I’m not sure if this is an intended feature or not, so this is in the general category.
Why is it possible for me to delete other users comments on flags that I have created? If this is an intended feature, what is to stop people from abusing that?
If this isn’t intended, why is [delete] showing as an option?
Not sure - that does seem like it could be prone to abuse, and I can’t think of a good reason for the ability to exist.
I can verify that the options appear for me as well, though I hadn’t noticed them before.
Does the function actually work? I haven’t tried (since I don’t want to delete any legit comments). Here’s an old flag of mine though: https://www.inaturalist.org/flags/321647
if @plantman4 or anyone else wants to make a test comment, I’ll see if I can actually delete it.
I made a comment.
Off topic and not, is flagging a recommended way of addressing duplicate observations?
@richyfourtytwo and @rupertclayton I was able to delete both your comments. I just got the usual “are you sure you want to do this” pop up.
@andrewtree Good question. Flagging was a way to address duplicates in the past, but definitely is no longer supported.
“If you come across a duplicate observation, please do not flag it or identify it differently. If you want to identify it, add an identification to the most accurate level you can and include a polite comment explaining to the observer that they should make one observation per encounter with an organism and, if possible, remove extraneous observations.”
See https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#duplicates
That said, older flags from back when this was ok are still left unresolved intentionally:
“We typically leave the following types of flags left unresolved: true spam flags, photos flagged for copyright infringement, and duplicate observations.”
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/curator+guide
So since this flag wouldn’t really matter much now, it seemed like a good target to play with!
Hmm, curators should only be able to hide the comments, I believe. Seems like a bug.
Should I change this to a bug report then?
I don’t think this is good, rule breaking comments can be hidden, which leaves a record and the ability to reverse the hiding, but deletions other than hiding serve no purpose and are prone to abuse, so I hope this gets fixed. As a curator myself I do not need or want this power
Made a Github issue here: https://github.com/inaturalist/inaturalist/issues/4121
I think this is related so I’ll post this here:
The option to delete a comment also shows up on taxonomic change pages:
Link: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxon_swaps/143831#activity_comment_f03efa43-bab0-43b8-b76b-3b1ec5f886b9
Fixed the issue with flags, will take a look into the taxon change issue, thanks!
It should no longer be possible for a curator to delete comments on a taxon change they created. I’m going to close this report.
