Return to same spot upon refreshing thread?

November 21, 2005 1:07 PM

Hard-to-describe, somewhat picayune, possibly impossible pony request: Is there any way to code the pages so that when I hit reload, it remembers my position in the thread? [mi]
posted by BackwardsCity to Feature Requests at 1:07 PM (16 comments total)

Let's say I'm reading a 100 comment thread. When I get to comment 100 and hit 'F5' to see what's been said since I started reading, I find myself at the last new comment, rather than at the last comment I read. Is there any way to code a reload so my position is the first new comment, and I don't have to scroll up?

Sometimes it's hard to remember exactly where you were, you know. I'm using Firefox, if it matters.
posted by BackwardsCity at 1:07 PM on November 21, 2005

Click on the timestamp for the comment you're currently reading. Then hit reload.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:11 PM on November 21, 2005

I do what Wolfdog does.
posted by cortex at 1:16 PM on November 21, 2005

Thanks, Wolfdog. That's a very elegant solution and probably what I'll wind up doing.

I guess part of my question is how other sites are able to do it. A reload in the Movable Type comments at Washington Monthly, for instance, holds your position in the thread.
posted by BackwardsCity at 1:19 PM on November 21, 2005

Or maybe it doesn't and I've just been imagining that it does all this time. How embarrassing.
posted by BackwardsCity at 1:21 PM on November 21, 2005

Wolfdog thirded, just click on the timestamp and reload. Also, the FF extension MetaFilthy adds a neat line.

My Recent Comments is also an option.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:22 PM on November 21, 2005

My Recent Comments only works, of course, if you've actually commented in that thread.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 1:23 PM on November 21, 2005

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Firefox will return to the same place (on MetaFilter too) as long as the document hasn't changed. But if it has then there's no sensible way to talk about "the same place" except by referring to an anchor, such as the timestamp. For an active thread around here, of course, it's rare for that to happen.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:25 PM on November 21, 2005

Firefox (at least) seems to make a game effort to return to (approximately) the same place on a page even if it has changed, in my experience. I've reloaded a thread and had it bring me back to nearly or exactly the same spot, with however many new comments below.

Can a browser guru enlighten us?
posted by cortex at 1:32 PM on November 21, 2005

I think it depends on how close you are to the very bottom of the page. If the commenting apparatus is visible, it will reload there regardless of how many new comments have been posted in between. If you're near the bottom of the comments, but with maybe one more still off-screen below your view, I'm pretty sure it will reload in the correct position. I didn't just now test this out though, so I could just be recklessly spouting ludicrous speculation. Cheers.
posted by stopgap at 1:36 PM on November 21, 2005

Firefox maintains the same percentage scrolled down the page between reloads. 40% down the page will be 40% down the page regardless of whether it's changed length.

As some sites fill content from the top (mefi homepage) and others fill from the bottom (mefi comment pages) there's no reliable way to identify where the browser should be.

However, most pages have one column of content and perhaps this could be detected and the browser could try and line up the same text from this column if it existed, then fall back on using the percentage if the text has gone.
posted by holloway at 1:40 PM on November 21, 2005

Metafilthy not only adds a line, but it does scroll to the first new comment in a thread after a reload.
posted by zsazsa at 1:45 PM on November 21, 2005

Can't you just hit preview?
posted by metaculpa at 1:48 PM on November 21, 2005

Opera remembers your place in a page on refresh if you're willing to go that far. One of my favorite features.
posted by panoptican at 1:53 PM on November 21, 2005

Oh, that is of course unless you've got an anchor in the url, in which case all browsers will use that instead.
posted by holloway at 2:03 PM on November 21, 2005

And you probably do have an anchor, since you said it goes to the new comments.
posted by smackfu at 4:36 PM on November 21, 2005