6 ms·

Suggestion: Can you move the collapse button to the left of the username? One way I tend to use nested comment threads is reading all top comments, collapsing a

Suggestion: Can you move the collapse button to the left of the username? One way I tend to use nested comment threads is reading all top comments, collapsing as I go. Great stuff, overall -- thanks!

spicyj 10y ago
That would certainly increase the number of accidental votes.
- logicallee 10y ago
  ...which is now not a problem.
  - IanCal 10y ago
    It's not as much of a problem, but if people are regularly trying and failing to perform the action they want it's a UI wart.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - mistermann 10y ago
      Accidental upvote is a possible wart, collapse on the right is a guaranteed wart. When in doubt, stick with already established standards.
- ihuman 10y ago
  Reddit does it that way, and I haven't seen any of the developers complain about accidental votes.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Because accidental votes are not a problem when you can undo a vote, which is now possible as well.
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago
  As it stands, I have already accidentally clicked "ago" and gone to a comment permalink when I wanted to collapse a thread. Not much better.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    Since collapse persists on page loads, hopefully it is better now. Then again, we can un-vote now, so I think we're back to having the behavioral advantages and disadvantages being close enough that it's a toss-up what any particular user thinks is more of a problem.
  - bduerst 10y ago
    Why not double-click the comment body to collapse/expand? or maybe some other behavior that isn't creating a click minefield.
- davidsawyer 10y ago
  I feel like it would be worth the trade-off.
- losvedir 10y ago
  But at least now we can undo upvotes/downvotes so it's not as much of an issue as before!
- bdcravens 10y ago
  I've used HN Enhancement Suite for a while, and that really wasn't a problem.
cloudaphant 10y ago
This would be appreciated here too. The functionality is great but it feels unnatural where it's currently positioned.
jacobolus 10y ago
More generally, can you try to adjust it so that the [-] button doesn’t move around after being clicked? The spacing above the username at the top of the comment shouldn’t change when a thread is collapsed.
WayneBro 10y ago
I would say: left of the vote button too.
antouank 10y ago
That's the behaviour I have on the reader I wrote. https://hack.ernews.info https://hack.ernews.info Works pretty well
gbersac 10y ago
+1
doublerebel 10y ago
I agree -- the Hacker News Collapse Chrome extension works this way, and I have become accustomed to it.
insin 10y ago
Making it a slightly bigger target with a dash would also be useful: [–] instead of [-]
tripzilch 10y ago
yes. it doesn't make sense from any design perspective. alignment is an important visual signifier and usability design tool. there is no reason why vote arrows would be aligned across posts (it suggests a connection where there is none), while there are several for the collapse buttons. this is textbook user interface design!

Suggestion: Can you move the collapse button to the left of the username? One way I tend to use nested comment threads is reading all top comments, collapsing as I go. Great stuff, overall -- thanks!

spicyj 10y ago

That would certainly increase the number of accidental votes.

logicallee 10y ago
...which is now not a problem.
- IanCal 10y ago
  It's not as much of a problem, but if people are regularly trying and failing to perform the action they want it's a UI wart.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - mistermann 10y ago
    Accidental upvote is a possible wart, collapse on the right is a guaranteed wart. When in doubt, stick with already established standards.
ihuman 10y ago
Reddit does it that way, and I haven't seen any of the developers complain about accidental votes.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  Because accidental votes are not a problem when you can undo a vote, which is now possible as well.
LeifCarrotson 10y ago
As it stands, I have already accidentally clicked "ago" and gone to a comment permalink when I wanted to collapse a thread. Not much better.
- kbenson 10y ago
  Since collapse persists on page loads, hopefully it is better now. Then again, we can un-vote now, so I think we're back to having the behavioral advantages and disadvantages being close enough that it's a toss-up what any particular user thinks is more of a problem.
- bduerst 10y ago
  Why not double-click the comment body to collapse/expand? or maybe some other behavior that isn't creating a click minefield.
davidsawyer 10y ago
I feel like it would be worth the trade-off.
losvedir 10y ago
But at least now we can undo upvotes/downvotes so it's not as much of an issue as before!
bdcravens 10y ago
I've used HN Enhancement Suite for a while, and that really wasn't a problem.

cloudaphant 10y ago

This would be appreciated here too. The functionality is great but it feels unnatural where it's currently positioned.

jacobolus 10y ago

More generally, can you try to adjust it so that the [-] button doesn’t move around after being clicked? The spacing above the username at the top of the comment shouldn’t change when a thread is collapsed.

WayneBro 10y ago

I would say: left of the vote button too.

antouank 10y ago

That's the behaviour I have on the reader I wrote. https://hack.ernews.info https://hack.ernews.info Works pretty well

gbersac 10y ago

doublerebel 10y ago

I agree -- the Hacker News Collapse Chrome extension works this way, and I have become accustomed to it.

insin 10y ago

Making it a slightly bigger target with a dash would also be useful: [–] instead of [-]

tripzilch 10y ago

yes. it doesn't make sense from any design perspective. alignment is an important visual signifier and usability design tool. there is no reason why vote arrows would be aligned across posts (it suggests a connection where there is none), while there are several for the collapse buttons. this is textbook user interface design!