Unexpected removal of full quote of previous reply

Contribute UX

AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around an unexpected removal of full quotes when replying to the immediately preceding post. soundsgood reports that the quoted text, which appears in the preview, disappears upon posting, leading to confusion about the context of the reply. awesomerobot explains that this behavior is intentional: when quoting the entire post directly above, the system omits the quote to avoid duplication, though this can be disabled via a site setting. soundsgood acknowledges the reasoning but suggests a user notification would improve the experience, as the sudden disappearance of the quote is disconcerting.

1

When I reply to a previous post, I select that text, and when I hit the reply button, that text is automatically formatted as a quote, like this:

But lately, after I add my comments, then hit the reply button, my post is added to the conversation without the quoted text. It’s simply omitted. If I edit my post, I can add the quote manually, but why should I have to, when it was there all along?

Both times that this occurred (today), I was quoting the very last comment. Was the decision made to omit quotes when the quoted text is immediately above the new comment? Without the quote, I don’t think it’s always clear what we’re responding to. So, if this is deliberate, I think don’t think it’s well-thought-out.

Deliberate or not, it’s disconcerting to see the quoted text in the preview, then to hit reply—and have the expected quote simply disappear. This is not a good user experience.

2

Yes, this may be what you’re running into. If you’re quoting the post directly above your own and you’re quoting the entire post (rather than just a specific segment) the quote is removed.

We’re trying to avoid showing an entire duplicate post when you can already see the post directly above.

Site admins can disable this with the remove full quote site setting.

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3

Thanks for the reply. Although I don’t prefer this behavior, it would be helpful if the user were informed with a quick pop-up or something, explaining why the quote he or she expected to see was removed. Having it simply disappear is disconcerting. Thanks again.

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