Footnotes that look like footnotes, attached to their post

littlefox commented

2026-10-22 10:59:08 +00:00

Owner

Asked by the user (D-061), 2026-10-22: "we keep the footnote as is, but should think about displaying it in a more footnote-y way. Right now you cannot really tell the difference between a real reply/post and a footnote".

This came up while asking whether posts can be edited. They can't: Protocol A has no edit call, and NeoKOM won't fake one. A footnote, the author's own addition to their post, stays the way to amend a post.

Today

Thread view: a footnote is a card among the replies, at the same size and indent. The only differences are a dashed border and a small "Fotnot" tag.
Channel view: footnotes are counted as replies.
A single post lists "Fotnot i text N" next to its comment links.

What a footnote is
Only the post's author can write one (add-footnote: "Only the author of both texts is allowed to add the footnote link"), and only that author can remove it. So it's always the author adding to their own post, never a reply from someone else.

Direction (to settle in DESIGN.md with #242's views; mockups first)

Show it attached to its post, below the body and above the reactions and actions: a thin rule, smaller text, "Fotnot" plus the time, numbered if there are several. It's not a separate card and not indented as a reply.
Don't count it as a reply anywhere (channel view, thread lists, the #243 thread index's reply counts) and don't show it as a fork.
Reading: it's read together with its post. If a footnote arrives after its post was read, the post is unread again with the footnote marked new, so the addition isn't missed.
Writing: "Lägg till fotnot" only on your own posts, which the protocol requires anyway.
Classic mode (the Emacs order and words) can keep footnotes as their own texts in the reading order, the way elisp shows them, but they're drawn the same way when shown inside a thread.

Done when: in the thread view, the channel view and a single post, a footnote can't be mistaken for a reply. Covered by an e2e spec with screenshots on desktop and phone.

Asked by the user (D-061), 2026-10-22: "we keep the footnote as is, but should think about displaying it in a more footnote-y way. Right now you cannot really tell the difference between a real reply/post and a footnote". This came up while asking whether posts can be edited. They can't: Protocol A has no edit call, and NeoKOM won't fake one. A footnote, the author's own addition to their post, stays the way to amend a post. **Today** - Thread view: a footnote is a card among the replies, at the same size and indent. The only differences are a dashed border and a small "Fotnot" tag. - Channel view: footnotes are counted as replies. - A single post lists "Fotnot i text N" next to its comment links. **What a footnote is** Only the post's author can write one (`add-footnote`: "Only the author of both texts is allowed to add the footnote link"), and only that author can remove it. So it's always the author adding to their own post, never a reply from someone else. **Direction** (to settle in DESIGN.md with #242's views; mockups first) - Show it attached to its post, below the body and above the reactions and actions: a thin rule, smaller text, "Fotnot" plus the time, numbered if there are several. It's not a separate card and not indented as a reply. - Don't count it as a reply anywhere (channel view, thread lists, the #243 thread index's reply counts) and don't show it as a fork. - Reading: it's read together with its post. If a footnote arrives after its post was read, the post is unread again with the footnote marked new, so the addition isn't missed. - Writing: "Lägg till fotnot" only on your own posts, which the protocol requires anyway. - Classic mode (the Emacs order and words) can keep footnotes as their own texts in the reading order, the way elisp shows them, but they're drawn the same way when shown inside a thread. Done when: in the thread view, the channel view and a single post, a footnote can't be mistaken for a reply. Covered by an e2e spec with screenshots on desktop and phone.

littlefox added this to the 0.7: Threads milestone

2026-10-22 10:59:08 +00:00

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2026-10-22 10:59:08 +00:00

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-22 10:59:30 +00:00

D-061: no editing; footnotes drawn as part of their post #278

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2026-10-22 10:59:31 +00:00

D-061: no editing; footnotes drawn as part of their post

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-22 11:05:27 +00:00

Editing posts as a Protocol A improvement (an aux item, proposed upstream) #279

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-22 14:41:25 +00:00

Threads 1b: a thread read as a chat #283

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-22 14:41:47 +00:00

Channels as lists of threads, threads as chats (Teams-style) #242

littlefox referenced this issue from a pull request that will close it,

2026-10-22 22:03:15 +00:00

Footnotes drawn as part of their post (#277) #299

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2026-10-22 22:03:15 +00:00

Tests: a footnote is shown in its post

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2026-10-22 22:03:15 +00:00

Roadmap: footnotes done

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2026-10-22 22:16:48 +00:00

Test: a footnote isn't counted among the root's replies

littlefox closed this issue

2026-10-22 22:49:48 +00:00

littlefox referenced this issue from a commit

2026-10-22 22:49:48 +00:00

Footnotes drawn as part of their post (#277)

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2026-10-22 22:49:48 +00:00

Footnotes: the post font, not monospace, for their text

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2026-10-22 22:49:48 +00:00

Merge pull request 'Footnotes drawn as part of their post (#277)' (#299) from issue-277-footnotes into main

littlefox commented

2026-10-22 23:21:56 +00:00

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Owner

Merged in #299; main run #490 green. Verified: new e2e footnotes.spec (a new footnote shows its post with both footnotes under the body, the new one highlighted, not as a reply card; the channel view counts only comments and draws a footnote post as a footnote; the chat draws footnotes under their message) in desktop/android/iphone; thread/commands/compose specs updated and passing; full e2e suite; devserver integration tests (thread_tree now counts comments only); unit tests; lint with CI's three clippy commands. Screenshots looked at on desktop and phone.

littlefox referenced this issue from a commit

2026-10-23 02:15:31 +00:00

Test: open an ordinary post by link, not a footnote

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-23 17:48:23 +00:00

Channels as lists of threads, threads as chats (Teams-style) #242

littlefox referenced this issue

2026-10-24 13:23:54 +00:00

Release 0.7.0 #328

littlefox referenced this issue from a commit

2026-10-24 13:23:56 +00:00

Release 0.7.0