5 ms·

If you guys know a lot about the period, I just transcribed it on Genius and I'd appreciate some help annotating it: http://history.genius.com/George-orwell-rev

If you guys know a lot about the period, I just transcribed it on Genius and I'd appreciate some help annotating it: http://history.genius.com/George-orwell-review-of-mein-kampf-annotated http://history.genius.com/George-orwell-review-of-mein-kampf... (full disclosure I work at Genius.)

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
scrollaway 12y ago
Unrelated to the matter but since you work at genius, can you talk to the geniuses (sic) who thought that hijacking text highlight was a good idea? A lot of us speed readers use text highlight to read along. It is easier on the eyes and the brain. So please don't hijack it.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- ehmorris 12y ago
  For technical reasons: we want to allow users to annotate arbitrary segments of text, so what better (or other) way is there than adding an annotate button to highlighted text? For philosophical reasons: genius is about annotating text, and as a result, about close reading. We'd rather optimize for a close read than a speed read.
  - scrollaway 12y ago
    The annotate button covers the highlighted text. And I don't just highlight text when I speed read, I do it all the time because it is easier on the eyes - it is just a habit common to speed readers as that's where most people pick it up. Moreover you actually break selection pretty badly along with it. There are other ways to annotate than to pop crap up every time a user highlights text. I'm in no mood of solving UX problems for a website that has gotten me so disgusted within seconds of opening it. And no, this is not an exaggeration. Imagine if, while reading the newspaper, every few seconds some really annoying guy moved it out of the way and yelled "DID YOU SEE THE SPORTS SECTION?" or similar crap you don't care about. This is the most direct analogy I can find to explain the situation to someone who doesn't highlight-read.
    - azernik 12y ago
      So perhaps the more specific ask here is "don't have your pop-up on highlighted text cover other text." Would this bother you as much if the "Annotate" pop-up was off in the margin?
  - Intermernet 12y ago
    It seems everyone would be happy if the annotate button didn't overlap the highlighted text. Would it be possible to move the button just to the right of the highlighted block? Then speed-readers don't get hindered, and the annotate functionality remains usable.
  - icelancer 12y ago
    Highlight-read is done by a lot of non-speed readers for chunking. I am one of them. Please move the annotation.
  - anon4 12y ago
    Maybe not exactly rule 1 of web design (also applies to ui design in general), but pretty close: DO NOT fuck with basic functionality.
  - e12e 12y ago
    Would be nice to just add a toggle for the annotations? I rarely use genius for the various annotations, but with the wealth of song (rap) lyrics, I often end up on the site. Being able to switch off annotations would be great. [edit: Come to think of it, I'd love to see three modes: the current highlight, none, and footnotes (which one might hoover/click). Whenever I read annotated texts, I rarely care about all annotations -- I only look up the things I need to look up. And the highlights are really annoying when reading a text.]
  - breadbutt 12y ago
    You can just display the "annotate" dialog outside the main text. Also it's pretty annoying that it wants me to click just to take me to a login screen. Fuck this.
  - danabramov 12y ago
    You can calculate position so it doesn't cover the text.
- CamperBob2 12y ago
  Sounds like you'd be happier reading it somewhere else.
- girvo 12y ago
  I'm a text highlighter too, I do it across most articles and the like. Genius on the other hand, I use that for close analysis of lyrics and text, so I only highlight to annotate something, so it's never annoyed me like it has you. I also really like the website, so I guess we differ there, but hey different strokes and all that!
- hyp0 12y ago
  NYT used to do similar - workaround is to adblock the specific JS script, or just disable JS altogether when on that site.
- callum85 12y ago
  That's the whole point of Genius. I get that you highlight for reading (me too), but it's like asking Wikipedia to ban editing.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

scrollaway 12y ago

Unrelated to the matter but since you work at genius, can you talk to the geniuses (sic) who thought that hijacking text highlight was a good idea? A lot of us speed readers use text highlight to read along. It is easier on the eyes and the brain. So please don't hijack it.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ehmorris 12y ago
For technical reasons: we want to allow users to annotate arbitrary segments of text, so what better (or other) way is there than adding an annotate button to highlighted text? For philosophical reasons: genius is about annotating text, and as a result, about close reading. We'd rather optimize for a close read than a speed read.
- scrollaway 12y ago
  The annotate button covers the highlighted text. And I don't just highlight text when I speed read, I do it all the time because it is easier on the eyes - it is just a habit common to speed readers as that's where most people pick it up. Moreover you actually break selection pretty badly along with it. There are other ways to annotate than to pop crap up every time a user highlights text. I'm in no mood of solving UX problems for a website that has gotten me so disgusted within seconds of opening it. And no, this is not an exaggeration. Imagine if, while reading the newspaper, every few seconds some really annoying guy moved it out of the way and yelled "DID YOU SEE THE SPORTS SECTION?" or similar crap you don't care about. This is the most direct analogy I can find to explain the situation to someone who doesn't highlight-read.
  - azernik 12y ago
    So perhaps the more specific ask here is "don't have your pop-up on highlighted text cover other text." Would this bother you as much if the "Annotate" pop-up was off in the margin?
- Intermernet 12y ago
  It seems everyone would be happy if the annotate button didn't overlap the highlighted text. Would it be possible to move the button just to the right of the highlighted block? Then speed-readers don't get hindered, and the annotate functionality remains usable.
- icelancer 12y ago
  Highlight-read is done by a lot of non-speed readers for chunking. I am one of them. Please move the annotation.
- anon4 12y ago
  Maybe not exactly rule 1 of web design (also applies to ui design in general), but pretty close: DO NOT fuck with basic functionality.
- e12e 12y ago
  Would be nice to just add a toggle for the annotations? I rarely use genius for the various annotations, but with the wealth of song (rap) lyrics, I often end up on the site. Being able to switch off annotations would be great. [edit: Come to think of it, I'd love to see three modes: the current highlight, none, and footnotes (which one might hoover/click). Whenever I read annotated texts, I rarely care about all annotations -- I only look up the things I need to look up. And the highlights are really annoying when reading a text.]
- breadbutt 12y ago
  You can just display the "annotate" dialog outside the main text. Also it's pretty annoying that it wants me to click just to take me to a login screen. Fuck this.
- danabramov 12y ago
  You can calculate position so it doesn't cover the text.
CamperBob2 12y ago
Sounds like you'd be happier reading it somewhere else.
girvo 12y ago
I'm a text highlighter too, I do it across most articles and the like. Genius on the other hand, I use that for close analysis of lyrics and text, so I only highlight to annotate something, so it's never annoyed me like it has you. I also really like the website, so I guess we differ there, but hey different strokes and all that!
hyp0 12y ago
NYT used to do similar - workaround is to adblock the specific JS script, or just disable JS altogether when on that site.
callum85 12y ago
That's the whole point of Genius. I get that you highlight for reading (me too), but it's like asking Wikipedia to ban editing.