Now, once again, you can see commenter replies nested inside each other, thanks to a phat Greasemonkey script by reader Yogurt Ealr.
Like a series of Russian dolls, all “reply to this comment” comments appear in a little box right under the comment they’re referencing. This makes it easier to maintain and track an ongoing conversation.
We had this feature before, but then we tweaked the site and Yogurt Earl had to tweak the script to make it work once again (mad props to Yogurt Earl).
Requires Firefox and Greasemonkey, a Firefox add-on that allows you to add user-created scripts that change the browser’s functionality. Will also work with OperaJS.
Give it a shot! — BEN POPKEN
Nest the comments on Consumerist and Lifehacker [YogurtEarl's GreaseMonkey Scripts]
Cool! Thanks Yogurt!
I agree that it’s cool.
Now what happens with those of us who don’t have Firefox?
@Toof_75_75: Yeah… thanks!
I thought the point of the web was that it was supposed to work the same way on any machine with any browser?
@swalve: That may have been the point but it hasn’t been true since there have been more than one browser available.
Testing. Hey, this seems to work.
Up until today, when I tried to type *anything* in the Post Comment box, I got JavaScript errors on every keystroke. I’m using Opera.
Thanks for fixing it, guys!
@acambras: Looks like Opera is given the shaft again. Just support the standards and ALL browsers should work.
Whenever someone says “mad props”, I envision angry stage implements.
@sleze69: Opera is NOT being “given the shaft” any more than any other NON-FIREFOX browser.
If someone comes up w/ Greasemonkey for Opera, IE, or whatever other browser is out there, AND the script doesn’t work, THEN you can complain.
Ben & Crew– I think you need to offer an update w/ some info about Greasemonkey. Here’s my bit:
Greasemonkey is an extension (“Add-on”) for Firefox. It describes itself as “A user script manager for Firefox.” It allows users to create scripts that affect the display and behavior of web sites which that user visits. It’s free, and can be very useful.
Here’s the “official” version (heh, mine was pretty dang close):
About Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows you to customize the way webpages look and function.
Hundreds of scripts are already available for free. And if you’re the tinkerer sort, you can also write your own.
http://www.greasespot.net/
meh.
Nested comments are all very well and good but unless everyone who comments is viewing it in the nested format, the functionality is of limited value.
I being on of the billion minions of MS Internet Explorer take harsh exception to our exclusion in the nesting.
I’m sending Bill Gates after you guys.
Pretty soon all you’ll be hearing is…”All your internets are belonged to us”
why do we have to use a grease monkey script. this isn’t lifehacker. Why can’t you get gawker to change the site format so that everyone can see nested replies?
@sleze69: Those standars are for how standard browsers, with no user extensions/addons/toolbars/etc. should render pages. If the user chooses to change, deliberately, how pages look, that’s up to the user and doesn’t affect any other viewers.
I have my system set up to use a bunch of extensions that do this, but you wouldn’t know if I hadn’t told you, for example, and you or any other user with a standard browser install should see the exact same layout.
@camas22: Yeah, you merged the @ thingy, now finish the job with a legitimate thread system in the real code. While you’re at it, also add a vote thing to comments.
@camas22: Because that takes a while and this is here right now. I’ve already put in a suggestion that we embed it in the site.
Greasemonkey kinda reminds me of when Microsoft decided to make its own javascript so that pages would look cooler on IE.
But that’s OK. I’ll stick with Opera’s purity.
@Antediluvian: @Antediluvian: Opera’s UserJS is a counterpart to FireFox’s GreaseMonkey and can read most GreaseMonkey scripts. Give it a try!
I second the assertion that User Scripts (Greasemonkey scripts like this) work fine in Opera. Documentation is sketchy, but it’s there.
There is a Greasemonkey clone for IE, too! Check out Trixie.
Finally, to the editors: If this feature is good enough to mention on the front page, why not integrate it into your site design, turned off by default, and provide some quick way to set a cookie for the user to enable it? Think of us users who have 10 or more browser installations spread across a handful of computers and PDAs. :^) Or, more importantly, think of users who want this feature but don’t want to install anything.
@idonthack: OK, someone needs to make that an icon.
@smartwatermelon: I fixed the script so it works with Opera UserJS now.
@smartwatermelon: Hey, thanks for that link. I am a proud opera user as well.
And thanks for the fix yogurt earl.
I know Kotaku is not mentioned but I tried it and it works on posts with a moderate amount of comments but not for posts like this:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/sharing-is-caring%21/sony–at-mic…
Has anybody experience this in posts at lifehacker or the consumerist?
@Kornkob: Well, I don’t think it’s necessary for others to be viewing in nested mode, but on this site it would be necessary for people to actually use the “reply to this comment” link for the nesting to work.
Ack!
Which post was that image taken from?
I want to know what I commented to get ‘coolness’.