you are welcome to [post a new question](http://$SITEURL$/questions/ask) to clarify. Thanks! 

###[A] Frame challenge without legitimate answer. 
@[type here], while we do accept [frame challenges](https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/q/6842/23064) as valid answers, [please also answer the question as posed before offering your critique on the subject](https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/a/3319/23064).

If you think these wordings should be changed, or would like to add your own to this list, feel free to edit it.

Note: the new user introduction comment excludes a welcome, because the auto-comment adds it automatically for users less than one week old.

Note 2: Any [type here] blocks will automatically be selected when the comment is inserted, so you can begin to type over them.

The "Unexplained link to external resource" and "Question is not clear" comments were taken (almost) verbatim from BESW.

Answer 3

I'd note that you've accepted my answer rather quickly. If another, better--that is, provides you a better solution to your problem--comes along know that you have the ability to unaccept my answer and accept the other. Just un-check the green "accept" arrow.

Source for copying and pasting:

###[A] Hold your horses on accepting!
I'd note that you've accepted my answer rather quickly. If another, better--that is, provides *you* a better solution to *your* problem--comes along know that you have the ability to unaccept my answer and accept the other. Just un-check the green "accept" arrow.

Answer 4

I use the “AutoReviewComments” userscript^(?) extensively to give me a base selection of frequently-used comments. It gives me a menu attached to comment fields, and lets me choose from (and edit before sending) a menu of pre-written comments I can customise. It gives me a good base of “tone” to work with, especially for comments which are repetitive and (if I had to type them out manually every time) would probably come out in a more brusque tone than is ideally useful for those comments.

Since the userscript can work with an external text file hosted online, I have my comments file publicly posted on gist.github.org. It's very moderation-centric in its selection of comments and some of the wording, but anyone is free to use it directly or as inspiration, especially anyone who finds themselves doing community moderation using comments. As a working document, it's frequently being revised and is never in a perfect, “polished” state (I'm sure some of the more rarely-used comments have outdated wording), so caveat utens.

(The “raw text” link is what the AutoReviewComments userscript needs for its external file option.)

• rpg-se-pro-forma-comments
  • (raw text version)

Answer 5

I find form comments incredibly off putting on the various stackexchange sites I frequent. I don't think they should be encouraged in any way! :)