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elk-zone / elk

A nimble Mastodon web client
https://elk.zone
MIT License
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Suppress preview card for posts with media #937

Open prohr opened 1 year ago

prohr commented 1 year ago

Preview cards are a gorgeous alternative to just a barren link. They can really spiff up a post + make it visually interesting. Publishers love them because it increases the odds you'll click through to their site.

However, when the author has taken the time + effort to choose media to display alongside their words, preview cards should NOT be displayed. Three examples:

  1. Thread discussing two images from one linked site. Injecting the preview card is a distraction. https://elk.zone/hachyderm.io/@pevohr/109664873250118606

  2. Artbot linking to works by a single artist. Injecting a preview card makes it look like the author was stuttering. https://elk.zone/mastodon.arthaus.social/@AugustMacke/109662774198259109

  3. Post celebrating a bit of whimsy found online. Injecting the preview card turns it into an advertisement. https://elk.zone/norden.social/@czottmann/109663886482523238

In all three cases, the author built a post that works better without the preview card. Please honor that, because we want this to be an author-centric medium (where people discuss + share things they find interesting), not a publisher-centric clicky-clicky link farm.

SUGGESTED FIX

Only add preview cards for a link if there's zero attached media.

sschwetz commented 1 year ago

I don't agree with this, as it is common with most software; I feel that users that are looking for links will look for the preview card.

patak-dev commented 1 year ago

I think the posts are too tall when they include both, so I would also prefer we hide the expansion if media was attached. @sschwetz maybe we could have a preference to expand them always.

prohr commented 1 year ago

To clarify, the most common way for me to see a post in Elk is scrolling through TLs on my phone, where height is even more of an issue. So I checked to see what an individual post currently looks like on the desktop, + my analysis above still applies.

image

For any post with a link, the author can can easily choose between A + B. A is the default behavior, or they can do a bit of extra work to add the exact media they want to display instead. Both look great + would be familiar to anyone who's used Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Given those two choices, when would anyone (author or reader) realistically prefer C? How is that more usable, especially when the link that preview is referring to is confusingly far away?

In my mind, I'm running the cases (mobile vs. desktop, TL vs. individual post/conversation, etc.), + I can't envision any context where C wins, even hidden behind a preference.

prohr commented 1 year ago

It's even worse for my 3rd example:

image

Technically it's "just a preview", but it looks like somebody from corporate injected an ad, which totally ruins Carlo's gentle, whimsical fun here. Nobody wants that.

prohr commented 1 year ago

Finally, it'd be really nice to be able to tell at a glance what's being discussed in those snazzy new thread views on the TL, as in my first example:

image

Again, all three variants of this thread include the same link (in orange), but both A + B are clear about what's being discussed (the site as a whole vs. specific aspects). Whereas the unfocused visual mishmash in C totally interrupts the flow of the thread. No bueno.

zeroby0 commented 1 year ago

Can we maybe make it a user option? My preference is to never have link previews at all, and both those options would pair very nicely.

I'm traveling right now, but I'd be willing to make a PR for that in Feb if someone hasn't by then already.

prohr commented 1 year ago

Thanks for offering @zeroby0!

I'm generally biased against too many user options. They make code harder to maintain (more permutations to consider) + are often a signal that the designer couldn't make up their mind + settle on a good solution. But while bouncing around between mobile clients, it does seem like there's a single option (covering multiple features) which might be right up your alley. Namely, which style of TL posts do you prefer?

One app (tooot) takes this tidy approach even further, collapsing the remainder of any TL post that goes longer than 6-7 lines, so you have to click to unfurl the rest (similar mechanism to CWs, actually).

NOTE: Even when apps take the tidy approach in their TLs (where space is at a premium as you scroll + scan for the next interesting thing), they all still go tall on the individual post screen (where to you're looking to see the whole thing). So if there's an argument to be made for a TL preference, I'd recommend you fork.that to a separate issue + consider just rolling all those related behaviors behind a single tall vs. tidy toggle.

But that's not this issue. Media should always block preview cards. Tall == elegant, != cluttered.

mediapinta commented 1 year ago

It's even worse for my 3rd example:

image

Technically it's "just a preview", but it looks like somebody from corporate injected an ad, which totally ruins Carlo's gentle, whimsical fun here. Nobody wants that.

Yes, I want that. Because I don't know what calm.com is and preview card saved me a clic.

btw, I like this discussion. I agree that sometimes preview cards can show redundant information and they aren't the most aesthetic, but, in the other hand, sometimes they give you context and useful information.

Looking forward how this ends.