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Please don't use the code formatting for quotes. It makes them nearly unreadable on mobile.
by reificator 8y ago
Please don't use the code formatting for quotes. It makes them nearly unreadable on mobile.
- dredmorbius 8y agoHN could fix this trivially. It's been requested numerous times. They refuse. For years. Sigh.
- reificator 8y agoTrue, it would probably be a small change, and it'd be nice to have code blocks readable on mobile. However, the generally accepted quote syntax on HN does not use code blocks in the first place. > *Quote goes here*
- dredmorbius 8y agoAnd that's how I write extended quote blocks generally. Some users don't, there is no one unambiguously correct method, and the 2nd- most common variant I see has several obvious detriments. The fact that the "show us your code" feature seems to be predominantly used for blockquotes, on a generally technological site, strongly suggests a failure to correctly match user expectations and needs. Though as metacommentary in infotech, SV, and YC, the message couldn't be clearer.
- reificator 8y agoI think you're reading too much into it. Seems more likely that it's a lack of instruction on the comment page. Discord manages to fit all of its formatting into the whitespace under the chat input....
- dredmorbius 8y agoThat would help. Many sites now offer formatting tools or a "help" link or expando. HN elects not to. Some of this may be part of its intentional asthetic. But more proximate hep might, er, help.
- raldi 8y agoHow would you suggest they fix it?
- burke 8y agoMake groups of `/^\s+> /` lines turn into a `<blockquote>`. Render it slightly indented and italicized. I don't think the major problem is that `/^ {4}/` lines don't wrap in a way that's useful for quotes; it's that there's no way to format quotes so people use the only formatting element HN has.
- thaumasiotes 8y agothere's no way to format quotes so people use the only formatting element HN has. Technically, HN has a couple other formatting elements.
- reificator 8y ago> I don't think the major problem is that `/^ {4}/` lines don't wrap in a way that's useful for quotes; it's that there's no way to format quotes so people use the only formatting element HN has. It is a standing convention to use the following syntax for quotes here: > *Quote text here*
- dredmorbius 8y agoCSS: pre { whitespace: pre-wrap; } https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_text_white-space.asp https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/pr_text_white-space.asp That's what I've included in my own HN Stylus stylesheet for years. Works on Desktop or Firefox/Android, but other mobile browsers don't support it, for lack of extension support. Updating the HN markup to offer true blockquote support would be a more complete, though less trivial, solution. I've suggested the first myself repeatedly. pg asked how to fix this, and was given the solution, on HN, nine years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=592603 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=592603 The suggestion's been made numerous times: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=whitespace%20pre-wrap&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?query=whitespace%20pre-wrap&sort=byP...
- 8y ago
- ssalka 8y agoIt's not HN's job to inspect every code block to determine if it's _actually_ code. If you use the code syntax, it's code. That's the assumption that every markdown renderer makes, and I wouldn't expect anyone to assume otherwise. Format your posts appropriately - that's the sole burden of the writer, no one else's.
- dredmorbius 8y agoIf a design leads to a decade or more of frequent misuse to the point of derailing dicussions, it's a bad design. Don't blame the user.