12 votes

Is searching for comments possible?

Posted by balooga
Tags: comments, search, ask.help

I never noticed this before today, but I don't seem to be able to search for comments. Is that supposed to be doable on Tildes?

It took me way too long to figure out that the links at the top of the search results page are sort options; I had been clicking "Comments" hoping to see comment search results, and I was a bit confused why only full topics were still being listed. I guess comment search doesn't currently exist?

10 comments

  1. [7]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    I don't think the reasoning was ever explicitly mentioned, not even in the search feature announcement post, but I suspect that "own topic/comment only" search limitation is entirely intentional...

    I don't think the reasoning was ever explicitly mentioned, not even in the search feature announcement post, but I suspect that "own topic/comment only" search limitation is entirely intentional due to Tildes' privacy focused philosophy.

    While building Tildes, I have tried to ensure that I'm following "Privacy by Design" (PDF), a framework that encourages following certain principles to maximize users' privacy. Below are these principles and how I'm trying to apply them to Tildes:

    1. Proactive not reactive; preventative not remedial. When creating new features, think about what data will need to be stored, and consider how harmful it might be if that data was to be leaked in the future. Is it possible to reduce the amount of data being stored to lower the potential harm? Can the data eventually be aggregated or anonymized so that we're only storing recent data instead of a full history?
    2. Privacy as the default setting. If a feature has a significant privacy impact, it should always be opt-in. A brand new account shouldn't need to comb through their settings to improve their privacy; ideally a new account already has the best privacy possible.
    3. Privacy embedded into design. Privacy is not just an afterthought for Tildes. It's a consequence of the fundamental aspects of the company: a non-profit site with no advertising can promote privacy in ways that would be practically impossible for profit-based companies.
    4. Full functionality: positive-sum, not zero-sum. Privacy doesn't have to be a trade-off. Features can be designed in such a way that they still offer improvements without impacting privacy. Sometimes a minor change to implementation can make a massive difference in privacy without hurting the feature much or at all.
    5. End-to-end security; full lifecycle protection. Always consider what happens with data after it's originally stored. Do we really need to keep it forever? Could it be aggregated or anonymized after a while, and the original data deleted? There are many pieces of data where, after a certain amount of time has passed, it's no longer important to know which specific users created that data.
    6. Visibility and transparency: keep it open. Tildes is "open-source by default". It should be possible for people to examine the Tildes code and see exactly what data is being stored. It should also be possible for people to request to see the actual data stored for their account, and verify it matches up with their understanding of what's being stored.
    7. Respect for user privacy: keep it user-centric. Always consider, "How would I want my own data treated?" Would you want some other company to be storing the same data for you, and how comfortable would you be if someone looked through it? If the idea makes you uncomfortable, try to figure out some way to reduce or remove the data to eliminate those concerns.

    https://docs.tildes.net/philosophy/privacy

    5 votes
    1. [6]
      lou
      Link Parent
      People on Reddit use external comment user search to dig through each other's history and draw all kinds of accusations. It's good that we don't have that.

      People on Reddit use external comment user search to dig through each other's history and draw all kinds of accusations. It's good that we don't have that.

      1 vote
      1. [5]
        cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I'll be honest, I found that being able to search user history was often incredibly useful (verging on being a necessity) for moderating effectively on Reddit... but that's only because of...

        I'll be honest, I found that being able to search user history was often incredibly useful (verging on being a necessity) for moderating effectively on Reddit... but that's only because of Reddit's lackluster moderation tools, the ineffectiveness of bans there, lack of admin support for moderators, lax site-wide policies, and flimsy/inconsistent admin enforcement of those policies.

        Whereas on Tildes, because of it being invite only (making bans more effective), stronger site-level policies, and an admin that isn't afraid to actually remove the assholes, I don't think the benefits of allowing user search here would outweigh its many downsides. So despite me recognizing the potential value (and convenience) of user history search, I'm actually glad it's not being facilitated here... and also hope it will never be required to keep the place from going to shit either. 🤞

        5 votes
        1. [3]
          houaiss
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          I understand those reasons and I agree with them. Is just that always before posting I try to search on Tildes to see if what I'm about to say has already been discussed, in line with the...

          I understand those reasons and I agree with them. Is just that always before posting I try to search on Tildes to see if what I'm about to say has already been discussed, in line with the philosophy on try to not repeat already discussed topics and not create echo chambers. If I can't search for comments from others, this pre-search will be greatly damaged I think. Sometimes I'll get to find the topic to discuss just by the topic title (like this one, I was thinking on create a topic on the search capacities of Tildes, but now I won't since I found an already discussed topic on that). But other times it will be only on comments and I won't be able to see it, read it, or maybe discuss in that comment something that wasn't talked about. I think that is nice to revive a comment with a good reply and maybe bring back a discussion from years ago (considering that this topic will reappear on some front pages).

          3 votes
          1. [2]
            CosmicDefect
            Link Parent
            Huh, it's interesting that Tildes revives old threads to the "front page" if activity starts back up despite being posted last year. I am unsure if this is a good or bad thing to revive...

            Huh, it's interesting that Tildes revives old threads to the "front page" if activity starts back up despite being posted last year. I am unsure if this is a good or bad thing to revive necro-posts, but I just wished to add that I don't think you should worry about repeating some thought someone else had in the comments. Comments don't crowd out the website and it is really only main topic posts that should be checked for duplicates -- and even then not all duplicates are bad.

            In this regard, the tag system is pretty important. I see folks with mod powers are very diligent in adding/correcting/consolidating tags which has been the most useful way to search Tildes so far imo.

            3 votes
            1. cfabbro
              Link Parent
              Yep. Much like the forums of ye olde times, new comments in old topics bump them back to the top of the Activity sorts.

              Yep. Much like the forums of ye olde times, new comments in old topics bump them back to the top of the Activity sorts.

              1 vote
        2. lou
          Link Parent
          I believe it would be acceptable if it was only allowed for mods or admins.

          I believe it would be acceptable if it was only allowed for mods or admins.

          1 vote
  2. [3]
    balooga
    Link
    Poking around a bit more, I just noticed that I can search through my own comments but not globally. Based on that I assume the limitation is by design?

    Poking around a bit more, I just noticed that I can search through my own comments but not globally. Based on that I assume the limitation is by design?

    2 votes
    1. [2]
      dootdoot
      Link Parent
      Are you looking for a website native feature (ie would site:tildes.net on google search work for you)

      Are you looking for a website native feature (ie would site:tildes.net on google search work for you)

      2 votes
      1. balooga
        Link Parent
        Well, there was a particular comment I was looking for, and even knowing specific phrases it contained, the Google site:tildes.net search returned no results. I've tested this with a few other...

        Well, there was a particular comment I was looking for, and even knowing specific phrases it contained, the Google site:tildes.net search returned no results. I've tested this with a few other comments of varying ages. Some, it can find. Others, even 1+ year old comments, haven't been indexed for whatever reason. A native Tildes feature would hopefully be more complete.

        I eventually found the comment I was looking for, since it was one of my own and I discovered that search form on my profile. Even so, I still think it's a question worth asking, regarding how to find older comments from other people.

        3 votes