Slashdot Discussion System Updates

This week we have a few new functions for you comment readers guaranteed to amaze and enchant. Or at least to make your day a little more efficient. The biggest update is that the system should remember what comments you've already read (for a few weeks anyway) but there's some other less interesting stuff as well. Hit the link below to read more.

So D2 now remembers what you have read. This will mostly be useful to readers who use the key bindings to navigate -- we didn't really want to guess if you've read something, but if you use the WASD keys to navigate, moving on from a comment flags it as read. Read comments are slightly faded, and if you re-enter a discussion a few hours later, it should remember what you've read.

We've simplified comment retrieval as well. If you get to the 'End' of a discussion and try to get more comments (either by clicking one of the various 'More' links, or by pressing a keybinding like S or D that tells us to move on to the next comment) a dialog box will show up asking you if you would like to lower your threshold. So if you normally read at Score:4, and read to the end of the Score:4 comments, it will offer to lower your threshold to Score:3 either for all time, or just for this page. This means you don't need to constantly raise and lower your threshold to handle discussions of different sizes. This works really nicely.

Lastly is a user preference in the pref pane labeled 'Collapse Comments After Reading.' I'm actually considering making this one on by default but I'm open to feedback. It does what it says -- after you've navigated off a comment (using the keybindings again), it collapses the comment you just left. This makes it very easy to keep your place in a discussion as it grows. This is especially useful in discussions where you want to leave a tab open for several hours, or else come back later and figure out what's new.

There are undoubtedly bugs: feel free to email me or post them to the bug tracker. Thanks to pudge for hacking all this stuff too. Especially the bugs -- he wrote those first.

Comments

Re:God, does it filter out "FRIST POST!!" attempts

[lymond01]

I don't mind it so much when people say something like:

"I say, interesting read this one. I may put further thought into the matter, but I'd like to suggest the chap is correct in not licking the outputs of the miniature fuel cell he's created. Oh, and I do believe I've made the first post. Cheerio."

It's when people snipe articles like they're first edition TMNT comics, typing as fast as they can to get "FRIST POST!" that bugs me.

Re:slashdot editor update:

[bigstrat2003]

As much as I'd love to sit and argue the merits of browsers with you, it's just going to take this thread from "off-topic" to "hellaciously off-topic", so let's save it for a story that's about browsers.

Christ yes

[Quadraginta]

If you guys need something to do, start reading more science and engineering sites and less game and sysadmin sites

Not to mention fewer "Your Rights Online" trolls by plaintiff lawyers trying to astroturf their way into having a free hand to sue $billions out of whatever industry (telecoms? studios?) they think has deep enough pockets to pay for their retirement to the Riviera and the kids' education at Harvard Law.

My out of the ass estimate is that fewer than 50% of the front-page stories on /. have anything to do with what I'd call "nerd" subjects, like cutting-edge science and technology.