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Reviews shouldn't require a body

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bilge|95

If I just want to write a summary review, e.g. Bit wobbly but haven't had any accidents yet, for a monitor stand, that should suffice. Not everyone wants to write or even read an essay on monitor stands.

simfonik
simfonik|2532
In reply to bilge:

Interesting. I find myself not wanting to write a summary of what I write in the body, as my reviews tend to be on the short side and a summary isn't really necessary. Maybe we're saying the same thing though? Perhaps there should just be a single field to write your review, be it a somewhat shorter Bit wobbly but haven't had any accidents yet review or a lengthy essay?

While on the subject, what are your thoughts on a minimum character count for reviews? We've recently considered making the minimum requirement 40 characters, after seeing a compressor review that said "for compressing". I'm not sure a review like that is useful to anyone.

Your monitor stand review would meet that somewhat arbitrary 40 character limit, and it's actually a helpful review if I were considering the monitor stand and was concerned about wobble.

B
bilge|95

We are saying the same thing. That said, you can still approach this problem in one of two ways: the first is to do as you suggest and simplify the review form to one field. The second is a bit more complicated: make your form smarter and make only one field required (it doesn't matter which one) then store the one that is filled out as either the subject or body; whichever is more canonical in your system.

I think your character limit is fine. It might need lowering a little but I've seen some really shitty "reviews" which are just a single letter or a smiley/frowny face and of course this sort of content should be discouraged.

bradflora
bradflora|576

Yeah, I find myself annoyed at having to write a "review" separate from the title. I think title's in general a kind of artifact from print publishing. The reviews should just be a single text box, maybe even with a character limit, like a tweet!

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