Even though I don't actively contribute I still hope I can put my 2 cents into here:
Of course, and by posting you are being active :)
As far as using a "fancy" looking comment system, I would vote for it. Everything is going "web 2.0" with the "ooohhh" and "ahhh"s (gmail is a prime example, there are tons of libraries and sample code for Javascript effects). Almost every site I visit uses some sort of Javascript or AJAX in background (even vBulletin has gone AJAX to some extent).
Yeah, people almost expect such features these days.
I believe that the "fancy" effects will not hinder a system, but actually make it easier and more useful for the general person (if its done right!). To defend the use of Javascript (and other Javascript-related effects); you can always have 2 versions of your site - one for people who have a Javascript compatiable browser and the rest who don't. I am 99% sure you can detect in some way if the browser does support Javascript or not and serve a page appropriately. If anything else I am sure you could analyze the user-agent string and determine if its a Javascript capable browser or not. But then again this who idea would requre you to keep 2 versions of the same site.
If something is useful, then it's worth doing. Although more effort would be put into the new system, a fallback to a more basic version is required for people who simply do not like the new or can't handle it. The logistics of presenting data between the two systems (as users add data through each) is one problem, however minor it may seem.
Oh, and then there is the small [large] task of actually creating and implementing it... Volunteers? :) But first we need to determine what we want and need, whereas this discussion has essentially focused on (A) If we like JS, (B) Not everything handles JS, and (C) The Django book example has problems.
Assuming we will implement JavaScript, what do people think about the original ideas?
Regards, Philip
