Comments on submissions
Comments are short threaded discussions on a community submission's detail page. Use them to clarify your reasoning, suggest improvements, share an alternative approach, or ask the contributor to fix something. Comments are bilingual-friendly, admin-moderable, and do not affect voting or eligibility.
TL;DR — Open a submission, scroll to the Comments section, write your comment in English or Urdu, submit. Daily comment quota is 5 (raised by Voter achievements). Comments are visible to all verified users.
Who can comment
Only verified contributors (CNIC-verified). Sign-in alone is not enough — same trust gate as voting, flagging, and submitting.
Where comments live
Each submission's comments are at communityComments/{submissionId}/items/{commentId} — a Firestore subcollection. The submission document carries a denormalised commentCount. Sorted reverse-chronological (newest first) by default.
What to write
Three productive uses:
- Clarify your downvote. "I downvoted because option C is also technically correct under the alternate convention used in the Federal Board edition." This helps the contributor understand and possibly improve.
- Suggest an improvement. "The wording 'always equal' is too strong — perhaps 'usually equal' is more accurate. See p. 47 paragraph 3."
- Ask a clarifying question. "Is this question targeting the Federal or Punjab board phrasing? They differ on whether velocity is treated as a vector here."
What not to use comments for:
- Personal attacks. Do not insult the contributor. Comments are public; bad behaviour stays in the audit log.
- Substituting for a flag. If something is wrong, flag it. Comments are for discussion, not moderation.
- Spam, ads, or off-topic links.
Comment moderation
Admins can soft-delete any comment with a reason. Soft-deletion replaces the visible content with [Comment removed by moderator: <reason>] while keeping the audit record. Repeated comment deletions count toward Reviewer-track accuracy and can lead to strikes (commenting strike, not a separate strike type — counted alongside flagger strikes).
Admins do not delete comments for disagreement; they delete only for policy violations (insults, spam, ads, off-topic).
Daily comment quota
Default: 5 per day. Raised by Voter and Reviewer achievements that signal you are a good-faith community member. The quota resets at midnight Pakistan Standard Time.
The 5/day default is intentionally low to prevent comment-bombing. A healthy contributor leaves a few high-quality comments rather than a flood.
Bilingual comments
You can write a comment in any language. Comments are not translated automatically. The comment is rendered in the language you wrote it; readers see it in that language regardless of their UI preference.
If you want both languages, write two comments (one English, one Urdu) — they thread separately. Most contributors only need one.
Notifications
The contributor of a submission receives a notification when:
- Someone comments on their submission for the first time today.
- Someone replies to their own comment.
Notifications respect your push-notification preferences (off by default — opt in on /app/profile). See the Notifications page (lands in Batch 4).
Comments and the audit log
Every comment write and delete is recorded in communityAuditLogs. The audit log is the source of truth for who said what and when, and it is append-only — even if a comment is deleted, the deletion event itself is logged.
Common questions
Can I edit a comment after posting?
For 5 minutes after posting. After that, the comment is locked to preserve the conversation context for everyone who has already read it. If you need a substantive correction, post a follow-up comment.
Can I reply to a comment?
Yes — replies thread one level deep (not infinite nesting). Replies notify the parent comment's author.
Can I delete my own comment?
Yes — within 5 minutes of posting. After that, the comment is permanent (you can request admin deletion if there is a real reason).
What if someone insults me in a comment?
Flag the comment (the comment carries a small flag icon). The admin reviews. Insults typically lead to a strike for the commenter.
Are comments visible to the public?
No — only to verified members. Public users see the submission and votes, but not the discussion.
Can comments contain images?
No. Comments are text-only. If you need to share an image, attach it to a fresh submission or use a chapter explanation.
Common rejections
A comment that is plain insult or off-topic gets soft-deleted. Repeat offenders accumulate strikes. Five strikes = permanent ban (same rule as for submissions).
Next
- Voting — discuss in comments and vote separately.
- Flagging — when discussion is not enough.
- Daily quotas — comment quota and how to raise it.