Editing "in reply to" field of comments

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  leewoof · Member · May 1, 2014 at 11:39 am

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  How do I remove the “in reply to” field from a comment when the original comment (to which the current comment is a reply) has since been deleted? The comment in question is stuck at the bottom of all the comments as if it were the last comment when in fact it was the first.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  thatrobyn · Member · May 2, 2014 at 7:30 pm

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  Hello there! I don’t see an example of this in the first seven Posts showing on your blog. Could you please send me a link that will direct me to the issue in question? Thank you very much!

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  leewoof · Member · May 2, 2014 at 7:58 pm

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  Hi thatrobyn,

  Thanks for your response. It’s on this page:

  “Christian Beliefs” that the Bible Doesn’t Teach

  The comment by a reader named Trevor left on January 6, 2014, along with my reply to it, are stuck at the bottom. If I undelete the comment that Trevor’s comment is in reply to, it will go back to the top, and display normally. My reply also doesn’t show as nested when the original comment is deleted.

  The deleted comment is one of the automatically generated cross-links to another one of my posts. I’ve decided that I don’t like them, and have been systematically deleting them when I see ones that I originally approved. But Trevor replied to one of them instead of entering a new comment. That’s why there’s a problem.

  Thanks for any help you can offer.

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  thatrobyn · Member · May 3, 2014 at 4:29 pm

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  Hi Lee! That sheds some light on the issue, thanks.

  Your reply will not appear as nested when the original comment is deleted. That’s not changeable. Basically, both Trevor’s comment, and your subsequent one, “belong” to that cross-link. When it is removed, the two comments are released and set as top-level comments.

  The only way to move the order of a comment is to adjust it’s original date. If you choose to do this, click on Comments in your Dashboard, hover over the Comment you want to edit, and click Edit. In the right-hand column you’ll see a label that says “Submitted On” and then the date your commenter posted. You can click edit and change the date to reorder it, then hit save.

  Let me know if this helps, and if I might assist you further.

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  leewoof · Member · May 5, 2014 at 7:30 pm

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  Hi Robyn,

  Thanks for your reply. I tried editing the date just now, but the comments still appear at the bottom instead of the top. Thing is, the date on them is already earlier than the date on any of the other comments. If that were the determining factor, they should have appeared at the top of the comments section, not the bottom. Deleting the original cross-link comment seems to make the system think they’re dated later than all the rest of the comments.

  Perhaps this is just a little bug in the WordPress system. I’ll undelete the original cross-link as a work-around. However, if any other fix comes to mind, please do let me know. Thank you.

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  thatrobyn · Member · May 5, 2014 at 8:09 pm

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  Hi Lee, I will keep looking into this for you. I am wondering if the cross-linked post’s date is what is making the system think the comments are older. It is an odd glitch. Please keep in touch if you continue to see discrepancies in the ordering of your comments, and I will let you know if I learn anything new. Thanks very much!