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If you type a comment, and click on the 'edit' button after 5 minutes, it says that "Comments can be edited for only 5 minutes". Why can't the button just disappear after 5 minutes, so we can assume that the comment is non-editable now.

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    $\begingroup$ Good question. I expect the answer to be some sort of amalgam of limits of javascript programming plus amount of work the developers want to put in. $\endgroup$ May 29, 2015 at 9:10
  • $\begingroup$ Related discussion: from a UI point-of-view Gelatin's comment should be highlighted. $\endgroup$ May 29, 2015 at 9:12
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    $\begingroup$ Not an answer: The button disappears if I re-load the page. $\endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    May 29, 2015 at 13:05
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    $\begingroup$ Nothing wrong with the suggestion. FYI moderators CAN edit old comments without any time limits, so we need that button. This comes in handy if something goes wrong with e.g. LaTeX. I have abused this ability by editing some old comments - mostly my own and mostly fixing typos. Moderators CANNOT undelete comments deleted by the user. Do not flag moderators for the purposes of editing a minor typo. We do fix oversized LaTeX-formulas for those can make the page in question difficult to use. $\endgroup$ May 29, 2015 at 15:46
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    $\begingroup$ I do use ability to edit my comment if it doesn't help OP much, so I can write a more descent answer not having to re-type all my math from the comment. :) $\endgroup$ May 30, 2015 at 14:52
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    $\begingroup$ Whenever I discover that I missed the edit window, unless the comment has been around for a while and garnered votes and/or responses, I just delete it and copy the text into a new comment, no harm done. $\endgroup$ Jun 2, 2015 at 3:54
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    $\begingroup$ I use @MarioCarneiro 's option if I'm in the middle of editing a comment when the 5-minute limit expires. $\endgroup$
    – Joffan
    Jun 5, 2015 at 14:51
  • $\begingroup$ Related feature request on meta.SE: Automatically remove the edit link for comments once they are no longer editable $\endgroup$ Mar 7, 2017 at 17:47

2 Answers 2

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I use the edit function post-five-minutes frequently and certainly hope this feature/behavior is never revoked.

As much as I find the "gotcha" feeling of finding out too late that I've passed the five minute mark even though I'd swear I had a few more seconds, I find the availability of edit without save is still very useful.

Unless I'm mistaken, there is no other way to grab all of the links, formatting, and MathJax at once, to either repost, revise or improve the comment when it is helpful, or to use it as the kernel of an answer when I realize that it was one, since I try to avoid leaving answers as comments as much as possible.

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  • $\begingroup$ Re: Unless I'm mistaken, there is no other way... Well, there are a few methods how to get content of comments. I will here my comment from a related question. (Due to character limit, as a separate comment.) To me personally, the best options seems the use of the bookmarklet mentioned there. However, it only works for comments under a question, not for comments under an answer. $\endgroup$ Mar 14, 2017 at 7:31
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    $\begingroup$ Since it seems that you are interested in copying source of comments, this older post might be useful: How to copy mixture of text and latex formulas in a comment? Especially the bookmarklet mentioned there is very useful. (Although it can only used to copy comments under the question and not comments under an answer.) $\endgroup$ Mar 14, 2017 at 7:31
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak thank you - the information there is very helpful to me. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Mar 14, 2017 at 7:50
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They recently changed it so that this question is redundant.

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    $\begingroup$ Is there some source confirming that this has indeed changed? $\endgroup$ Mar 7, 2017 at 17:29
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, my user interface as well as yours? $\endgroup$ Mar 7, 2017 at 17:33
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    $\begingroup$ I have just tested it on another post. As this screenshot shows I still can see edit link after 8 minutes. And of course when I click on it and try to edit, I get an error. $\endgroup$ Mar 7, 2017 at 17:44

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