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Ask HN (and pg): Move reply button for denser threads?

4 points by evanrmurphy ↗ HN
I was scrolling through a lengthy HN thread when I realized that each comment's reply button has a whole line to itself. If it were moved above the comment to the header like this,

  1 point by evanrmurphy 2 minutes ago | link | reply
instead of below as it is now, then more comments could fit on one screen. This way longer threads would be easier to take in, because you'd have to page down fewer times to get through them. Disadvantages could include decreased readibility with the removed whitespace and the reply button no longer being where your reply goes (i.e. below the comment) which is a nice touch!

Do you think this would be an improvement?

3 comments

[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 18.2 ms ] thread
evanrmurphy
The significance of reply's placement is a function of thread length, since it's only for long threads that you care how many comments fit on one screen. Average thread length has been increasing along with HN's popularity, and the move gets more worth considering too.
evanrmurphy
Last sentence revision: It's something to consider since average thread length on HN has been increasing with its popularity.
evanrmurphy
Disadvantages could include decreased readibility with the removed whitespace

There would still be the header line separating each comment's body, but maybe you do need more than one, considering comments can contain their own blank lines.