A new update to the SB Nation comment section

One of the features which disappeared last year will be making a return this week.

On Thursday, SB Nation is rolling out an update to Coral, the system used for comments at Behind The Steel Curtain. When the switch was made to Coral last August, there were several features which went away with the new system. Over time, the software team has been trying to implement some of the most missed items.

One of the biggest features which disappeared was the highlighting of the new comments so they could be found easier. On Thursday, this feature will return.

While I could address exactly how the highlighted unread comments will work, here are a few Frequently Asked Questions about the upgrades which give it some pertinent information.

Great, does this mean the Z key will work too?

Not yet. The team is still working on a solution for a keyboard shortcut that jumps you to new comments, but it will not be available when we release new comment highlighting. Stay tuned!

How are new comments marked as ‘read’?

New comments are marked as ‘read’ by refreshing the page or by changing the tab at the top of the comments section. We are evaluating a number of different potential solutions for marking comments ‘read’ in a more direct way, such as a ‘mark all as read’ button, and will be testing those in the near future.

Will it remember my read comments if I switch devices?

Not in this first version of the feature – it’s specific to the browser you use. We’re going to see how many people need multi-device functionality, before we dedicate the time to building it.

I just submitted a comment and it doesn’t show as Unread to me!

That’s correct. We’re assuming that you read what you write, as you write it. If you don’t, you should. (Your comment will show as new and unread to others, of course.)

One problem in which some users, including myself, have an issue with is mobile devices sometimes reload comments randomly. I find this happens more frequently when there are many comments on one article and if my browser needs closed and reopened. If the webpage automatically reloads, unfortunately all of the unread comments will be marked as read. But even before the switch to Coral, I dealt with this issue at times.

For now, the unread comments will be highlighted in the color “Lemon Chiffon” just like they were with the previous system. If we here at Behind The Steel Curtain choose to do so, the color could be changed specifically for our website. If you think this may be something we should implement, make sure you leave your thoughts in the comments below.

One of the most important things about this update is that the Coral team is listening to you all as the users. Although it has taken some time for these things, they are ultimately trying to give you the best commenting experience possible. If you are dealing with issues in the comments, you can contact the Coral team directly via email at coralsupport@voxmedia.com.