The discussion addresses an issue where the reply button appears on closed posts, which may be confusing. ct-337 reports the button is visible even on closed topics, though it doesn’t function. RGJ clarifies that the post in question is archived, not closed, and suggests updating the forum software. chapoi questions whether archived topics show a lock icon, and Moin explains that the reply button behavior for logged-out users is intentional, as permissions are unknown until login. RGJ confirms the button is visible even without authentication. sterretje supports the idea of hiding the reply button but suggests it should be restricted to certain trust levels. ct-337 clarifies that the issue is the button appearing for users who cannot reply. twofoursixeight attempts to reproduce the issue on an outdated version but finds the behavior works as expected.
This may have been reported before, but I couldn’t find anything.
The reply button is appearing on closed posts sometimes. It isn’t always and as far as I know, it doesn’t do anything but is still there. The screenshot below shows I can reply even though it is closed.
That’s not a closed post, it’s an archived topic, FWIW.
Your forum is about 6 months behind so it might be good to update first and see if the issue is still there.
Do we show the lock icon for archived topics too? I do understand that’s a bit confusing if so.
In topic lists yes, in small action posts no. See Providing more visual distinction between Closed and Archived topics
I don’t think it’s a new issue that the reply button doesn’t disappear immediately. Tbere is a topic from 2020 and I think it still works that way:
That’s not this issue in this case, the reply button was even visible for me without authentication when I found the above topic through a search engine and visited the forum for the first time.
But with that button you couldn’t open the composer as it was reported in this topic, could you?
I think there was always a reply button for logged-out users. As long as the user doesn’t log in, you cannot tell if they have the permission to reply. That affects closed and archived topics, but also topics in categories where only some groups are allowed to reply. Anons see a reply button in all these cases
It’s also visible on closed topics on Meta.
So I am not sure if the issue reported here is different from the other topic because you can see a reply button while you are not logged in.
I signed up to test it and you are correct.
I’m a forum user on a certain Discourse based site and have trust level 4 (not moderator or admin). I find it useful to be able to first close/lock a post (to prevent new replies) and next add a final reply.
So if the idea is to hide the reply button I think it’s a good idea to limit that to certain trust levels.
TL4s can always reply to closed topics. The problem is the button is still appearing for other trust levels and the post just won’t create.
Thanks for that explanation.
