August 31, 2005

1:31 PM

I know I'm just asking for trouble since this has already been requested a few times before (and those are only the ones I could find), but the questions on AskMe are moving faster than the speed of light and it's becoming more and more difficult to follow some of the interesting discussions. Is it really difficult to put in the "Sort by recent comments" feature on AskMe?
posted by tuxster to feature requests at 1:31 PM (8 comments total)

"it's becoming more and more difficult to follow some of the interesting discussions"

Which ones? AskMe is currently showing questions through last night. And I don't see any lively discussions which have scrolled off the front page.

I put it to you sir - Isn't this feature request nothing more than you being bored at work?
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:07 PM on August 31, 2005

Bookmarks. They come standard in every browser. You can make them REALLY FAST. You can delete the obsolete ones REALLY FAST.
posted by cortex at 3:57 PM on August 31, 2005

Whiz-Bang New "My Comments" Page
(thanks Matt!)
posted by mkultra at 5:50 PM on August 31, 2005

The "My Comments" page doesn't really solve this problem if you are just reading a thread and not commenting. (I've been tempted to add a "_" to some threads just to get it onto My Comments...resisted temptation so far.)

But yeah, there are other workarounds.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 7:15 PM on August 31, 2005

Favorites are coming, based on the My Posts page, but imagine "my favorite threads" page.
posted by mathowie at 8:08 PM on August 31, 2005

y6y6y6 says Which ones? AskMe is currently showing questions through last night. And I don't see any lively discussions which have scrolled off the front page.

They don't have to be lively; there are several questions where it doesn't immediately get a satisfactory response, and could possibly get a 'best' response in 24-48 hours (since not everyone reads AskMe every 4 hours, unlike popular belief). These are threads were people speculate responses or discuss possible options trying to find an answer. There are also threads where people get advice and then come back 10 days later to provide everyone with an update. I'd like to be able to keep up with these.

At 10:57pm, several posts from today are already on page 2. I'm starting with Page 2 of the AskMe, and here are some of the threads I'm interested in to see if there are any follow-ups:

What's the deal with the open trunk lids?
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23405

How much economic activity did New Orleans generate?
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23400

I'm looking for some timelines that chart recent/current events
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23392

I call upon the Gods Who Get Google
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23382

Are there any penalties for those ignoring a mandatory evacuation?
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/23373


and those were only the ones on page 2. I have at least that many on both pages 3 and 4. I have only made comments in 2 of the above 5, so mkultra's tip doesn't solve my problem (although I didn't know about it and it is a wonderful feature - thanks mkultra!)

And bookmarking them certainly doesn't work, since a bookmark doesn't tell me whether there are new comments made making it worth for me to visit. Obviously I could bookmark and check 25 pages every 6 hours to see if there are any new comments, but that's not my definition of 'productivity.

'Sort by recent comments' is really great because it shows up even if it is a 15 day old thread where a new comment is made.

If there are any workarounds I would appreciate knowing about it. But, I thought that the 'sort by' feature is the exact, elegant solution to this problem and that's why I asked whether it's really a difficult feature to implement.
posted by tuxster at 8:13 PM on August 31, 2005

Per-thread RSS feeds would be a nice pony.
posted by nathan_teske at 1:53 AM on September 1, 2005

Bookmarks. They come standard in every browser. You can make them REALLY FAST. You can delete the obsolete ones REALLY FAST.

I really hate this all-too-common sarcastic (and it's always presented that way) "answer" to the question posted... as if it's the obvious solution. If it were the obvious answer, Matt wouldn't have implemented the various filters in the blue. I could also pull out a sheet of paper and write down the URL's, but that's not the "answer" either. I could never turn off my computer and just leave the browser open with tabs for each discussion I wish to follow. I could hire a guy to remember them for me. People would like to be able to filter the information in the green the same way they do in the blue. It's a reasonable request that Matt will either humor or not.
posted by Witty at 6:32 AM on September 1, 2005