[HN Gopher] Show HN: Wikipedia Browser a La Andy Matuschak's Eve...
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Show HN: Wikipedia Browser a La Andy Matuschak's Evergreen Notes
I was inspired by Andy Matuschak's Evergreen Notes viewer and
created this small web app to browse Wikipedia in the same way.
Clicking on a link opens the content in a new pane to the right.
And you can resize panes. It's really nice for following rabbit
holes or checking out lists from articles. Let me know what you
think! Code here: https://github.com/steezeburger/wikipedia-
browser
Author : steezeburger
Score : 90 points
Date : 2024-08-16 04:35 UTC (18 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (steezeburger.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (steezeburger.com)
| input_sh wrote:
| I'd expect it to auto-focus on whatever pane is the newest one,
| but I have to manually scroll to the right to reach it?
| ta988 wrote:
| Yes it makes it look like nothing happens on mobile when you
| click.
| steezeburger wrote:
| I'll add that! Thanks for the feedback. I built this in a few
| hours last night as a proof of concept, so it DEFINITELY needs
| some polish! I've put zero thought into mobile so far.
|
| Edit: the most recent pane should auto focus now!
| greggsy wrote:
| The Split View in edge does this, but it's temperamental.
| Surprised this mode hasn't taken off tbh.
| mrkramer wrote:
| I forgot Edge has it....it's actually quite useful when reading
| and comparing 2 news articles or 2 reviews etc.
| SahAssar wrote:
| Isn't that only one split (two pages) and without any
| hierarchy?
| steezeburger wrote:
| Oh wow, I've wanted this feature in my browser for a long time!
| I'll have to check out Edge more deeply.
|
| I think a similar feature to how tabs and panes work in
| iterm/tmux would also be really really nice in my web browser
| and IDE.
| AlexErrant wrote:
| I wonder if this-view-but-for-browser-tabs would be useful.
|
| E.g. instead of opening 4 google search links as tabs, you could
| just open one "to the side" and quickly go to the next link if it
| turns out to be SEO spam (and avoid a click to close-tab or back-
| buton).
| dspillett wrote:
| I've thought of this too, along with the possibility of having
| multiple tabs visible in the same window generally (almost like
| a screen/tmux/byobu/... for a browser with tabs being panes in
| tmux's terminology0, tabs->windows and a browser window being a
| session).
|
| That is probably a very niche desire though, so I don't hold
| hope of seeing it implemented/supported and don't have time to
| try write it myself.
|
| --------
|
| [0] https://arcolinux.com/everthing-you-need-to-know-about-
| tmux-...
| c_ehlen wrote:
| Arc browser is doing something like this. Not as
| sophisticated but at least you get split views (panes).
|
| https://arc.net/
| javier123454321 wrote:
| I've found that I'm using this feature much more than I
| thought I would in arc. Before, I'd figure that it's the
| same as opening two windows side by side. It's not, having
| it as a built in feature opens up a lot of things. Opening
| an article on HN and the comments on HN side by side, for
| example. I NEVER did that before, now it's second nature.
| steezeburger wrote:
| I think this style of browsing really shows its strength
| for research and review type tasks. Maybe I'll research
| what it would take to write an extension to implement
| some of these ideas.
| phforms wrote:
| I was trying out Arc and almost forgot about it, but now
| knowing about this feature changes everything, thanks for
| pointing it out! Very often I need to see two or more pages
| side by side and I just hate making a mess in my browser
| with multiple windows open. They just tend to get lost and
| I have to move them out of the way or close them one by
| one, it is just annoying.
|
| You can even have more than two splits, which I did not
| expect. Also, holding the option/alt key when clicking on a
| link opens it in a new split which is super convenient.
| justusthane wrote:
| Vivaldi has this functionality as well, although the UI
| around it isn't great. There's no easy way to swap one pane
| with a different site - you have to untile the existing
| sites and retile the ones you want.
| samtheDamned wrote:
| Zen browser does this as well though as a Firefox
| derivative, though as a quick disclaimer it is a relatively
| new project.
|
| https://www.zen-browser.app/
| gedy wrote:
| This is not built in, but fyi I've used PaperWM for this
| (scrolling tiling window manager on Linux) and open new tabs
| as windows. New windows open to right in a large scrolling
| desktop basically.
| 20after4 wrote:
| I came here to say the same. PaperWM is pretty neat.
| steezeburger wrote:
| YES! I've wanted EXACTLY this in my browser and IDE for some
| time. I'll do a little research every once in a while to see
| what it takes, but never get very far. I really like iterm's
| keyboard shortcuts for new panes (vertical and horizontal
| split) and tabs. I think it would be such nice ux for
| browsing web and browsing code.
|
| Also with the ability to fullscreen the active pane quickly.
| It's SO nice.
| mrkramer wrote:
| This type of browser mode would be good for reading 2 or 3
| articles at the same time, instead of switching from tab to tab.
| prmoustache wrote:
| You can open several browser windows and tile them next to each
| others too. Funny how people seem to forget they can use
| windows and their desktop capabilities instead of tabs.
| mrkramer wrote:
| I know but this is easier and that's the thing about software
| UX.
| observationist wrote:
| You could also buy several monitors, turn them sideways, and
| set them up side by side. Or you could have skilled artists
| draw things out and present them to you in paper. Or you
| could get multiple Neuralink implants patched to your visual
| cortex and pipe the window renders directly to your brain!
|
| It's not about how things possibly could be done, it's about
| minimizing friction. Desktops have become something of a pain
| in the ass; all the major operators are incentivized to push
| you to the browser, so they can pipe ads down your throat.
|
| There are apps and custom shells and sometimes even baked in
| OS features that allow sophisticated GUI interactions, but
| the learning curves are steep, the features change or require
| upkeep, and sometimes it's just easier to have a feature
| built in to the thing you want the feature for.
| otteromkram wrote:
| > Desktops have become something of a pain in the ass.
|
| I will respectfully disagree. Even on the link OP provided,
| I cannot read it via my mobile device, while I cwn easily
| do so via desktop browser.
|
| As for the last paragraph, development isn't any simpler on
| mobile. Not just consideration of different platforms but
| also different versions and what they can support (both
| from features and hardware capability).
|
| Your take is interesting, though. Thanks for posting it!
| observationist wrote:
| I didn't mean to indicate a trend toward mobile over
| desktop, but a trend to browser over desktop experiences.
| Native desktop apps and functionality should be the
| environment targeted by most apps, and conformity to
| those expectations would maximize user experience.
| Unfortunately, everyone wants everything run as PWA in
| browsers, to try and get some of that sweet, sweet adtech
| revenue.
| juliend2 wrote:
| Vivaldi is especially good for this. You can select many tabs
| (with Shift) and choose to tile them. Tiling layout can also
| be changed.
| dark-star wrote:
| This reminds me of the old File Browser concept from
| NextSTEP/OpenSTEP (which, I think, was at some point also adopted
| by MacOS X).
|
| I could never get used to the "horizontal history" style of
| browsing anything.
|
| But I admit that for the Ultra Wide displays that are all the
| rage recently, this might be actually very workable
| bloopernova wrote:
| "Miller columns" are what you're thinking of, and I wish more
| browsers (web or file) supported them.
| steezeburger wrote:
| And this is why I love HN. I did some research before this
| project, but now I can go look into Miller columns. Thank
| you!
| juliend2 wrote:
| This is a nice UX experiment. What I'd like to see though, is the
| ability to choose whether the link opens in the current tile, or
| open on the right.
|
| IMO, this behavior should be the default on Web browsers when
| middle-clicking a link.
|
| Especially since people tend to have wide screens and websites
| don't always constrain text narrowly enough to make it readable.
| knowaveragejoe wrote:
| I like this a lot, would be neat if you supported wikipedia's new
| dark mode.
| nilirl wrote:
| Really great job! I spent a good 10 minutes just clicking through
| links.
|
| The design encourages opening a new link but I wonder if the
| temptation distracts from reading a full piece. Still, loved it!
| seltzered_ wrote:
| A reminder that Federated Wiki has a similar flow of opening
| side-by-side panels: http://fed.wiki.org/view/welcome-visitors/
| sova wrote:
| Super simple and super effective tool to learn about [somewhat
| random?] new topics quickly.
| a2dam wrote:
| Would make for an incredible Obsidian plugin
| AlexErrant wrote:
| https://github.com/deathau/sliding-panes-obsidian
| k2m wrote:
| I use Arc Browser's split view though it's not as smooth. I hope
| they evolve and get closer to this UX eventually.
| 1kurac wrote:
| Interesting concept, but also a great way to obtain zero browsing
| history on the topics you research.
| steezeburger wrote:
| Heard that! I made this proof of concept in just a few hours
| last night, so there's still quite a bit of work to be done.
| I've already created an issue to add browsing history
| https://github.com/steezeburger/wikipedia-browser/issues/1
| disqard wrote:
| Thank you for making and sharing this!
|
| Do you envision it predominantly being used on a mobile device?
|
| I (personally) found it a bit "fiddly" to aim for the horizontal
| scrollbar with my mouse -- maybe I missed an easy-to-use mechanic
| here?
|
| In any case, I love this exploration of alternative browsing
| interfaces. Kudos to you for building this prototype!
| steezeburger wrote:
| It's desktop first right now. I haven't put much thought into
| mobile yet! As for horizontal scrolling, it works great with a
| laptop that has a gesture for horizontal scrolling. Some mice
| also have second scroll wheels that can be used for horizontal
| scrolling. In general, you can also hold shift while you scroll
| with the wheel and it will scroll horizontally. Eventually I
| would like to add customizable keyboard shortcuts to this app!
| It would be nice to navigate the whole thing with a keyboard.
|
| And thank you for the thanks! :)
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(page generated 2024-08-16 23:00 UTC)