Expounder
Languages and libraries
javascript library
SHOW HN2016
134points
48comments
#268of 2,264 in 2016
Top 12%of 2016 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
11 positive, 13 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 4 critical, out of 29 comments about the project. Thread score +0.19.
Idea: 8 for, 0 againstDesign: 2 for, 4 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean implementation of old stretch text idea
From 1 comment
This is an old idea in Hypertext called Stretch Text (since 1967!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StretchText Every so often someone hears about the old hypertext theory and…
polm23 on HN
Useful for wikis and multi-level explanations
From 2 comments
I feel like this could be a really interesting tool for wikis. It'd be neat to be able to read what is, essentially, an executive summary of a topic, but then be able to drill…
kaishiro on HNFully agree. Your semantics of "expounder" and "expounded" spans is much more coherent. It's a new modality, but I think it has a lot of potential: I love explanations with…
ivan_ah on HN
Objections
Inline expansion shifts surrounding text and disrupts reading
From 3 comments
It throws off my reading if I'm just checking that I know what something is and only need a quick skim to verify that. I immediately lost track of what was the explanation and…
vcarl on HNThere are a few things: Even if it's not that useful, it's what I expect to happen without thinking. Having no "undo" makes me wonder what happened and a vague fear that I've…
IanCal on HN> I definitely know what you mean, but it's a problem with me being compulsive about having opened things stay open, not with the things themselves :P I disagree, it's not about…
IanCal on HN
No way to collapse expanded text again
From 2 comments
and add an option to re-collapse the text
jtmarmon on HNIt throws off my reading if I'm just checking that I know what something is and only need a quick skim to verify that. I immediately lost track of what was the explanation and…
vcarl on HN
Tooltip or popup might work better
From 3 comments
Wouldn't a tooltip give the same information while taking up less space and not messing up your carefully setup layout?
Negative1 on HN(Click -> Tool tip) works better IMO. The sudden append of words threw off my reading rhythm.
p0larboy on HNOr maybe just use a popup, not sure if inlining it is better.
arikrak on HN
Requests
Ability to re-collapse expanded text
From 2 comments
and add an option to re-collapse the text
jtmarmon on HNThat's another feature that's requested a lot. I'm still not convinced that it's something people request because they actually want to re-collapse the text or just because…
StavrosK on HN
Preset expansion levels like TL;DR or ELI5
From 1 comment
Interesting. I personally like to use sidenotes for this type of thing on my website; it's nice to be able to scan the sidenotes for additional info without clicking on anything.…
amk_ on HN
Better indication of which text was expanded
From 1 comment
My advice would be to somehow indicate exactly the text that was expounded - maybe with a faint underline or something. When it expands out, it's sometimes difficult to track the…
bart3r on HN
Questions
How do screen readers handle hidden expanded text
From 2 comments
How does a screen reader handle that ?
GroSacASacs on HNI'm not sure (I'd appreciate some feedback by someone who uses one), but I'd think it would just read the whole text. Depends on what it does with hidden text.
StavrosK on HN
Alternatives named
Stretch Text hypertext concept
From 1 comment
This is an old idea in Hypertext called Stretch Text (since 1967!): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StretchText Every so often someone hears about the old hypertext theory and…
polm23 on HN
Telescopic text
From 1 comment
Very nice, reminds me of telescopictext. Here's an example that explains magnetic fields: http://www.telescopictext.org/text/pFjkqQY9bmfvQ
ivan_ah on HN
BigfootJS footnotes
From 1 comment
Interesting. I personally like to use sidenotes for this type of thing on my website; it's nice to be able to scan the sidenotes for additional info without clicking on anything.…
amk_ on HN
Sidenotes and tooltips
From 2 comments
Interesting. I personally like to use sidenotes for this type of thing on my website; it's nice to be able to scan the sidenotes for additional info without clicking on anything.…
amk_ on HNWouldn't a tooltip give the same information while taking up less space and not messing up your carefully setup layout?
Negative1 on HN