Automatically turn "+1" comments into a thumbs-up

[andrewducker]

A suggestion for improving Github Issues on large projects:
If someone leaves a comment consisting entirely of "+1" pop up a message telling them that you've converted it into a thumbs-up for the issue, and subscribe them to it.

For bonus points, also do so for a thumbs-up emoji.

See microsoft/vscode#1023 for an example of an issue where the majority of the comments are this kind of thing.

[bluemoehre]

+1 =D

[schoenwaldnils]

+1

[JayFoxRox]

I'm not sure about this: the problem is that people are stupid.
I don't think we should encourage this or give them a "quick-command" when there is an equivalent function they can use which is just as simple.

imo such comments should just be deleted / people should use the existing button.

It could also be a confusing feature:

• what happens if someone posts at the same time / just before posting a "+1" ? Maybe the wrong post gets the "thumbs-up". (note that this is already solved by the existing feature which has users point at posts)
• which post gets upvoted? the previous one? the first post?
• what happens if you have already liked the post before / does it toggle?
• this could open a can of worms where people suddenly want other quick-commands for things like "*tyop=typo" or something to edit their posts

I think "large projects" should just improve their review style, moderation and user/developer education if they depend on this feature.

[cirosantilli]

Related: #640 #967

[guilhermedecampo]

+1

[Tyriar]

I'm not sure about this: the problem is that people are stupid.
I don't think we should encourage this or give them a "quick-command" when there is an equivalent function they can use which is just as simple.

imo such comments should just be deleted / people should use the existing button.

Stupid is a bit harsh, some people are new to GitHub. This is about reducing noise for maintainers caused by these people who aren't familiar with the feature. Some projects even take the effort of setting up a bot to automatically delete the comment which is bad because of the effort spent and they completely lose the voice of the user.

A nudge in the right direction could solve the problem. It could be as simple as something like this:

1. User types 👍 or +1 into the comment box
2. User hits the comment button
3. A popup appears asking if the user wants to "vote" on the feature instead of commenting

Not particularly intrusive, still allows you to do it if you really want to and likely fixes the problem at the root, with zero cost to the maintainers of countless projects.

[tziporaziegler]

@Tyriar That is what I already suggested here: #967.

Automatically turning +1's into thumbs up can be confusing, since users will just be left wondering where their +1 disappeared to. By prompting users with a message explaining that +1 comment do not add value to the conversation and explaining that the user should instead use reactions, you are giving a clearer message of what behavior is wanted on this site. This is the reason I think my suggestion to blacklist reactions makes more sense, and do not think automatically turning +1's into reactions is a good idea.

[Tyriar]

@tziporaziegler two solutions to the same problem, I hope the actual solution has more thought put into it than the 5 minutes I invested 😃

[TPS]

Duplicates (my 😉) #640, right?

[Tyriar]

Well they're different as they're different solutions. Really they should both be under an issue posing the problem, not the solution. eg. "Prevent 👍/+1 spam"

[martinvonwittich]

What makes +1 comments especially annoying to me is that some maintainers opt to lock issues where people post these, while advising people to use the reaction feature instead. But what the maintainers usually aren't aware of is that locking issues actually also locks the reactions (#771) :(