[quadral]

I wouldn't be using Hackernews if it wasn't for the community and moderation.

This website is terribly bad: - UX/UI is terrible and not user friendly - Infrastructure and the code is like COBOL from the 80s - No notifications when someone replies to your comment - Profile section is non-existent - API is just as bad as the website

I could go on with the list, but you get the idea... for a website which receives millions of visitors, it's a shame that it's so bad.

[dzdt]

I think many of the things you identify as flaws are actually strengths of this site.

The minimalist text-only gui IS very usable for discussion, and forces that the focus is on the discussion.

I think for instance adding images to posts or comments would make the site worse, as images serve to attract and focus attention away from discussion. But the discussion here is the point!

The minimal profile sections are also a feature. This account is not your digital homepage. It is a place people go for discussion. A bigger focus on your profile would be a step towards use of the site as brand-building which favors attention-whoring over quality discussion.

Again, the focus is on reducing frictions to people to contribute to quality discussion, and avoiding dynamics that might supplant this.

[mewpmewp2]

Some features would still be nice, like to know when someone has responded to you.

[codingdave]

Most of the poor discussions I see on here are when one user tries to steamroll a thread, replying to most every single comment, doubling down on their own points of the discussion. It turns into a personal argument, not a discussion by the community.

So I think a lack of notifications is a great feature. It lets us say our piece and move on, and let the community discussion fall where it will.

[seanw444]

Totally agree with this. I thought it was weird when I first joined, but over the years, I've grown to appreciate the lack of it.

Keeping track of your points is a decent indicator that activity has happened though. I just remember roughly where it was when I left, and then I know whether I should check /threads or not.

[danjc]

I think the intent is to discourage back and forth chatter which is a significant way that a flame war develops.

There are third party services though http://www.hnreplies.com/

[mr_mitm]

Or just moving the collapse button next to the vote buttons, so collapsing multiple comment branches becomes easier. Would not change anything the GP mentioned and would probably be super easy to implement.

[TeMPOraL]

Easy enough to do it yourself via userstyle (for Stylus) or userscript (for TamperMonkey)? :).

I'm currently using both - userstyle for DIY dark mode, userscript on mobile for font size adjustment (no Stylus available on Firefox for Android yet). Plus uBlock Origin configured to nuke the karma counter.

[dredmorbius]

True.

And though I don't have a relocated collapse control, there are modified light/dark mode HN styles linked in my HN profile, for those interested in either using those directly or as a starting point for your own restyle.

[mr_mitm]

I could and probably will, but solving this on the server-side would be a huge time-saver for millions of users.

Is there a RES-style browser addon for HN with some of these little quality of life improvements?

[TeMPOraL]

Then again, it's hacker news. If the audience of this site won't individually hack the UX to match their preferences, who will?

[monkeywork]

No No … hell no

This is one of the features of HN that I appreciate most. The lack of notification means that you don't (typically) get a ton of back and forth sniping arguments like you do on sites like reddit.

I find this makes people put more effort into their first comment and keeps the arguments lower.

[hutzlibu]

You can actually implement that yourself, or use what someone else did:

http://www.hnreplies.com/

[meheleventyone]

The UX and the lack of notifications are part of the reason I really like it!

[boredemployee]

2nd that. no need of tricks for "user retention", the content is so good that we keep coming by our own.

[Joker_vD]

You get the list of trending articles, you can go read the article itself, you can look at the discussions, and you can also get a comment box to add to those discussions. Oh, and you can up- and downvote articles and comments.

What else do you really need, honestly? It's like reddit, only with actually readable comment threads.

[mschuster91]

Personally, I'd like some more formatting options:

1. inline code formatting, e.g. Markdown's `place code here` with backticks)

2. direct links, or some sort of footnotes system. I prefer to thoroughly source posts, especially when it's either rare/obscure knowledge or when it's an opinion/viewpoint that goes against the "hive mind" or however else you want to call the "mass opinion" on here - it's easier and more productive to debate on sourced facts than on unsubstantiated claims.

3. an actual quote indicator, just as Reddit does with lines that begin with > - it would be a waaay better way to follow visually in lengthy posts

4. actually working ordered and unordered lists. Markdown's syntax is bad, but anything is an improvement over nothing.

[bluish29]

One of the reasons I learned a lot of css and js was actually inspired by me writing userscript to modify HN webpage to be like I want. That might count as a plus for me. The HN page source makes it easy to customize.

And lack of notifications is a good feature. It does help in many cases where you would go into very heated or not very useful discussions.

[dredmorbius]

My learning tool was Google+ back in the day. I'd already been hacking up various websites' CSS for a while, but that instance was ... special...

Though not notifications, I've included code to annotate YC startup job listings, just so I could clearly distinguish them from regular posts.

I took to increasingly muting the notification such that it now reads:

  /* HN startup job ads */
  
  html[op="news"] .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks) {
      background: #eee;
  }
  
  html[op="news"] .athing td:nth-of-type(2):not(.votelinks):before {
      content: "YC";
      position: relative;
      left: 0.8em;
      top: 0;
      color: #000;
      font-size: 0.6em;
  } 

That's a very faint grey highlight to the text. Anything more is like sand in my eyeballs, and this really does stand out clearly for me.

[imjonse]

If only they could raise a seed round and hire a decent team to add some animation on the frontpage and set it up on kubernetes then blog about their unique experience...

[Piisamirotta]

I'm very glad that people who think like this aren't running this site

[marton_s]

> UX/UI is terrible and not user friendly

The Hacker News UX/UI is one of the best among the websites I regularly visit!

[taneq]

Those are all features.

[Aerbil313]

Each of the “downsides” you listed is consistent with the HN’s goals.

[dredmorbius]

And further, searching for comments on each of these by HN's mods (dang, sctb, and pg) will turn up rationales against them, for those curious.

E.g.: <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...>

[TheHumanist]

I mean, Reddit may suit your needs? I find HN pretty perfect for my needs. The simplicity keeps me coming back. I find all the things you mention to be benefits, personally.

[mr_mitm]

Reddit is lacking the most important part: the community and the moderation.

[TheHumanist]

I completely agree. I was just saying for the person I replied to that maybe Reddit was more their thing, which is fine. I still use Reddit for some things. It can be a really great resource at times. But I much prefer to spend my time on HN, overall.

And yes, the community and moderation here are a literal breath of fresh air compared to most of Reddit.

[digitalsushi]

reddit got so big its community was equivalent being out in public. it got so big on the inside that it turned into the outside

[jval43]

re: replies, check out hnreplies.com (no affiliation), it works quite well.

[joshxyz]

lmao i always imagine dang laughing on us because we mispress buttons and links with our fat fingers haha