4 ms·

Ask HN: Writing Title of a thread

2 points by sagacity 16y ago

My 1st thread here. :-) I've noticed that many threads carry titles starting with Ask HN, Show HN etc. Is this a kind of de-facto / voluntary standard or something else? Those 'in the know' please throw some light. Edit: Someone also please list all such prefixes commonly in use.

DanielN 16y ago
Yep, as I understand it at least, it's the standard for self posts (no url). It makes it easier to differentiate.
DanielStraight 16y ago
Asking for a list of conventions is like trying to learn slang by reading a book. If you want to learn the ebb and flow of HN, including all the conventions and hidden pages (of which there are many, and no, I won't list them), the best way is to spend time here. Conventions, like slang, are developed organically, and organically is the only way to learn to use them fluently.
- sagacity 16y ago
  Thanks for the reply. Although it is a bit wasted on me, I'm sure it'll help many upcoming hackers who read this thread in times to come. Speaking for myself, I'm new to this forum, but not to hacker-culture per se, that I started acquiring long before ER wrote the famous 'hacker-how-to' piece, as an Electronics hobbyist starting 1981, moving on to Ham Radio (VU2VKI) and finally to computers and software (1982/83). The reason why I started this thread was to find the most suitable title for another thread I was about to start, offering a free web API that many here could benefit from. Since I failed to find help, I 'rolled my own' (blame it on my hacker spirit ;-)) and went with: Offer HN: Announcing free geolocation web API http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2255089 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2255089 > the best way is to spend time here. ... time which could perhaps be better spent developing more tools which could be of use to many here. (Not that I don't enjoy spending time here.) > Conventions, like slang, are developed organically, and organically is the only way to learn to use them fluently. Although I have no urgent or pressing need to do this, I fully intend to do so in due course. Stay well; wish you all the best.

2 points by sagacity 16y ago

DanielN 16y ago

Yep, as I understand it at least, it's the standard for self posts (no url). It makes it easier to differentiate.

DanielStraight 16y ago

Asking for a list of conventions is like trying to learn slang by reading a book. If you want to learn the ebb and flow of HN, including all the conventions and hidden pages (of which there are many, and no, I won't list them), the best way is to spend time here. Conventions, like slang, are developed organically, and organically is the only way to learn to use them fluently.

sagacity 16y ago
Thanks for the reply. Although it is a bit wasted on me, I'm sure it'll help many upcoming hackers who read this thread in times to come. Speaking for myself, I'm new to this forum, but not to hacker-culture per se, that I started acquiring long before ER wrote the famous 'hacker-how-to' piece, as an Electronics hobbyist starting 1981, moving on to Ham Radio (VU2VKI) and finally to computers and software (1982/83). The reason why I started this thread was to find the most suitable title for another thread I was about to start, offering a free web API that many here could benefit from. Since I failed to find help, I 'rolled my own' (blame it on my hacker spirit ;-)) and went with: Offer HN: Announcing free geolocation web API http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2255089 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2255089 > the best way is to spend time here. ... time which could perhaps be better spent developing more tools which could be of use to many here. (Not that I don't enjoy spending time here.) > Conventions, like slang, are developed organically, and organically is the only way to learn to use them fluently. Although I have no urgent or pressing need to do this, I fully intend to do so in due course. Stay well; wish you all the best.