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> 1) native folding of comments This one seems like such an obvious improvement that I've been assuming there's some really principled reason I'm not aware of

by iak8god 11y ago

> 1) native folding of comments This one seems like such an obvious improvement that I've been assuming there's some really principled reason I'm not aware of for why it isn't done.

nkurz 11y ago
I doubt there is any principled reason for the lack. Rather, I think it's just that the people in a position to make the improvement don't place the importance on it that you do. Personally, it's not a feature I've ever wanted. I'm using the https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hckr-news/mnlaodleonmmfkdhfofamacceeikgecp?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hckr-news/mnlaodle... extension, which offers this, and never once have I intentionally folded a comment. Accidentally, I've folded comments many times. My main improvement to the extension (if I were to write my own) would be to _remove_ the folding feature and just have new comment highlighting (which I find much more important than folding). Separately, if this is an important feature, why not use an extension that offers it? Is there a reason it needs to be built in?
- mattmanser 11y ago
  It's useful when a parent comment spawns hundreds of replies and you're not interested in the direction the parent comment has taken the discussion, but want to discuss other parts of the article. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does it's annoying scrolling trying to find the next top level comment.
  - nkurz 11y ago
    In theory, I wouldn't disagree. But in practice, I've been using an extension that offers this capability for years now, and have never intentionally collapsed a comment thread. The utility depends on your usage pattern, and my point was only that it's not a universal desire. This doesn't mean it shouldn't be added, but for me, it simply adds clutter to a clean interface, with small buttons that I occasionally accidentally click and unclick. Do I take it that you are using an extension that allows this, and find it useful?
    - tokenizerrr 11y ago
      On the other hand, I use https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-enhancement-s/bappiabcodbpphnojdiaddhnilfnjmpm https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-enhanc... and collapse comment threads daily. I find it to be very helpful to track of what I've read.
    - mattmanser 11y ago
      I didn't use it much. I haven't installed it on my new machines. I miss it occasionally. We hackers will put up with really shitty UIs though, as virtually every one of our tools attests. It's like code indentation, we've all had to search for the next root node in an editor without highlighting or collapsing.
- iak8god 11y ago
  > Separately, if this is an important feature, why not use an extension that offers it? Is there a reason it needs to be built in? Because I only think about it on average once every few days when I encounter an uninteresting large comment tree in an otherwise interesting thread, which I handle by scrolling for a few seconds. It's very much a "nice to have" rather than a dealbreaker, but for those of us accustomed to the feature as implemented on, e.g., reddit or slashdot, it's a puzzling omission.

by iak8god 11y ago

> 1) native folding of comments This one seems like such an obvious improvement that I've been assuming there's some really principled reason I'm not aware of for why it isn't done.

nkurz 11y ago

I doubt there is any principled reason for the lack. Rather, I think it's just that the people in a position to make the improvement don't place the importance on it that you do. Personally, it's not a feature I've ever wanted. I'm using the https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hckr-news/mnlaodleonmmfkdhfofamacceeikgecp?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hckr-news/mnlaodle... extension, which offers this, and never once have I intentionally folded a comment. Accidentally, I've folded comments many times. My main improvement to the extension (if I were to write my own) would be to _remove_ the folding feature and just have new comment highlighting (which I find much more important than folding). Separately, if this is an important feature, why not use an extension that offers it? Is there a reason it needs to be built in?

mattmanser 11y ago
It's useful when a parent comment spawns hundreds of replies and you're not interested in the direction the parent comment has taken the discussion, but want to discuss other parts of the article. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does it's annoying scrolling trying to find the next top level comment.
- nkurz 11y ago
  In theory, I wouldn't disagree. But in practice, I've been using an extension that offers this capability for years now, and have never intentionally collapsed a comment thread. The utility depends on your usage pattern, and my point was only that it's not a universal desire. This doesn't mean it shouldn't be added, but for me, it simply adds clutter to a clean interface, with small buttons that I occasionally accidentally click and unclick. Do I take it that you are using an extension that allows this, and find it useful?
  - tokenizerrr 11y ago
    On the other hand, I use https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-enhancement-s/bappiabcodbpphnojdiaddhnilfnjmpm https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-enhanc... and collapse comment threads daily. I find it to be very helpful to track of what I've read.
  - mattmanser 11y ago
    I didn't use it much. I haven't installed it on my new machines. I miss it occasionally. We hackers will put up with really shitty UIs though, as virtually every one of our tools attests. It's like code indentation, we've all had to search for the next root node in an editor without highlighting or collapsing.
iak8god 11y ago
> Separately, if this is an important feature, why not use an extension that offers it? Is there a reason it needs to be built in? Because I only think about it on average once every few days when I encounter an uninteresting large comment tree in an otherwise interesting thread, which I handle by scrolling for a few seconds. It's very much a "nice to have" rather than a dealbreaker, but for those of us accustomed to the feature as implemented on, e.g., reddit or slashdot, it's a puzzling omission.