5 ms·

I would very much like to see a small tag indicating paywalled content. It is easy to tell that NYT, WSJ etc are paywalled, and some even allow free viewing, ho

I would very much like to see a small tag indicating paywalled content. It is easy to tell that NYT, WSJ etc are paywalled, and some even allow free viewing, however scientific papers and academia seem to have a higher proportion of such sites. Since this community is pretty STEM centic, a lot of papers, journals, and smaller subscription sites are posted here. If users could simply "tag as paywalled" it would be a timesaver and a rather nice feature. Thanks.

mschuster91 11y ago
Yeah, I'd like to see this as well.
dang 11y ago
HN generally eschews tags, and I fear having to maintain this (edit: I mean manually). But we'll think about it.
- jeo1234 11y ago
  It could be an optional tag like [dead] or [flagged].
  - dang 11y ago
    But those are automated. I've added "manually" above to clarify why I fear this.
    - jeo1234 11y ago
      Would it be practical to introduce a tag system which lets each user manage their own list?
      - guipsp 11y ago
        You can do this yourself with a userscript
        voltagex_ 11y ago
        Working on this now, no ETA though.
        voltagex_ 11y ago
        Done. It's terrible. In its own repo so I can have pull requests that add extra sites. Hit the "Raw" button on https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/master/HackerNews.PayWall.Warning.user.js https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/maste... - linking directly is not a good user experience for anyone using GreaseMonkey
        bigiain 11y ago
        This would be my preferred option. I've got a specific use case that's not applicable to most HN readers - here in .au Popular Science links are useless - they do a geo redirect based on your ip address, which redirects me to the homepage of the .com.au version of their site, which in general doesn't even have the original article available...
        voltagex_ 11y ago
        I'm not sure how configurable userscripts are, but I'd love to add this. I don't really want to write RES for HackerNews, but it's an interesting project for the last week of my holidays.
- vonklaus 11y ago
  Thanks, really appreciate you giving it consideration would be awesome. Cheers. Also, couldn't it just be as simple as adding a "tag as paywalled" button next to the flag option. Then, if 3 people, (or a reputation heuristic meets a threshold) a small wall icon appears after the article. It doesn't have to crank up gravity or affect the post. Thank you for your contributions to this site.
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  I wrote a user script so you don't have to.
joosters 11y ago
Just click on the link and you'll find out if it is paywalled or not. Why should someone else spend all the effort to code up a solution to your problem when you believe it is beneath you to click on a link and find out for yourself?
- vonklaus 11y ago
  I, and many others it seems, would appreciate it. I simply asked if s/he would consider it as a feature request because although a small gripe, it is quite annoying. It wouldn't be as bothersome if it were not for mobile. Waiting 5+ seconds for several JS libraries to get served to the client, then after about a paragraph of reading a paralyzing modal covers the entire screen asking to subscribe to read the full article. Not so much well known "reputable" sites like wsj, nyt, exonomist, but others. There is limited popup blocking and thus sometimes the page needs to be manually shut off, so one must then find the link and try to find a non-paywalled version in google, possibly repeating that process instead of knowingly bypassing the article for the comments and following the top comment of a helpful community member. It was a polite feature request, asked civilly.
downandout 11y ago
I like this idea. Or maybe a checkbox at submission - "this is paywalled" - and have HN offer a link to the Google result for the title of the page instead of a direct link if the box is checked.
- 0942v8653 11y ago
  This would be perfect. Anyone else remember those "[scribd]" links that used to be next to PDF submissions? There could be a "[google]" link to the Google redirect page (google.com/url?…).
- DanBC 11y ago
  Submitters don't always know if something is paywalled
voltagex_ 11y ago
Done: https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/master/HackerNews.PayWall.Warning.user.js https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/maste... - click "Raw" and install it with GreaseMonkey
6t6t6 11y ago
It would be also nice if HK incorporated a filter, so people can choose if they want to see posts to paywalled articles or not.

mschuster91 11y ago

Yeah, I'd like to see this as well.

dang 11y ago

HN generally eschews tags, and I fear having to maintain this (edit: I mean manually). But we'll think about it.

jeo1234 11y ago
It could be an optional tag like [dead] or [flagged].
- dang 11y ago
  But those are automated. I've added "manually" above to clarify why I fear this.
  - jeo1234 11y ago
    Would it be practical to introduce a tag system which lets each user manage their own list?
    - guipsp 11y ago
      You can do this yourself with a userscript
      - voltagex_ 11y ago
        Working on this now, no ETA though.
        voltagex_ 11y ago
        Done. It's terrible. In its own repo so I can have pull requests that add extra sites. Hit the "Raw" button on https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/master/HackerNews.PayWall.Warning.user.js https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/maste... - linking directly is not a good user experience for anyone using GreaseMonkey
      - bigiain 11y ago
        This would be my preferred option. I've got a specific use case that's not applicable to most HN readers - here in .au Popular Science links are useless - they do a geo redirect based on your ip address, which redirects me to the homepage of the .com.au version of their site, which in general doesn't even have the original article available...
        voltagex_ 11y ago
        I'm not sure how configurable userscripts are, but I'd love to add this. I don't really want to write RES for HackerNews, but it's an interesting project for the last week of my holidays.
vonklaus 11y ago
Thanks, really appreciate you giving it consideration would be awesome. Cheers. Also, couldn't it just be as simple as adding a "tag as paywalled" button next to the flag option. Then, if 3 people, (or a reputation heuristic meets a threshold) a small wall icon appears after the article. It doesn't have to crank up gravity or affect the post. Thank you for your contributions to this site.
voltagex_ 11y ago
I wrote a user script so you don't have to.

joosters 11y ago

Just click on the link and you'll find out if it is paywalled or not. Why should someone else spend all the effort to code up a solution to your problem when you believe it is beneath you to click on a link and find out for yourself?

vonklaus 11y ago
I, and many others it seems, would appreciate it. I simply asked if s/he would consider it as a feature request because although a small gripe, it is quite annoying. It wouldn't be as bothersome if it were not for mobile. Waiting 5+ seconds for several JS libraries to get served to the client, then after about a paragraph of reading a paralyzing modal covers the entire screen asking to subscribe to read the full article. Not so much well known "reputable" sites like wsj, nyt, exonomist, but others. There is limited popup blocking and thus sometimes the page needs to be manually shut off, so one must then find the link and try to find a non-paywalled version in google, possibly repeating that process instead of knowingly bypassing the article for the comments and following the top comment of a helpful community member. It was a polite feature request, asked civilly.

downandout 11y ago

I like this idea. Or maybe a checkbox at submission - "this is paywalled" - and have HN offer a link to the Google result for the title of the page instead of a direct link if the box is checked.

0942v8653 11y ago
This would be perfect. Anyone else remember those "[scribd]" links that used to be next to PDF submissions? There could be a "[google]" link to the Google redirect page (google.com/url?…).
DanBC 11y ago
Submitters don't always know if something is paywalled

voltagex_ 11y ago

Done: https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/master/HackerNews.PayWall.Warning.user.js https://github.com/voltagex/hackernews-paywalltag/blob/maste... - click "Raw" and install it with GreaseMonkey

6t6t6 11y ago

It would be also nice if HK incorporated a filter, so people can choose if they want to see posts to paywalled articles or not.