allow hiding of comments (Moderation Policy udpate)

[Trott]

Allow Collaborators to use the GitHub "Hide" feature for
off-topic comments from non-Collaborators.

Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/moderation/issues/214

[Trott]

@nodejs/moderation @nodejs/tsc @nodejs/community-committee

[addaleax]

Fwiw, I have used this feature in e.g. nodejs/node#20876 to keep the discussion on track, even for comments that would probably not qualify as “blatantly” off-topic, simply because there was a lot of attention/comments. Maybe we should clarify whether that’s okay or not?

Like, the current wording makes it sound like that would not be okay, whereas previously I just assumed that it would be.

[Trott]

@addaleax Happy to wordsmith it. Was thinking "broad authority" could really just be "authority". I wanted to include an adverb like "clearly" or "blatantly" or "conspicuously" because I can envision a scenario where there is an hide/unhide war between Collaborators who disagree about the off-topic-ness of a comment. In that situation, I think the unhide side should prevail, but maybe I'm imagining a problem that won't happen?

Would this work for you?

Collaborators may use the Hide feature in the GitHub interface for off-topic posts by non-Collaborators.

Then, if this causes issues down the road, we can revisit. But for now, let's allow Collaborators to keep things focused without worrying that they're violating policy?

[addaleax]

Yes, that sounds perfectly fine and a bit clearer to me. :)

[Trott]

Text updated!

[ryanmurakami]

Thinking about this further, does this mean that collaborators should not hide other collaborators comments?

[Trott]

Thinking about this further, does this mean that collaborators should not hide other collaborators comments?

Yes, that's right. We already have a mechanism for dealing with Collaborator posts--we ask the Collaborator to edit or delete their own comment. Hiding seems unnecessary but certainly an option if they'd rather hide their own comment.

[benjamingr]

@Trott I think hiding outdated comments in PRs should be acceptable - that said this PR doesn't forbid this as far as I can tell (and it's done in cooperation most times anyway and comments can be unhidden).

[Trott]

@Trott I think hiding outdated comments in PRs should be acceptable - that said this PR doesn't forbid this as far as I can tell (and it's done in cooperation most times anyway and comments can be unhidden).

@benjamingr Those comments are typically from other Collaborators, so that's a separate issue (and arguably not a moderation issue, although I'd prefer the policy for hiding be all in one place, so I wouldn't push that argument myself).

This PR is about non-Collaborators. It's about J. Default Avatar leaving a comment like "hi everyone!" and avoiding the overhead of opening a moderation issue and talking about it and so on. Just hide that comment and go back to work.