Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#1

Post by keiferski » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 12:17 AM UTC

This may be a stupid question, so be nice if it is.

But is there any rhyme or reason to the comment structure? It's mildly irritating to go back to a topic and have to sort between old and new comments.

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#2

Post by nomad2986 » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 12:20 AM UTC

I think it has something to do with the number of up votes a comment has as well as the karma of the commenter perhaps.

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#3

Post by amarcus » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 12:25 AM UTC

It's actually a good thing.

Considering that a post can hit the front page and then disappear within hours, I don't think that it is necessary to organize by time.

The most relevant comments (calculated by number of upvotes in a given period) are at the top and the spammy ones (or those that don't add anything to the conversation are the bottom).

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#4

Post by Mz » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 12:30 AM UTC

Isn't there a toolbar or something for showing unread posts? I've never tried it, but I think there is some tool some HNer created to deal with exactly this. (If so, can someone provide a link?)

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#5

Post by keiferski » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 12:30 AM UTC

amarcus wrote: post #3

It's actually a good thing. Considering that a post can hit the front page and then disappear within hours, I don't think that it is necessary to organize by time. The most relevant comments (calculated by number of upvotes in a given period) are at the top and the spammy ones (or those that don't add anything to the conversation are the bottom).

Wouldn't that lead to the top rated comments being rated even higher, while newer (but still good) comments are left by the wayside?

This would happen simply because the commenter posted outside of the time the topic was most popular (most viewers).

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#6

Post by davido » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 1:10 AM UTC

Mz wrote: post #4

Isn't there a toolbar or something for showing unread posts? I've never tried it, but I think there is some tool some HNer created to deal with exactly this. (If so, can someone provide a link?)

This is wonderful to get back to a thread and read new comments: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imeeonmdbakdmilnnc...

Re: Ask HN: sort comments by time posted?

#7

Post by amarcus » Mon, Feb 14, 2011, 2:17 AM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #5

amarcus wrote: post #3

It's actually a good thing. Considering that a post can hit the front page and then disappear within hours, I don't think that it is necessary to organize by time. The most relevant comments (calculated by number of upvotes in a given period) are at the top and the spammy ones (or those that don't add anything to the conversation are the bottom).

Wouldn't that lead to the top rated comments being rated even higher, while newer (but still good) comments are left by the wayside? This would happen simply because the commenter posted outside of the time the topic was most popular (most viewers).

It's a tradeoff. Otherwise, you would have spammers commenting on all new posts.

Sometimes I do see golden comments stuck at the bottom because the poster was late to comment. It's bad but there really is no easy fix.

It's up to the community to upvote all quality comments (and submissions)...even if that means having to scroll to the bottom of the post to find great comments.

Like pretty much everything else in life, the system isn't perfect. I'm sure PG would listen if you have a better way of implementing comments.