[HN Gopher] Show HN: Chrome extension to collapse and expand HN ...
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       Show HN: Chrome extension to collapse and expand HN parent comments
       threads
        
       Author : marcosnils
       Score  : 37 points
       Date   : 2021-01-12 15:50 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | de_nied wrote:
       | This actually gives me an idea for just the thread page itself.
       | Default collapsed threads that you can expand to show comments.
       | 
       | Illustration: https://i.imgur.com/NrR8TVR.png
       | 
       | *The comments and thread are unrelated. I just picked random ones
       | from a thread I was on.
        
       | jvzr wrote:
       | I can recommend Refined Hacker News by plibither8
       | (https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news). I added a
       | "collapse root comment" module which does just that. The addon
       | itself has tons of other useful features, and is still pretty
       | lightweight
        
         | CharlesW wrote:
         | It's so great. I forget that I'm using it, and then am
         | _shocked_ when I use HN on a browser which doesn 't have it.
        
       | anotheryou wrote:
       | I'd love a firefox version too :)
        
         | blendergeek wrote:
         | It looks like its open source. The developer would probably be
         | delighted to take a patch adding Firefox support!
        
           | AlchemistCamp wrote:
           | The developer is the person who posted the story. How does
           | patching Chrome plugins to add Firefox "support" work,
           | exactly? Have you ever done that?
           | 
           | FWIW, I'd totally check this out if it were for Firefox. I
           | left Chrome years ago for privacy reasons.
        
             | blendergeek wrote:
             | Firefox _tries_ to be largely chrome compatible. It is
             | likely, that it would work on Firefox with minimal work and
             | merely needs to be added to AMO. If that is the case, then
             | it is a simple case of asking the developer to add it to
             | Firefox. I would recommend a Github Issue for that.
        
       | nikivi wrote:
       | One thing I truly want HN to add is a button like
       | https://apolloapp.io or official reddit app have that lets you go
       | down/up the top threads quickly. Usually its in the bottom right
       | corner.
       | 
       | Super useful when browsing on mobile.
        
         | ballenf wrote:
         | I prefer the current option to hit the '-' to collapse threads
         | when I'm done with them and not having any more click/touch
         | targets on screen. It seems like the collapsing is remembered
         | while logged in across devices and sessions.
        
         | saagarjha wrote:
         | Floating buttons are...kind of annoying, to be honest. Just
         | like those "back to top" buttons a lot of websites use.
        
         | Merman_Mike wrote:
         | I hope that HN doesn't add anything. It's great just the way it
         | is.
         | 
         | People can certainly add whatever they want with browser
         | extensions, though.
        
         | skavi wrote:
         | Sync for Reddit allowed you to map volume buttons to thread
         | up/down. That was super convenient and fast. Unfortunately, it
         | seems Apple does not look to such features kindly.
        
         | Vinnl wrote:
         | I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but I had
         | a similar need and wrote this extension for my personal use:
         | https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/sihn/
         | 
         | It adds "parent" and "root" buttons under every comment. You
         | can use the collapse button next to a post to get to its next
         | sibling. (They are also made easier to hit on mobile.)
         | 
         | Firefox only though.
        
       | alexh1 wrote:
       | Ha, I made something similar last year
       | https://github.com/AlexBHarley/skipper.
       | 
       | It adds a keyboard shortcut to take you to the next top level
       | comment. I think it's broken now because I did it in a really
       | hacky way.
       | 
       | When you get tired of a comment chain in a thread click two (or
       | three, I forgrt) keys and bam, you're into the next conversation.
        
       | gpnt wrote:
       | I think that should be the default, all parents collapsed. Very
       | neat. If you want a quick preview, you can copy the code on this
       | page[1] from the GitHub repo directly and paste it on the
       | console. Works on Firefox too.
       | 
       | [1] https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcosnils/orange-
       | juicer/m...
        
       | crumpled wrote:
       | Slightly off-topic, but, does anyone have a tip/tool for actually
       | making it through a long thread (such as "who's hiring") in
       | multiple sessions? I have trouble saving my spot if I leave the
       | tab for too long, or if I navigate away, and then come back with
       | the back button. It's possible I've never seen beyond page 2
       | because it's such a slog and I often have limited time.
        
         | dirtyid wrote:
         | https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/18066-hn-comments-owl
         | 
         | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hn-comments-owl/kp...
         | 
         | E: This will only highlight comments since X time, it helps
         | somewaht.
        
       | mancerayder wrote:
       | I only use Chrome for work. Since they perma-stopped my ability
       | to cease the video autoplay and back when I would turn it off, it
       | would somehow get itself turned on again, I stopped using it as
       | my 'leisure browser' at home and at work during lunchtime.
       | 
       | Any hopes for some HN-y Firefox plugins?
        
         | interestica wrote:
         | I don't know HN's view of Opera, but I've been using it for
         | more than a year and really like it. It's chromium based and
         | can use any plugin from the chrome store. It also has a lot of
         | useful features (PIP video window, sidebar messengers, dev
         | tools, dark mode, workspaces)
        
           | zamadatix wrote:
           | PIP and dark mode sound like standard chromium features.
           | Curious what's better in the dev tools though.
        
             | interestica wrote:
             | dev tools: I don't think they're particularly better per
             | se. They're pretty much identical. But overall, the design
             | of Opera is a bit more useful to me. The sidebar alone just
             | makes it more usable.
             | 
             | PIP: I looked it up. There's a pop-out video option for
             | Chrome available with plugin. The UX for it is better in
             | Opera.
        
               | zamadatix wrote:
               | You don't need the extension for PIP anymore.
        
           | hyperdimension wrote:
           | Opera was bought out by a Chinese company a few years back.
           | It's now, as I understand, more-or-less a Chromium clone.
           | 
           | If you like(d the old) Opera, 12.16 IIRC, though, I would
           | suggest a more-or-less Chromium clone: Vivaldi. It feels like
           | it has the same truly-a-user-agent feeling as Opera gave me
           | so long ago. I believe it's staffed by ex-Opera devs, too.
           | 
           | EDIT: Okay, I just realized you acknowledged it was a
           | Chromium fork...I wish I knew how to read. My recommendation
           | on Vivaldi still stands however.
        
             | interestica wrote:
             | Yeah, I get that it was bought by a Chinese company and
             | that seems to be the primary criticism from people (and I'm
             | not sure it's justified.)
             | 
             | I wouldn't call it a Chromium clone - the codebase and most
             | functions/abilities are the same but the UX and UI thinking
             | is very different.
             | 
             | I will still check out Vivaldi!
        
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       (page generated 2021-01-12 23:02 UTC)