I agree on the need of this improvement.

If such a feature is to be implemented, though, perhaps it should take into account other needs as well, such as the case of a node considered for the wrong reason.

Examples:

1. node id XXXX has a duplicate YYYY. I submit node YYYY for deletion and in the meantime another monk submits node XXXX for the same reason.
2. Node XXXX has been formatted badly, and an unclosed tag has caused a mangling of the node. Somebody submits it for deletion, because the text displayed looks trollish.
3. Node XXXX asks something about a dark acronym , and somebody, thinking it is an Off Topic, submits it for deletion.
4. Node XXXX is submitted for Tutorial. It looks good, also because it is talking about something less than ordinary. However, one of the replies points out that the code shown is completely wrong and misleading. Many people evaluating this node in Nodes to consider don't see the reply and vote "edit."

In all these cases, editing the consideration field would not solve the problem.

What should address all these issues, while keeping the spirit of the Monastery, would be the capability of adding a comment to the initial consideration comment.

If this feature is implemented, the consideration input box doesn't disappear after submission, and other monks can add their own comments to address the problem correctly.

A stream of comments for case (1) would be:

Node YYYY 
[SomeMonk] DELETE - dup of [XXXX]
[WiserMonk] DON'T DELETE - [XXXX] has no replies. This one does.
[download]

for case (2):

Node XXXX
[SomeMonk] DELETE - no contents 
[WiserMonk] KEEP and EDIT - fix <NASTY> tags
[download]

for case (3):

Node XXXX
[SomeMonk] DELETE - Not a Perl Question. We don't do XYZ!
[WiserMonk] KEEP - [CPAN://XYZ] is a Perl module
[download]

for case (4):

Node XXXX
[SomeMonk] EDIT - That's great! Promote to Tutorials
[WiserMonk] KEEP - Look at [XXXYY]. The code is a mess.
[download]

I believe that such a change would improve the quality of the whole consideration process.

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I like your idea, but wonder how this is supposed to integrate with the process. After all, commenting on a consideration overlaps with voting on it. (You are voicing your opinion about it.)

I can't quite put forth reasoned arguments, but I my gut feeling is (and I hope it is somewhat obvious why) that it's strongly preferrable to have this feature restricted so the consideration nodelet can't become a sideband discussion of the node.

Maybe the comment should be an optional part of the voting procedure (as in there's a text field where you can add your quip when you vote). It would force a vote out of anyone who wants to comment, avoiding the consideration discussion stalling the actual consideration process. It would also restrict consideration comments to a single-shot opportunity for each voting monk.

Makeshifts last the longest.

I agree with Aristotle, this would be overloading the Approval process a little. Such discussions should probably take place on the Editors' Wiki.

Which, in my opinion, should possibly be more reachable to facilitate this, ie. a text box in the editors nodelet to write directly to the Wiki, and possibly a list of recent comments shown at the bottom of Nodes to consider or nodes requiring editing.

(Although, not all those that may consider things are editors, and thus don't have access to the wiki.)

On the whole, the actual votes themselves should reflect your list of possibilities (with possible exception of the people with itchy 'delete' fingers ;)

C.