What SN features do you guys want?! \ stacker news ~meta

10 sats \ 15 boost \ 41 comments \ @k00b 5 Aug 2021 meta

Small, medium, or big, what should we build into stacker news next?

I'm just getting over a pretty bad bout with the plague and I'll be getting back to full time hacking over the next few days. I'm also having trouble finding a Bitcoin job so this means a lot more time to spend on SN until I do - could be months.

We have some stuff feature/pull requests on https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues, but it might be easier to discuss things here first.

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7 sats \ 8 boost \ 3 replies \ @nout 5 Aug 2021

I would say don't go crazy on adding features - that can often hurt the product more than help. Consider each feature request thoroughly.

The current feature set works quite well, but there are mostly small bugs that would be good to fix and add couple small improvements. Also not sure what is the story to make Stacker News sustainable against spam and company advertisement.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b OP 5 Aug 2021

Good point. Refinement over additions.

What small bugs are you referring to? I'm probably not aware of all of them.

I'm not sure what the spam story is either yet. There's some hope the sat hurdle will prevent it some. We haven't had much of it yet fortunately.

4 sats \ 2 boost \ 1 reply \ @nout 6 Aug 2021

when you click on specific comment link, there's no button to see all comments under the post or a button to see all parent comments
when you are signed out, click on "post", click on "post" again, it keeps duplicating callbacks in the URL (this is small nit)
the sats amounts for gained sats and total sats are shown as [123,345], but comma is used as a decimal or thousands separator in different locales, which makes this confusing. Also putting "title" property on those elements with some description would help. Other things, like "boost" could use title property too.
when I get notification that I stacked some sats, I would like to know where. There is no way to tell currently.
You should be able to click on the red notifications icon and go directly into notifications (not through the dropdown menu)
"withdrawl"

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

All good suggestions. Thanks for taking the time to write them out!

4 sats \ 1 boost \ 5 replies \ @k00b OP 5 Aug 2021

My own priorities are

reviewing and merging some these very kind pull requests
some kind of editing - something like a 5 minute window for edits
better notifications
growth hacks so we can get a more active community: sat referral program and tips

3 sats \ 3 replies \ @k00b OP 5 Aug 2021

I've also begun thinking about how to best decentralize SN. Open sourcing was a step in this direction but it'd be better if users could run their own SN node. There are a number of stumbling blocks here but for longevity/trust, it's something I'd like to do.

What we'd mostly end up needing is for the backbone of SN to be an append only log relay that's effectively a dehydrated version of the SQL DB that we'd rehydrate on each node (using something like https://github.com/fiatjaf/nostr or https://github.com/dominictarr/scuttlebutt).

2 sats \ 2 replies \ @ugmug_old 6 Aug 2021

Decentralizing SN I think should be a priority above all front-end, nice-to-have like features. I would happily run a SN node at home, especially if you could get it added to Umbrel's app store.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

Definitely an important feature but also the most difficult to implement. It'll need to be designed/researched first which is something I can do in parallel to developing little nice to haves.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @nout 6 Aug 2021

Check out ActivityPub protocol for the decentralization (federation) of SN, that would open floodgates for folks from PeerTube, Mastodon, Pixelfed, Lemmy... :)

Separately you could make SN into an App on Umbrel (it's fairly simple, just wrap in a container and add config to Umbrel) to run well with your Umbrel Bitcoin Core & LND and then that would be hats down truly amazing solution.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 5 Aug 2021

Oh and also figuring out the UX around some kind of better client-side cache invalidation so the recent/main page posts don't require a manual refresh.

3 sats \ 6 replies \ @gmd 6 Aug 2021

Just thinking out loud, to make it easier to onboard new friends/members would there be a way for users to invite (email) others to the site with a sats donation to get them started?

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @gmd 7 Aug 2021

Some things I like about reddit enhancement suite:

There's a preview button that shows me the main text of the first post (more useful for posts that are images)
Infinite scroll when you get to the bottom of the page.

Another thing to potentially explore is "lounge" like forum/functionality for discussing off-bitcoin topics with bitcoiners. Or maybe similar to some reddit communities that have daily/weekly threads on stuff that is off topic, or peripherally related stuff like TA discussion, stand-ups, intros etc. Although this might not need to be a software feature more than community driven threads similar to indiehackers or many popular FB groups.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @gmd 6 Aug 2021

also is there a way to signal on a thread if there has been any new comments since your last view? Perhaps a "last comment by ____" so I don't have to guess if someone's replied to the thread or perhaps less intrusive a little flag that notifies you of this.

Looking at hackernews they don't have this though so I don't know if that would overly clutter the UI. Maybe once you get to that level of traffic there's always a new comment...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

Yeah I think you nailed it on why HN doesn't have it but if it provides value even just in the interim it'd be worth doing.

1 sat \ 2 replies \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

This is a good idea. I definitely want to maximize sat transfers happening on the site. It's the main differentiator, along with any other bitcoin native features we can dream up, after all.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @gmd 6 Aug 2021

obviously a wish feature but would be neat to see a growing graph of sats transfers over time...

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

Ah yeah a sat history would be cool

3 sats \ 1 boost \ 1 reply \ @ThrillerX_ 5 Aug 2021

I would love to see a hover button thats a preview of the website before clicking on it. But I don't know if that something everyone would like. Also a dark mode would be cool. That way lightning looks scary as hell when it comes crashing down lol

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 5 Aug 2021

Something like the preview you see in tweet for a link I imagine? That'd be cool.

Dark mode is a good rec too. I know there are some die hard dark mode people out there.

2 sats \ 5 boost \ 2 replies \ @LibreLoya 6 Aug 2021

I want to see the top posts. Like reddit. In the last week, last month, last year, all time.

For growth hacks you could probably host an AMA

2 sats \ 4 boost \ 1 reply \ @nout 7 Aug 2021

I like the AMA idea... let's get some folks to do AMA here, that should work out of the box, right? @dergigi, any interest? If we announce the AMA ahead of time, it could be interesting :)

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @gmd 8 Aug 2021

this is a really great idea! Would love to smash upvote/boost some sats for a good AMA..

2 sats \ 1 boost \ 6 replies \ @shawnyeager 6 Aug 2021

Thanks for building this, and here’s to a fast, full recovery and finding the right opportunity.

Re. SN:

One small feature that I find myself wishing it had is that posting a link requires only the link. Read & pull the title.
For consideration: to draw more quality users and engagement using FOMO, is it worth flipping to an invite-only system where current users earn limited invites as they post OR spend sats to invite?

1 sat \ 4 replies \ @k00b OP 22 Aug 2021

Posting only requires the link now. It reduces posting friction by a ton. Thanks!

1 sat \ 3 replies \ @shawnyeager 23 Aug 2021

Excellent. Perhaps consider swapping the order of the fields, with url first?

Also, just posted this link, but it only pulled “The BTC Times”. I had to copy/paste the full title.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @k00b OP 24 Aug 2021

Try refreshing the post link form page next time you post and it should work. The title was populated for me when I used this link - but only after I refreshed the page.

I believe the browser is caching the old version so you didn't get the update. This is still a no bueno but a different no bueno - looking into it.

Rather than swapping the fields, I'll make the URL field get focus first rather than title - effect is the same but keeps it consistent with the "Discussion" posts.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @shawnyeager 25 Aug 2021

Super. Thanks.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 23 Aug 2021

Good idea!

I think I know why that doesn't work on their site - a quirk of how they render their page (they change the title after the page is downloaded). I'll see if I can work around it because lots of sites do this.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 6 Aug 2021

The title pull is something I've been wanting too. Now that I know it only isn't me I can prioritize it.
I like this idea. It's an exclusivity play - people who are in brag about being insiders, and people who are out pine to be inside. It's a nice organic marketing play. Clubhouse most recently used this to bootstrap. I think I first read about exclusivity in Made to Stick. Great book.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @nout 15 Aug 2021

What about having ability to both link to a page and to write a comment at the same time?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 15 Aug 2021

Can do!

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @gmd 14 Aug 2021

Some thoughts from reddit:

Search (avoid reposts)
From reddit- sort replies by new/old/top (large threads)

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @qecez 9 Aug 2021

Deleting/editing comments & posts within 10 minutes please.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b OP 9 Aug 2021

I was thinking 5 but why not 10? Sounds good to me!

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @carlos99 14 Aug 2021 freebie

A meme section, could just be links to twitter to keep it simple.

Would be cool to see the most upvoted memes :)

And good way to advertise SN on twitter: "Earn sats by posting the best memes"

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @0391398253 9 Aug 2021

Redesign the site to make it more like reedit, feels too amateur. Also being able to tip users directly would be great, or buy a coffee as some calls it.

1 sat \ 1 reply \ @0391398253 9 Aug 2021

Overall would love to see you explore ways to monetize content. Instead of useless tokens Reddit we have real money so let's try to see what happens when people can earn money by posting stuff.

paid ama
tip users directly

That comes to my mind.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @0391398253 9 Aug 2021

Also explore ways of allow users to finance features, don't know how much people is involved but if you are short of manpower could do some crowdfunding and allow external the to implement features.

As I said could be an interesting experiment about decentralization from the founding side and also from features.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b OP 9 Aug 2021

Is there anything in particular about reddit that makes it feel professional to you? Something I can focus on changing first?

Tips is definitely something I have planned. The hard part is trying to figure out where to stuff all the buttons.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @0391398253 9 Aug 2021

Upward ⬆️ and down arrow are to long in my opinion, yes, is lightning but there is no need that everything look like a lightning, maybe could be redesigned. the same goes for the SN at the top, looks too cheap IMO, bayne I'm wrong that is what make me feels.

The lighting when you up vote could be redesigned too, maybe just and small lightning on the post that you up voted.

That comes to my mind.