allow users to subscribe without posting a comment

I second the request for this. Many (registered) folks may want to subscribe without actually having to post a comment. The workaround is the one word postings we see in the drupal forums like "subscribing"; but it would be nice to avoid that workaround.

My plan right now is to do one more release for 5.x and then do all development on 6.x. That will make it easier to work on issues like this since it requires changes to the DB. So...I'm changing the version to reflect that.

just wondering if this particular feature request could make use of this module for UUID: http://drupal.org/project/uuid (to alleviate some of the burden of you having to process each anonymous 'subscribe without comment' request easier? no idea if it makes sense, but seems interesting)

I think this would be useful. I find myself hitting submit before realizing I wanted to subscribe to the comment or node.

subscribing

;)

My major problem with this idea is how to do it and keep from expanding the module enormously.

Some questions to consider:

1. So far the module works for anonymous users as well as authenticated. If we want this feature to work for anonymous we'd have to create additional UI and a new field in the table for an e-mail address.

Is this feature still useful if it's only for authenticated users?

2. I kind of assume that users should be able to subscribe to comments on a node that doesn't have any comments on it? That would require a real change to the table structure and moves this module further towards notifications/subscriptions territory. I don't think that makes sense...

We can get around #2 by associating the subscription with a comment ID value, which actually makes a lot of sense in the case of subscribing to a particular comment thread. However, in that case users wouldn't be able to subscribe to notifications until the first comment is posted on a node.

This might be a point where we have to draw the line and say "this light-weight module just adds the ability to get notifications if you post a comment."

One followup question to consider:

If we do generalize this module further to solve the problems in #6 where do we stop? If someone says "this module is great, but I'd like to be able to get notifications of all comments on nodes with a particular taxonomy term" is that unreasonable? What about "all comments by user X"? Where do we draw the line?

That is not supercritical, but definitely useful -> subscribing.

@artem - subscribing without addressing my concerns makes me think that this is not something appropriate to add to the module...

Well, I thought I addressed it in my comment - apparently I was not clear enough.
I do not think that this particular entry is critical or even important, it may very well be not valuable enough considering the amount of technical work needed.

So, I am not ready to "push" for this request. However, if somebody makes it happen, I will definitely use this functionality. It is of low, but clearly positive value for me.

Subscribing

+1 subscribe http://3281d.com/2009/03/27/death-to-subscribe-comments :-)

and when it's implemented, I hope it ( or something like it) is added here too :)

+1

sub

I think this is a huge feature. Think of how much un-needed garbage content gets created everyday because people have to post something in order to subscribe.

By implementing this feature you would be doing a great service to the internet and its users!

@Elijah Lynn - this feature is somewhat in opposition to the purpose of this module. The goal with this module is to be an extremelly lightweight solution. If we start allowing subscriptions without commenting it requires rework to the database model and user interface in a way that will definitely increase the code. I'm not sure this module needs to be all-things-subscriptions to all people. We've already got modules which try to do that.

Hi Greg,

I see the dilemma, where do we draw the line? This use case fits the title, "Comment Notify", perfectly. It notifies users, authenticated and anonymous, of new comments. If it weren't a code reworking, then from a user perspective I would say definitely, however, I am not a coder (yet) so maybe it isn't the best of ideas.

Maybe it would be better suited to be called "Comment Notify Lite."

Cheers,

Elijah