4 ms·

pg, if you're out there, please don't do this. If you could post clickable URLs inside a self-post, then it upsets the balance of HN as a link-and-comments sit

pg, if you're out there, please don't do this. If you could post clickable URLs inside a self-post, then it upsets the balance of HN as a link-and-comments site. Then, suddenly, it's link-and-main-comment-and-other-comments site. In fact, imo, even the "Ask HN" feature is a bit of overkill. If you want to post paragraphs with links in them, use Wordpress or Tumblr or Blogger or whatever, and submit a link to it. It would turn this site into a delicious honeypot for spammers, and the yc crew would spend all their time fighting spam. Furthermore, feature requests belong in the feature request thread, not on the main HN page.

drusenko 18y ago
wouldn't adding a nofollow tag to all links nullify the spam gain?
- gojomo 18y ago
  'nofollow' has murky meaning and many visitors and crawlers are going to visit the link anyway. So no, it only mitigates the spam gain slightly, given certain assumptions about how Google might treat the link.
palish 18y ago
In fact, imo, even the "Ask HN" feature is a bit of overkill. If you want to post paragraphs with links in them, use Wordpress or Tumblr or Blogger or whatever, and submit a link to it. Ah -- no. I've submitted several posts without writing a blog post about them. It feels natural to do so, like I'm conversing with you rather than sending you a letter. It sucks that self posts are automatically weighted "heavier" than normal submissions, so it's harder for them to gain traction and they fall off the page sooner. It feels rather unfair. I'd hate for the feature to go away completely.
- IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
  I'm sure you're not alone, which is probably why the feature exists :)
Raphael 18y ago
There isn't really an "Ask HN" feature. Is there? I just assumed it was a popular prefix for threads.
- IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
  I was referring to the practice of writing a bit of text rather than providing a link.

drusenko 18y ago

wouldn't adding a nofollow tag to all links nullify the spam gain?

gojomo 18y ago
'nofollow' has murky meaning and many visitors and crawlers are going to visit the link anyway. So no, it only mitigates the spam gain slightly, given certain assumptions about how Google might treat the link.

palish 18y ago

In fact, imo, even the "Ask HN" feature is a bit of overkill. If you want to post paragraphs with links in them, use Wordpress or Tumblr or Blogger or whatever, and submit a link to it. Ah -- no. I've submitted several posts without writing a blog post about them. It feels natural to do so, like I'm conversing with you rather than sending you a letter. It sucks that self posts are automatically weighted "heavier" than normal submissions, so it's harder for them to gain traction and they fall off the page sooner. It feels rather unfair. I'd hate for the feature to go away completely.

IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
I'm sure you're not alone, which is probably why the feature exists :)

Raphael 18y ago

There isn't really an "Ask HN" feature. Is there? I just assumed it was a popular prefix for threads.

IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
I was referring to the practice of writing a bit of text rather than providing a link.