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HN Notify

hnnotify.com

11–20 of 49 posts

Re: HN Notify

#11
post #8
post #2

Ahh. I had a similar desire to code something like this up, but didn't because I found there was some sort if service available on your account called notifo. Wonder what happened to it... Gl with this service. I definitely wanted it when I've done "ask hn" type things. How sure are you that the message will get to the notified's inbox? Email delivery is not easily done.

Well a little ddg-ing and I got my answer. Looks like notifo is no longer.

Thanks for taking the time to check up on it. Also, I love DDG, but I haven’t found an appropriate verb to describe the action yet. So far, I’ve been using ‘duckducking’.

Re: HN Notify

#12

Surely I can't be the only one wondering why this kind of functionality isn't just built-in already (with option to enable/disable accordingly)? I mean, the site has been around for about 7 years now, and the whole 'community' aspect seems to be a big selling point, so it just seems odd...

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

> But, the reality is probably that PG is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out.

I totally get that, it's the reason I mentioned the 7-year time window though. You'd think that something like that would've been done at some point during all that time by some interns or something by now, even if it was a super low priority. I'm guessing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy must just be really strong with PG in that case. Or possibly have some deeper reasoning like you mentioned.

> Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

It doesn't send out notifications to your email or whatever, but it does still have a little inbox notification that lights up when you get new replies. Does something similar to that get unlocked here with enough karma? If that's the case, then I wouldn't know...

Re: HN Notify

#13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

> But, the reality is probably that PG is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. I totally get that, it's the reason I mentioned the 7-year time window though. You'd think that something like that would've been done at some point during all that time by some interns or something by now, even if it was a super low priority. I'm guessing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ph…

> Does something similar to that get unlocked here with enough karma?

not... yet...

Re: HN Notify

#14
post #4

Just wanted to say, thank you for this! I've been using it for a while and it's so useful :)

Thanks from me also to the author, I can't remember since when I've been using this - super useful.

Re: HN Notify

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

> But, the reality is probably that PG is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. I totally get that, it's the reason I mentioned the 7-year time window though. You'd think that something like that would've been done at some point during all that time by some interns or something by now, even if it was a super low priority. I'm guessing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ph…

There's no little indicator, however you can click the "threads" link up at the top to see all of your comments and their replies.

Re: HN Notify

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

> But, the reality is probably that PG is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. I totally get that, it's the reason I mentioned the 7-year time window though. You'd think that something like that would've been done at some point during all that time by some interns or something by now, even if it was a super low priority. I'm guessing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ph…

A little indicator up by your name would be a good idea, and presumably wouldn't be too difficult. Adding email into the mix would further complicate things, likely more than pg has time for (and honestly, I kind of like the simplicity of this site).

Re: HN Notify

#17

Surely I can't be the only one wondering why this kind of functionality isn't just built-in already (with option to enable/disable accordingly)? I mean, the site has been around for about 7 years now, and the whole 'community' aspect seems to be a big selling point, so it just seems odd...

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

Maybe that's the case. But as a new user, I find it very difficult to keep track of comments. Let alone any other standard social features that you expect from a community based site. Have a look at SO and see how friendly it is in comparison. HN even throttles link posts for new users; it's quite frustrating. When I post links from certain IPs (presumably because of my country), they don't get posted at all. The same links posted using a US based IP go through.

Re: HN Notify

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

> But, the reality is probably that PG is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. I totally get that, it's the reason I mentioned the 7-year time window though. You'd think that something like that would've been done at some point during all that time by some interns or something by now, even if it was a super low priority. I'm guessing that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ph…

YC definitely does not have interns

Re: HN Notify

#19
post #3

Very cool! Any chance to open source it? I've been running HN alerts via Zapier (my startup) + a webhook polling trigger with a URL like http://api.thriftdb.com/api.hnsearch.com/items/_search?&q=yo... (which is of course hnsearch.com's API). You can get them delivered via SMS/Twilio, IM/Gtalk/Jabber or plain jane email.

It's super simple to write your own. Periodically check https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments and when a new comment appears, get the parent's author and send a notification.

Re: HN Notify

#20

Surely I can't be the only one wondering why this kind of functionality isn't just built-in already (with option to enable/disable accordingly)? I mean, the site has been around for about 7 years now, and the whole 'community' aspect seems to be a big selling point, so it just seems odd...

An interesting thought. Perhaps users constantly coming back and checking their comments for replies, increases time on site, and the possibility users will interact further and view other posts. But, the reality is probably that pg is just super busy and does not have the time and bandwidth to build features out. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Reddit does not send notifications on comment replies either.

Reddit doesn't, but it does have the "orange red" envelope indicating new activity. And there is RES (browser extension) which adds notification that's visible even if the browser isn't focused. Reddit's API allows tools like Orangered (Mac status bar icon/notifier) and Alien Blue to built, as well.
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