3 ms·

Ask HN: How do I get my question on Hacker News to show up in the “ask” section?

33 points by ecmucele 5y ago

I'm not seeing this question that I asked show up in the "ask" section on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28427171 I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

sandwichbop 5y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html > Why hasn't my submission appeared on Ask HN or Show HN? > All submissions appear on newest, and all Show HNs on shownew, but there is a small points threshold before a post appears on ask or show. Your submissions need more upvotes to pass the threshold
mikewarot 5y ago
I've wondered the same things, I figured there was some person scanning submissions, hopefully not the much loved and overworked DanG.
tmaly 5y ago
It is mostly timing then topic. I once posted late Saturday night on New York time. It got 1000 points and a ton of comments. Other times in the middle of the work week, posts have gotten zero comments.
- mooreds 5y ago
  This is so true. It also occurs across accounts with regular submissions. I've posted items that got 1-3 points. Then someone else posts the same item a few days later and it gets 100+. (This has also happened in reverse, where my post got 100+ points, a few days after someone else submitted it.) I don't think all HN popularity is due to luck, but maybe 30-60%?
ThePadawan 5y ago
FWIW this post is now top of the "ask" section.
manx 5y ago
There's some luck involved. I explained how it works in a recent article: https://felx.me/2021/08/29/improving-the-hacker-news-ranking-algorithm.html https://felx.me/2021/08/29/improving-the-hacker-news-ranking...
vanilla-almond 5y ago
There are lots of Ask HN submissions that never get to the Ask HN section. As mentioned by others, all submissions to Ask HN need to cross a threshold. I don't know if the threshold is different from the front (news) page. I suspect yes. There are also lots of Ask HN submissions that remain a bit stagnant in the Ask HN section for days without much comment. Unlike the fast-moving news homepage, I suspect Ask HN entries need at least a few days to attract attention and comments. Occasionally, the Ask HN section includes entries that have nothing to do with Ask HN. For example, as I write this message, there is an entry in the Ask HN section (without using the Ask HN title) which is in fact a Show HN entry. (The submission is Python Functional-streams A Library to write concise functional code.) I'm not sure how these entries make their way into Ask HN - perhaps the author edited the title to remove 'Ask HN'?.

33 points by ecmucele 5y ago

I'm not seeing this question that I asked show up in the "ask" section on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28427171 I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

sandwichbop 5y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html > Why hasn't my submission appeared on Ask HN or Show HN? > All submissions appear on newest, and all Show HNs on shownew, but there is a small points threshold before a post appears on ask or show. Your submissions need more upvotes to pass the threshold

mikewarot 5y ago

I've wondered the same things, I figured there was some person scanning submissions, hopefully not the much loved and overworked DanG.

tmaly 5y ago

It is mostly timing then topic. I once posted late Saturday night on New York time. It got 1000 points and a ton of comments. Other times in the middle of the work week, posts have gotten zero comments.

mooreds 5y ago
This is so true. It also occurs across accounts with regular submissions. I've posted items that got 1-3 points. Then someone else posts the same item a few days later and it gets 100+. (This has also happened in reverse, where my post got 100+ points, a few days after someone else submitted it.) I don't think all HN popularity is due to luck, but maybe 30-60%?

ThePadawan 5y ago

FWIW this post is now top of the "ask" section.

manx 5y ago

There's some luck involved. I explained how it works in a recent article: https://felx.me/2021/08/29/improving-the-hacker-news-ranking-algorithm.html https://felx.me/2021/08/29/improving-the-hacker-news-ranking...

vanilla-almond 5y ago

There are lots of Ask HN submissions that never get to the Ask HN section. As mentioned by others, all submissions to Ask HN need to cross a threshold. I don't know if the threshold is different from the front (news) page. I suspect yes. There are also lots of Ask HN submissions that remain a bit stagnant in the Ask HN section for days without much comment. Unlike the fast-moving news homepage, I suspect Ask HN entries need at least a few days to attract attention and comments. Occasionally, the Ask HN section includes entries that have nothing to do with Ask HN. For example, as I write this message, there is an entry in the Ask HN section (without using the Ask HN title) which is in fact a Show HN entry. (The submission is Python Functional-streams A Library to write concise functional code.) I'm not sure how these entries make their way into Ask HN - perhaps the author edited the title to remove 'Ask HN'?.