Like the new comments, don't like the >>

February 17, 2001 3:09 PM

Like the ability to click on (2 new ») etc to get to new comments. Don't think the » is necessary. That is all.
posted by lbergstr to MetaFilter-Related at 3:09 PM (20 comments total)

well, in terms of UI, how else would you know that white text is a link? (nothing else on the page that is white, bold text is a link)
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:08 PM on February 17, 2001

I'm not sure why you need to have it be white text, and not just a plain ol' regular link .... ?
posted by webmutant at 3:55 AM on February 18, 2001

To me the » indicates "opens in a new window" in some magical way. Like, 2 new, but over in that other window.
posted by rodii at 9:11 AM on February 18, 2001

hey, what's the ascii value of that little symbol thingy? My only beef with it is that it makes searching on the page tricky because I'm too lazy to look it up, I've had to resort to (gasp!) scrolling again. :-)

I like it though, I agree with rodii's "new window" sentiment.
posted by cCranium at 9:36 AM on February 18, 2001

mathowie -- none of the other links on MF have that symbol attached to them, but that doesn't seem to confuse anyone. i think the idiom of having bold text represent links works fine by itself.
i also agree with the new window point.

by the way, my happiness at having this new feature far outweighs my nitpicking about the little arrows. :)
posted by lbergstr at 4:35 PM on February 18, 2001

Suggestion: instead of using _blank for your target in the new » links, use a new window name. That way it doesn't spawn a new window every time, but reuses the same secondary window if one is open. In the current set up, I do this:

1. click on new » link
2. new window pops up
3. wait for it to open
4. read
5. move cursor to close widget
6. back to 1

With a reused window, it's

1. click on new » link
2. flip to new window (already open after first time)
3. read
4. click on main window

Of course, I'm on a Mac. This of you that have OSs that maximize windows willy-nilly may not see any difference.
posted by rodii at 6:30 PM on February 18, 2001

no no! the way to be is to scroll through the front page clicking on new >> for each thread you want to catch up on, then close the main window and have a neat pile of thread windows to read and close, read and close, read and close. a reused window would stink because then you'd either have to redundantly right click & select new window with this link for each, or flip back and forth between the main window and auxiliary window -- which is what you prefer rodii, but you're just, well, wrong! (:
posted by palegirl at 10:11 PM on February 18, 2001

I think Matt's got it just about right, though I am put off a little by the white link. It makes me not want to click for some reason. There's a psychology of interface research project in here somewhere...
posted by sudama at 1:26 AM on February 19, 2001

Suggestion: instead of using _blank for your target in the new » links, use a new window name. That way it doesn't spawn a new window every time, but reuses the same secondary window if one is open.

I agree with palegirl: a re-used target window is awkard and annoying. I do exactly as she does: I ccommand-click on all links I want to so I get a stack of windows opening in the background that I can go through one by one.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:57 AM on February 19, 2001

I hate links that spawn new windows. Anyone know if there's a browser or registry setting in Windows where I can kill it entirely?
posted by rcade at 12:21 PM on February 19, 2001

I don't think there's a browser setting, but I use this same window bookmarklet on sites like the guardian weblog sometimes.
posted by sudama at 12:49 PM on February 19, 2001

Maybe I'm just living in the past. Browsers used to crash when they had umpteen windows open. That not happen anymore?

Rogers, I'm sure Matt won't mind adding a setting to customize this behavior, right after he gets done reworking the session code and getting whoever it was his pony. :)
posted by rodii at 4:08 PM on February 19, 2001

I didn't ask for a new setting because I'm afraid he would implement it. The last two suggestions I made here were online within 48 hours, and frankly I'm afraid of my power. :-).
posted by rcade at 8:04 AM on February 20, 2001

For the record, the pony is for me.
posted by thirteen at 8:12 AM on February 20, 2001

rodii: it's still pretty much system-dependant. I've had upwards of 20 IE windows open on my work box, but I've also got disgusting amounts of RAM available to me.
posted by cCranium at 1:53 PM on February 20, 2001

I think Matt's got it just about right, though I am put off a little by the white link. It makes me not want to click for some reason.

C'MON PEOPLE! Does anyone else see the humor in sudama saying that he is put off by the WHITE link?



anyone....... ANYONE?
posted by Avogadro at 10:38 AM on February 21, 2001

dum de dum de dum. . . la la la
posted by rodii at 5:15 PM on February 21, 2001

I think it is funny, but I think everything is funny.
posted by thirteen at 7:58 AM on February 22, 2001

you're such a poor control, thirteen.
posted by cCranium at 11:36 AM on February 22, 2001

Yay! They're gone.
Thanks Matt.
posted by lbergstr at 7:12 PM on February 23, 2001