As a blog reader myself, I have experienced situations where I left a comment in a blog only to realize I made a spelling or factual mistake after submitting it. Whenever that happens, the only way I can correct my mistake is to submit another comment with the corrections or to contact the blog owner.
By default, most blogging platforms including WordPress does not allow a reader to edit their comments after submitting it. However, that can be changed by installing the WP Ajax Edit Comments plugin. With this plugin, the author and reader can edit comments on the post directly. The blog admin may set the amount of time a reader may edit their own comment. The reader can edit their name, blog URL and comment within this time frame. The time left will be displayed as a countdown timer.
The WP Ajax Edit Comments plugin should work on WordPress version 2.1.+ and above. However, there are known compatibility issues with this plugin when it is used together with:
- Any plugin that posts comments via Ajax and doesn’t require a page reload. An example plugin is JQuery Ajax Comments.
- Any plugin that loads jQuery improperly without queuing it with WordPress.
I’m definitely giving this plugin a try. As mentioned in the plugin page itself, “What better way to show reader appreciation than letting the readers edit their own typos?”