Self Debugging

YC News Tracker: A better way to read comments

If you’re like me, and you read YC News often, then you probably have as much a hard time as I do trying to figure out which comments are new. You see, comments are not listed in order; they move up and down depending on how many votes they get. So beyond a few comments, it’s not easy to find the newly added ones.

So, I came up with a simple solution. It’s entirely in JavaScript, doesn’t install anything, and doesn’t depend on a server. It’s a bookmarklet that highlights new comments that were added to a thread since the last time you visited. I’ve been using it for a while, and I’m much happier; so I’m sharing it with you. And I’m also offering the fully-commented source code below for those interested.

Here is how it works:

1. On the comments thread page, click the “YC Tracker” button. You’ll get the little message below telling you that this thread is now going to be tracked.

2. The next time you visit the page, click “YC Tracker” again and it’ll highlight the new comments in bold. See below (click for full size image).

3. If there are no new comments, it’ll tell you so.

If you’re wondering what that little blue link is. It’s a link to the Break Time community on my new startup, ZoooV.com. Yes, I’m evil :). If it bothers you too much, you can easily remove it; you have the code. But, it’s barely visible.

If you use Firefox, then simply drag the link below to your bookmarks toolbar.

IE users, I’m sorry. It’s too much code to fit within IE’s bookmarklet limit. However, if you really want an IE version, leave a comment below and if I find enough interest I’ll create a simplified version for IE and email you when it’s ready.

And, for coders out there, click here to get the source code. Feel free to change it or build on it. And, although you don’t have to, I would be so very grateful if you keep my little ‘break time’ link there. You can add your own link if you like. And, if you do build a better version based on my code, let me know so I can link to you from here.

Update: I just posted a similar tool for Reddit. It’s, creatively, called: Reddit Tracker. I’ve never been good with names.

Update 2: AKKARTIK just built a GreaseMoneky plug-in based on this and in the process made it so much better by adding a list of tracked threads. Thank you so much, akkartik. I’m really loving it now. So, if you have GreaseMonkey, get the new plug-in from this link. And, if you don’t, and you read YC News often, go get it. It’s worth it.

http://akkartik.name/newsyc-comment-tracker3.user.js