Modern Wiki
Productivity
browser extension for reading wikipedia
SHOW HN2021
979points
409comments
#11of 2,533 in 2021
Top 1%of 2021 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
49 positive, 49 neutral or asking, 20 mixed, 43 critical, out of 161 comments about the project. Thread score +0.03.
Design: 29 for, 23 againstIdea: 3 for, 11 againstExecution: 2 for, 7 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 1 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 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, readable layout with good typography
From 3 comments
Wow, this is beautiful! Thanks for doing this. I would almost use this daily, except that there are a few things I noticed that would be good to improve (just one person's…
zestyping on HNFrom the screenshot: I absolutely adore the positioning of the table of contents. The design looks clean, utilitarian, and overall well executed. That being said - and this is…
crocodiletears on HNI want to use this. Looks really nice. I know there are people here who are crying for information density, but I’m not one of them. The majority of people will be happier when…
azinman2 on HN
Table of contents placement is well done
From 1 comment
From the screenshot: I absolutely adore the positioning of the table of contents. The design looks clean, utilitarian, and overall well executed. That being said - and this is…
crocodiletears on HN
Objections
Browser permission and privacy concerns about the requested permissions
From 1 comment
Why you need this permission "Read your browsing history"? I think you only need access to: "*://*.wikipedia.org/*"
nguyenkien on HN
Fixed narrow column width wastes space on wide screens
From 3 comments
The design is interesting, but I can't help wonder why the design insists on keeping a specific page width instead of using the whole browser window. Even worse, for really wide…
redleader55 on HNI hate to be the contrarian, but I'm confused by the positive remarks here. I find the interface looks like it was trying to force mobile design principles onto a desktop view. A…
aerovistae on HNLooks great, doesn't work for me: * It seems to constrain the width to something even smaller than usual (800px?). I have 6000px of horizontal real estate, and while it would be…
KarlKemp on HN
Hides edit and history links, discouraging contributions
From 2 comments
Looks great, doesn't work for me: * It seems to constrain the width to something even smaller than usual (800px?). I have 6000px of horizontal real estate, and while it would be…
KarlKemp on HNSome criticism: It is fine for reading, but by hiding the tabs for "edit this page", "history" etc. it does not invite editing as much as the current Wikipedia/MediaWiki does.…
Findecanor on HN
Low contrast gray text is hard to read
From 1 comment
Stop using low contrast gray text. I can barely read it. Real designers use different weights, not colors.
w0mbat on HN
Requests
Safari support
From 2 comments
I want to use this. Looks really nice. I know there are people here who are crying for information density, but I’m not one of them. The majority of people will be happier when…
azinman2 on HNAre you working on a Safari extension?
Eric_WVGG on HN
Open source the code
From 2 comments
Any chance you'd like to open source this? I'm really enjoying this as well so far, but there are a few small nits I'd like to address with a little PR :) 1. Left menu scroll bar…
ndom91 on HNIs it open-source?
depaulagu on HN
Font choice, colors and custom themes
From 2 comments
Interesting, thanks for that. I was under the impression that using "system-ui" was the way to go! I do plan to add font choice as a setting in a future version, so that will…
sjdz on HNFont settings, colors, custom themes etc are on the TODO for a future version.
sjdz on HN
Questions
Is it open source?
From 1 comment
Is it open-source?
depaulagu on HN
Why would it be a MediaWiki skin instead of an extension?
From 1 comment
Is there a way for this to be implemented as a Mediawiki skin [1] instead of as a browser extension? Is installation of skins by users one of the challenges? [1]:…
divbzero on HN
Alternatives named
Wikiwand
From 3 comments
I installed an extension that auto-redirects me from Wikipedia pages to Wikiwand and I love it. Things I like about it: * always-visible TOC * it's much easier to parse visually…
epivosism on HN@sjdz Were you inspired to do this based on the Wikiwand site and extension from a few years back? It seems very similar.
throwaway675309 on HNIts funny I was actually looking for a wiki extension that allowed more readability on desktop a couple of days ago. I tried out Readable Wikipedia [0]. Which I really liked…
cmauniada on HN
Readable Wikipedia extension
From 1 comment
Its funny I was actually looking for a wiki extension that allowed more readability on desktop a couple of days ago. I tried out Readable Wikipedia [0]. Which I really liked…
cmauniada on HN
Wikipedia mobile view on desktop
From 2 comments
I discovered the other day that the mobile version of Wikipedia _while on desktop_ is AMAZING. Check this out: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Yeager It's nicely justified…
Waterluvian on HNReminder that the mobile Wikipedia page is accessible on desktop and looks pretty neat: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
notRobot on HN
Wikipedia user CSS
From 2 comments
I don't get this. If you want it to be narrower, make your browser window narrower. And by the way, you don't need an extension for the rest of the stuff, either. Wikipedia…
jfrunyon on HNI recently discovered that if you're logged into Wikipedia, you can customize the UI completely. You can, of course, choose different themes. But you can also upload custom CSS…
thunderbong on HN