Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments?

Posted by prakhar897 on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:32AM
from the ask-hn dept.

The current formatting options are too arbitrary. Why doesn't HN move to markdown?

https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc

( 6 comments | 2 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by coldtea on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @10:46AM (#35341996)

Because it likes to keep it simple

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by SirAllCaps on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:25AM (#35342600)

Simpler for who? In my opinion it makes for a simpler reader experiencer to at least have properly formatted quotes, bullet lists and links.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by coldtea on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @11:31AM (#35342689)

Simpler for the implementors.

Also simpler mentally when writing comments: this handful of markup is supported, period: just write a plain text comment, to show as plain text, no fancy formatting encouraged.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by seydor on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @03:43PM (#35346735)

because it makes better AI training material

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by gravitate on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @04:05PM (#35347040)

I wish when I put something in `back-ticks` it formats that as something special, like Reddit does. It adds a lot of nuance and context since HN discusses a lot of code-related topics. The only formatting I know of on HN is italics, and code blocks:

    Hello World

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: Why doesn't HN use Markdown in Comments? by lisasays on Tuesday March 28, 2023 @07:39PM (#35349716)

HN doesn't want you to write long posts that require visual formatting.

[ Parent | on HN ]