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Inspired by events in this question: Why didn't the Ex-Wife work?

The purpose of a comment in Stack Exchange as I understand is to improve a question as given here:

Comments are for, and should be used to:

  • Request clarification from the author

  • Leave constructive criticism that guides the author in improving the post

  • Add relevant but minor or transient information to a post (e.g. a link to a related question).

When the first one is intended, the author of the question should add relevant details in the question itself, instead of replying in the comment because that may be a valid point and should include the required details in the question.

Now, after that step, what is the necessity of the comment still staying there?

Should people use "no longer needed"? Should those comments be removed? After all, the comment has served its purpose.

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  • Inspired from events of this question.
    – Gary 2
    Nov 11, 2022 at 19:13
  • So while I agree with your disquiet at the rollback of your edit - I'm not sure this meta question is really needed. When your flags were dismissed, the comments were still valid (your edit having already been rolled back) therefore it would be incorrect to delete them
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Nov 12, 2022 at 0:03
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    In terms of the rollback - I don't think a "replies to comments" section in your question is really the best way to improve the question. Literally you should just improve the question, not turn it into a blog post with its own comments section.
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Nov 12, 2022 at 0:04
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    That said I have some sympathy for you being upset at being rolled back - but really the best way to address this going forwards, is to just improve your question.
    – iandotkelly Mod
    Nov 12, 2022 at 0:05

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Should people use "no longer needed"? Should those comments be removed?

Yes, once the OP (or anyone else) has made the clarificatory edit addressing the comment asking for clarification, then that comment no longer serves a purpose and should be deleted. Either the comment author can delete them, or you can flag the comment as "It's no longer needed. This comment is outdated, conversational or not relevant to this post." Because it's just like the flag reason states — it's no longer needed.

Once a clarification has been made, an edit added to the post to include new information, or the issue in the comment is otherwise resolved, it can be deleted.

- Meta SE FAQ post: How do comments work?

About your specific question, it seems that your clarificatory edit has been rolled back (it shouldn't have been) and then put back in, so I can understand the confusion. One shouldn't roll back clarificatory edits, removing information from the question, especially if it's the OP of the question that had made that edit.

Currently, your clarificatory edit is back in the question, so the comment(s) that asked for those clarifications should be deleted.

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