5 ms·

Why are posts that require a sign in or subscription even allowed?

by fridayoff 10y ago

nemothekid 10y ago
Why do people who complain about wsj on every thread even allowed? Click the "web" link.
- RUBwkVjwLsDKgPw 10y ago
  Some of us are on mobile...
  - irq 10y ago
    To add clarity to this statement, for some unfathomable reason, the "web" link does not show up on the mobile version of HN.
    - dang 10y ago
      It certainly should, and does for me. If it doesn't for you, that sounds like a bug.
      - bpchaps 10y ago
        Great example why discussion of these meta topics is important.
- smcl 10y ago
  I think if so many people complain about it then the link isn't very well known
  - coderdude 10y ago
    I've been here for ages and it didn't occur to me to use the Web link to sneak past their sign up wall earlier today. I support no longer allowing submissions that require "one weird trick" just to read.
    - bryanlarsen 10y ago
      "Tell HN: Paywalls with workarounds are OK; paywall complaints are off topic" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989
      - coderdude 10y ago
        That's lame. If I had seen that post that one day I would have chimed in. Good to know their stance though. Added: Send us update emails when you come to decisions like these. It would help keep me and others informed. I don't regularly re-read the guidelines and sometimes I miss threads like those.
  - bpchaps 10y ago
    Yeah, it's really frustrating. This site is full of incredibly smart people who come up with clever solutions for all sorts of things. But we can't come up with a clever, non-invasive solution to something like this?
  - prewett 10y ago
    The fact that the web link is on the comments page makes it pretty difficult to find. Took me quite a bit of wondering what people were talking about until I finally found it one day. Moving the web link to page where the main link is would be an obvious solution.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- fridayoff 10y ago
  Why doesn't "web" link pop up when the link to the article is clicked instead of sign or subscribe? How would people know without this comment?
- jessriedel 10y ago
  It doesn't work for me on Chrome (which I usually use), but does on Safari (which I don't) I guess I have to clear my cookies or something? I also support not submitting articles that require workarounds.
- benologist 10y ago
  Flagging WSJ until they're shut out of HN will effect more change - they still gain SEO and popularity and social benefits from us using their contrived "trick" to leech off this community.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - greenyoda 10y ago
    This isn't some kind of "contrived trick". The reason WSJ articles are available via Google search (which is what HN's "web" link does) is because Google won't index pages that can't be read by everyone clicking on a search engine result, and WSJ wants their articles to be searchable via Google.
    - benologist 10y ago
      Their contrived "hack" is left there so the internet will spread their paid content. They even experiment wth it. http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-google/ http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-go...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- balls187 10y ago
  Thank you for this. I learned something new today!
mathattack 10y ago
Copy/paste the title into Google, and follow the link.

Why are posts that require a sign in or subscription even allowed?

nemothekid 10y ago

Why do people who complain about wsj on every thread even allowed? Click the "web" link.

RUBwkVjwLsDKgPw 10y ago
Some of us are on mobile...
- irq 10y ago
  To add clarity to this statement, for some unfathomable reason, the "web" link does not show up on the mobile version of HN.
  - dang 10y ago
    It certainly should, and does for me. If it doesn't for you, that sounds like a bug.
    - bpchaps 10y ago
      Great example why discussion of these meta topics is important.
smcl 10y ago
I think if so many people complain about it then the link isn't very well known
- coderdude 10y ago
  I've been here for ages and it didn't occur to me to use the Web link to sneak past their sign up wall earlier today. I support no longer allowing submissions that require "one weird trick" just to read.
  - bryanlarsen 10y ago
    "Tell HN: Paywalls with workarounds are OK; paywall complaints are off topic" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10178989
    - coderdude 10y ago
      That's lame. If I had seen that post that one day I would have chimed in. Good to know their stance though. Added: Send us update emails when you come to decisions like these. It would help keep me and others informed. I don't regularly re-read the guidelines and sometimes I miss threads like those.
- bpchaps 10y ago
  Yeah, it's really frustrating. This site is full of incredibly smart people who come up with clever solutions for all sorts of things. But we can't come up with a clever, non-invasive solution to something like this?
- prewett 10y ago
  The fact that the web link is on the comments page makes it pretty difficult to find. Took me quite a bit of wondering what people were talking about until I finally found it one day. Moving the web link to page where the main link is would be an obvious solution.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
fridayoff 10y ago
Why doesn't "web" link pop up when the link to the article is clicked instead of sign or subscribe? How would people know without this comment?
jessriedel 10y ago
It doesn't work for me on Chrome (which I usually use), but does on Safari (which I don't) I guess I have to clear my cookies or something? I also support not submitting articles that require workarounds.
benologist 10y ago
Flagging WSJ until they're shut out of HN will effect more change - they still gain SEO and popularity and social benefits from us using their contrived "trick" to leech off this community.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- greenyoda 10y ago
  This isn't some kind of "contrived trick". The reason WSJ articles are available via Google search (which is what HN's "web" link does) is because Google won't index pages that can't be read by everyone clicking on a search engine result, and WSJ wants their articles to be searchable via Google.
  - benologist 10y ago
    Their contrived "hack" is left there so the internet will spread their paid content. They even experiment wth it. http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-google/ http://digiday.com/publishers/wall-street-journal-paywall-go...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
balls187 10y ago
Thank you for this. I learned something new today!

mathattack 10y ago

Copy/paste the title into Google, and follow the link.