6 ms·

Show HN: HNRelevant – Show related HN submissions in an integrated sidebar

80 points by imadj 3y ago

While browsing Hacker News, I wished for an easier way to find related submissions (instead of googling and going back and forth). So I made this small chrome extension that automatically shows relevant submissions on page load. It's intergrated as a sidebar right in the page (for ease & native look), with customization options for fine control. It's based on HN algolia search API[1] and uses the submission title as its initial query with the ability to customize the query if you're not satisfied with the initial results. Originally, I took it as an opportunity to try my hands at creating a browser extension, but I was quite satisfied with the result and so I decided to release it. [1] HN algolia search API: https://hn.algolia.com/api https://hn.algolia.com/api

tough 3y ago
dan usually does this manually on hot threads. Really nice to have it as a plugin thanks for sharing
- skilled 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure he has said it is an automated process, I can't find the comment now but he did mention that he uses a custom-built interface for moderation that he hopes to release one day.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news
smcleod 3y ago
Chrome only it seems.
- imadj 3y ago
  Yeah, it's just a small quality of life thing that I thought I'd share It probably doesn't need much tweaking to work on other browsers. Will definitely look into it.
- jack_riminton 3y ago
  Chrome extensions also work on other Chromium based browsers e.g. Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi etc.
  - smcleod 3y ago
    Yeah not a big fan of that monoculture.
- bjord 3y ago
  in my experience, a ton of chrome extensions (at least MV2 ones) work in FF basically out of the box it's not necessarily true the other way around, though, because there are some weird things that google chooses not to support (e.g. promises, they require that you use callbacks instead)
- imadj 3y ago
  Just an update: It's now available as a userscript for other browsers. Tested on Firefox with Tampermonkey.
  - smcleod 3y ago
    Oh nice! Thank you!
return_to_monke 3y ago
I think this should have an option only to request the submissions when the user wants it to. Sending a full history somewhere (in this case hn search) doesn't seem like a great idea
- imadj 3y ago
  Hm, I didn't take this into consideration Since I would like it to be more auto-pilot, will probably introduce an option to opt for 'manual' mode for those interested
theolivenbaum 3y ago
Cool project! I was thinking about something similar since we played with an embeddings index model on HN titles for our demo at hn.curiosity.ai If you want I could expose an API for you to use on the extension
theolivenbaum 3y ago
Cool project! Was thinking about something similar since we tried an embeddings index on HN titles for our demo (hn.curiosity.ai), and was really impressed with the results. If you want I can expose an API for you to use too
- jimmySixDOF 3y ago
  Interesting. i just was trying the 'similar stories' and while the list returned was around a certain theme - it didn't have anything to do with the featured article. But I like the implementation in general.
hxugufjfjf 3y ago
Is there a specific reason that projects like these seemingly often are Chrome only. I use Firefox and I feel «left out» on a near weekly basis.
- rnmmrnm 3y ago
  it's <200 js code lines just port it.
  - hxugufjfjf 3y ago
    Yes, so one could either make the argument of why don’t projects like this «just» do that? Or the other way around.
- eshnil 3y ago
  FF is my primary browser too, but with the user base down to 3%, it's not exactly relevant any more.
  - ncr100 3y ago
    "3 of 100 people" - I'm one of those three.
    - bjord 3y ago
      I would be willing to bet that the 3% stat doesn't hold true for HN users
  - hxugufjfjf 3y ago
    Oh … my naive ass thought it was like 50/50 between Chrome and Fx :(
- imadj 3y ago
  Well, speaking for myself, it's just the browser I use, I don't necessarily love it but it the standard browser with the least headache. As for the extension, it doesn't depend on anything other than hackernews and the search api, so a port should be easy. Update: It's now available as a userscript, tested on Firefox with Tampermonkey
jackthetab 3y ago
Tres cool. And the query results look pretty relevant/interesting so far. Is there a way to shrink the sidebar font wrt to the main content font; similar to Chrome Reading List sidebar? I don't see any mechanism in the code to do that. ATM it's (naturally) the same size as the rest of the page which gives the sidebar the same "importance" as the main content. I'm thinking something simple, like dropping in a CSS snippet, as opposed to a whole framework of different CSS stanzas _a la_ Obsidian.
ad0n 3y ago
Awesome! May you release this as an UserScript so we can install it using Violentmonkey/Tampermonkey?
- imadj 3y ago
  A userscript is available now in the repo here: https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/blob/main/HNRelevant.user.js https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/blob/main/HNRelevant.user... I tested it on Firefox with Tampermonkey, but I'll admit that I'm not that familiar with userscripts extensions, so if you try it, let me know what you think
  - geekodour 3y ago
    Thanks for the work! love it! I tried it with violentmonkey, had some issues, small changes fixes it. Made a PR for changes https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/pull/4 https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/pull/4 :)
aaron695 3y ago
[dead]
yoavm 3y ago
Please consider replacing the 8mb gif animation with a normal video file. It will both load faster and allow users to pause, start from the beginning etc.
imadj 3y ago
Update: If anyone is comming here in the future, it's now published on Chrome and Firefox, you can find it under 'HNRelevant': 1. Chrome web store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hnrelevant/iajhnkeiioebplnbfkpnlnggkgblmoln https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hnrelevant/iajhnke... 2. Firefox add-ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hnrelevant/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hnrelevant/ Don't forget to leave reviews if you find it useful

80 points by imadj 3y ago

tough 3y ago

dan usually does this manually on hot threads. Really nice to have it as a plugin thanks for sharing

skilled 3y ago
I'm pretty sure he has said it is an automated process, I can't find the comment now but he did mention that he uses a custom-built interface for moderation that he hopes to release one day.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news

smcleod 3y ago

Chrome only it seems.

imadj 3y ago
Yeah, it's just a small quality of life thing that I thought I'd share It probably doesn't need much tweaking to work on other browsers. Will definitely look into it.
jack_riminton 3y ago
Chrome extensions also work on other Chromium based browsers e.g. Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi etc.
- smcleod 3y ago
  Yeah not a big fan of that monoculture.
bjord 3y ago
in my experience, a ton of chrome extensions (at least MV2 ones) work in FF basically out of the box it's not necessarily true the other way around, though, because there are some weird things that google chooses not to support (e.g. promises, they require that you use callbacks instead)
imadj 3y ago
Just an update: It's now available as a userscript for other browsers. Tested on Firefox with Tampermonkey.
- smcleod 3y ago
  Oh nice! Thank you!

return_to_monke 3y ago

I think this should have an option only to request the submissions when the user wants it to. Sending a full history somewhere (in this case hn search) doesn't seem like a great idea

imadj 3y ago
Hm, I didn't take this into consideration Since I would like it to be more auto-pilot, will probably introduce an option to opt for 'manual' mode for those interested

theolivenbaum 3y ago

Cool project! I was thinking about something similar since we played with an embeddings index model on HN titles for our demo at hn.curiosity.ai If you want I could expose an API for you to use on the extension

theolivenbaum 3y ago

Cool project! Was thinking about something similar since we tried an embeddings index on HN titles for our demo (hn.curiosity.ai), and was really impressed with the results. If you want I can expose an API for you to use too

jimmySixDOF 3y ago
Interesting. i just was trying the 'similar stories' and while the list returned was around a certain theme - it didn't have anything to do with the featured article. But I like the implementation in general.

hxugufjfjf 3y ago

Is there a specific reason that projects like these seemingly often are Chrome only. I use Firefox and I feel «left out» on a near weekly basis.

rnmmrnm 3y ago
it's <200 js code lines just port it.
- hxugufjfjf 3y ago
  Yes, so one could either make the argument of why don’t projects like this «just» do that? Or the other way around.
eshnil 3y ago
FF is my primary browser too, but with the user base down to 3%, it's not exactly relevant any more.
- ncr100 3y ago
  "3 of 100 people" - I'm one of those three.
  - bjord 3y ago
    I would be willing to bet that the 3% stat doesn't hold true for HN users
- hxugufjfjf 3y ago
  Oh … my naive ass thought it was like 50/50 between Chrome and Fx :(
imadj 3y ago
Well, speaking for myself, it's just the browser I use, I don't necessarily love it but it the standard browser with the least headache. As for the extension, it doesn't depend on anything other than hackernews and the search api, so a port should be easy. Update: It's now available as a userscript, tested on Firefox with Tampermonkey

jackthetab 3y ago

Tres cool. And the query results look pretty relevant/interesting so far. Is there a way to shrink the sidebar font wrt to the main content font; similar to Chrome Reading List sidebar? I don't see any mechanism in the code to do that. ATM it's (naturally) the same size as the rest of the page which gives the sidebar the same "importance" as the main content. I'm thinking something simple, like dropping in a CSS snippet, as opposed to a whole framework of different CSS stanzas _a la_ Obsidian.

ad0n 3y ago

Awesome! May you release this as an UserScript so we can install it using Violentmonkey/Tampermonkey?

imadj 3y ago
A userscript is available now in the repo here: https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/blob/main/HNRelevant.user.js https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/blob/main/HNRelevant.user... I tested it on Firefox with Tampermonkey, but I'll admit that I'm not that familiar with userscripts extensions, so if you try it, let me know what you think
- geekodour 3y ago
  Thanks for the work! love it! I tried it with violentmonkey, had some issues, small changes fixes it. Made a PR for changes https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/pull/4 https://github.com/imdj/HNRelevant/pull/4 :)

aaron695 3y ago

[dead]

yoavm 3y ago

Please consider replacing the 8mb gif animation with a normal video file. It will both load faster and allow users to pause, start from the beginning etc.

imadj 3y ago

Update: If anyone is comming here in the future, it's now published on Chrome and Firefox, you can find it under 'HNRelevant': 1. Chrome web store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hnrelevant/iajhnkeiioebplnbfkpnlnggkgblmoln https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hnrelevant/iajhnke... 2. Firefox add-ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hnrelevant/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hnrelevant/ Don't forget to leave reviews if you find it useful