I see so many threads with people new to the sub who don't understand nothing but deleted comments in a thread. Additionally, some users may not return to a post where there were no comments to see if it has eventually been answered.
What if we allowed users to post placeholder text, for example "Answer in progress" or some other boilerplate language that ideally would not detract from the quality of the post, while allowing some insight into when a user may be answering in a long-winded and well-explained comment?
"Placeholder" comments are considered partial (read: incomplete) answers, and as such are expressly against the subreddit rules. For reference, here's the rule:
##No partial answers or "placeholders"
An answer should be full and complete in and of itself.
Do not post partial answers with the intention of prompting further discussion. You do not need to post a part-answer to prompt historians to answer the question; they will answer it if they can, regardless. The question is already the "starting point" for discussion; there's no need for anything more.
If you see a question without answers, do not provide a part-answer merely for the sake of putting something in the thread. If you can not answer the question fully, wait for someone who can.
Do not provide a part-answer as a "placeholder" to come back to expand on later. Wait and provide the good answer when you can.
This is not a race for karma: a good answer late is better than a bad answer early. Good answers take time, and that's okay.
Here's a common scenario: Respondent says "Here are a few bits of info [x y z], but I'll answer this properly tomorrow".
Problem 1: There's no guarantee that they will ever return to complete their answer. So everyone's left hanging, and here we are with a partial answer that can't reliably be assessed for quality.
Problem 2: The few bits of info are incomplete, lack depth/context, and are unsubstantiated. Just promising that they'll complete it later does not give them a free pass to ignore the rules: the comment will be removed for failing to meet the standards here.
The better solution:
If the respondent wants OP to know they're working on it, or suggest that OP remind them if they forget, they can PM the OP: that's between them.
Respondent should simply wait until they have their resources handy, time to compose their response, and perhaps even availability to handle any follow-up questions. There's no rush to answer: threads are open for 6 months before Reddit archives them. There's also no rush to answer while a thread is still on the front page: the respondent should be trying to serve the OP primarily, i.e. answer that individual's query. Considerations of entertaining other readers or collecting upvotes should really be secondary.
Having said that, we sometimes see "placeholder" or partial answers that are in fact substantial in their own right. Sometimes a respondent will be able to give a fairly long answer off the cuff, promising to, e.g. add sources later or address some minor point later. Those answers would be evaluated by the mods on their own merits: that is, if it's complete enough, it will stand. If we want to see the update, we'll probably flag it for later review and check up on it the next day or so.
Hope that helps
What's the benefit of this versus just checking the post again later? Not to mention that the answer that was "in progress" may end up being deleted anyway due to not being of sufficient quality. Seems like a surefire way to ensure the comment section is always full of spam.
I don't see what purpose it would serve. You write an answer and submit it. If the answer is particularly long and you cannot write all of it in one go, just store it on your computer until completed. As an inquirer I wouldn't care to read partial answer, leave alone placeholder, it simply does not help me.
Finding an interesting question with 5+ posts and then realizing 4 of them were deleted and the 5th is "Hello, if you came here from /r/all..." is of course slightly irritating. But nothing can be done about it, and finding that those 5 answers were just placeholders would be even more irritating.
Don't worry if a thread is empty, a few of the comments will invariably ask follow up questions, with loose to no connection to the original question. And then someone tells them to ask that in its own thread. This happens constantly with no answers to ask a follow up question in relation to.