Ask HN: Why does a request get sent to HN every-time I collapse/expand a comment?

3 pointsoolongCat9y ago2 comments

Just noticed whenever I collapse or expand a comment here on HN a request gets sent to a server. Any idea why this is happening ? And something like this just overload the servers with so many requests?

2 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

gus_massa9y ago

I'm not sure, but I think that the collapse/normal state is saved in the server. If you reopen the story from another window/browser/computer, I think you'll get that comment in the same state collapse/normal. I think that this is saved for a week to keep the total save space small.

For an authoritative answer, you can ask the mods: hn@ycombinator.com

unimpressive9y ago

Because it remembers your preference about the page, which is presumably too big to fit into a cookie for abritrary N pages.

(Also keeping it in a cookie would introduce other issues like it not working if you change computers/browsers.)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse