Tell HN: Add ?share=1 to Quora URLs to display content without login - pearjuice
======
bdg
Websites are growing in their nuisance of DOM-level UI breaking. I'm
increasingly using the Inspector dev tool just to delete entire chunks of
elements on websites.

"Oh, you need me to click LIKE on your page? ... Deleted!"

"Oh, your news article is 25% of the width of the page and the other 75% is
navigation, ads, and other unrelated articles? Deleted!"

"Oh, you have the annoying chat box that hovers in the bottom corner and hides
things I actually wanted to see? Baleted!"

I keep telling myself that eventually I'll add a deletion option to the right-
click context menu but I never actually bother with it.

~~~
zsouthboy
I wrote a bookmarklet to delete stuff like this without opening the inspector:

    
    
      javascript:(function(){document.styleSheets[0].addRule(".highlighted_to_remove","background:red !important");var e=function(e){if(e.keyCode==27){i()}};document.addEventListener("keydown",e);var t=function(e){e.stopPropagation();this.classList.add("highlighted_to_remove");return false};var n=function(e){e.stopPropagation();this.classList.remove("highlighted_to_remove");return false};var r=function(e){this.parentNode.removeChild(this);i();e.preventDefault();e.stopPropagation();return false};var i=function(){var i=0;var s=document;while(s=document.body.getElementsByTagName("*").item(i++)){s.removeEventListener("mouseover",t);s.removeEventListener("mouseout",n);s.removeEventListener("click",r);s.classList.remove("highlighted_to_remove")}document.removeEventListener("keydown",e)};var s=0;var o=document;while(o=document.body.getElementsByTagName("*").item(s++)){o.addEventListener("mouseover",t);o.addEventListener("mouseout",n);o.addEventListener("click",r)}})()
    

Post about it:
[https://plus.google.com/114437281866675781856/posts/hkp9F9Wr...](https://plus.google.com/114437281866675781856/posts/hkp9F9Wr9tQ)

~~~
panzi
So did I!

    
    
        javascript:var cursor = document.body.style.cursor; document.body.style.cursor = "crosshair"; var killer = function (event) { document.body.style.cursor = cursor; if (event.target.parentNode) event.target.parentNode.removeChild(event.target); window.removeEventListener('click', killer, false); event.stopPropagation(); event.preventDefault(); }; window.addEventListener('click', killer, false);void(0)

~~~
panzi
Improved version:

    
    
        javascript:(function(){var e=document.body.style.cursor;document.body.style.cursor="crosshair";var t=document.createElement("div");var n="border:1px solid #3280FF;background-color:rgba(50,128,255,0.5);position:absolute;z-index:999999999999999;display:none;";var r="pointer-events:none;";var i="transition:width 60ms,height 60ms,left 60ms,top 60ms;";n+=r+"-webkit-"+r+"-moz-"+r;n+=i+"-webkit-"+i+"-moz-"+i;t.setAttribute("style",n);document.body.appendChild(t);var s=null;var o=function(e){var n=e.target;if(n!==s&&n.parentNode){var r=n.getBoundingClientRect();var i=document.documentElement;var o=document.body;var u=i.clientTop||o.clientTop||0;var a=i.clientLeft||o.clientLeft||0;var f=window.pageYOffset||i.scrollTop||o.scrollTop;var l=window.pageXOffset||i.scrollLeft||o.scrollLeft;var c=l-a+r.left-1;var h=f-u+r.top-1;t.style.display="block";t.style.left=c+"px";t.style.top=h+"px";t.style.width=r.width+"px";t.style.height=r.height+"px";s=n}};var u=function(n){document.body.style.cursor=e;if(n.target.parentNode)n.target.parentNode.removeChild(n.target);if(t.parentNode)t.parentNode.removeChild(t);window.removeEventListener("click",u,false);window.removeEventListener("mouseover",o,false);n.stopPropagation();n.preventDefault()};window.addEventListener("mouseover",o,false);window.addEventListener("click",u,false)})();void(0)
    

"Source": [http://jsfiddle.net/udzP3/](http://jsfiddle.net/udzP3/)

------
zizee
Or better yet, install personal blocklist and never see Quora results in your
search results again:

[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/personal-
blocklist...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/personal-blocklist-by-
goo/nolijncfnkgaikbjbdaogikpmpbdcdef)

~~~
thejosh
Google having this as a feature for a while was great, annoying that they
removed that....

~~~
Kerrick
Well, the aforementioned extension is by Google, they just took the
functionality out of Google Search and put it into an extension because it was
easier to maintain for the number of users that used it.

~~~
silverwind
And they "forgot" about Firefox users, it seems. I still hate Google for that
move.

------
ssafejava
Interestingly, they used to just blur their text with effect, and the actual
text was available in the source. I am not certain what prompted the change,
but they now screenshot the text, blur it, and put the screenshot (!) in the
page, preventing view source snooping.

Since that started, I stopped reading Quora entirely and I always avoid their
links. Occasionally there is some great content I can't find elsewhere, and I
won't sign up to a service that is so abusive. This is a great trick. Thanks.

~~~
patrickaljord
I've just tested and I don't see any image, the html is right there and just
clicking will make the lightbox go away. I never see it anyway cause I'm
signed in but I tried in incognito mode and it was fine. Not sure why there's
so much misinformation and hate on HN when it comes to quora.

~~~
andypants
It is not misinformation. Here is a screenshot of a quora page with source:
[http://i.imgur.com/x8Ic69y.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/x8Ic69y.jpg)

~~~
patrickaljord
Thanks, could you give me the URL of that page please?

~~~
andypants
[http://www.quora.com/Python-programming-language-1/Which-
is-...](http://www.quora.com/Python-programming-language-1/Which-is-better-
PHP-or-Python-Why)

~~~
patrickaljord
I just tried this url in incognito mode. When I click anywhere outside of the
light box, it goes away and I get the full text version. Am I being served
some special html for my IP? Doubt it.

Edit: just tried with a proxy IP and it worked too. Did you guys actually try
to click outside of the light box?

~~~
andypants
The first answer is text, the rest are images as you can see in the
screenshot.

Yes, I clicked outside of the light box.

I used a screen capture service online to see what the site looks like to a
third party: [http://i.imgur.com/UedyYQW.png](http://i.imgur.com/UedyYQW.png)

Since it's an automated service, it doesn't click away the lightbox, but if
you scroll down you will see the text in the background are all blurred
images.

------
seanp2k2
This is awesome; thanks for sharing.

I still feel that Quora should promptly go die in a fire, Google should de-
rank them, Stack Overflow should supersede them, and users should abandon them
for the good of the internet, but what do I know.

~~~
enscr
Why the hatred? Quora isn't that bad. They fixed what google/yahoo answers
couldn't

~~~
krelian
The tactics they are using basically mean they are dead. It's expertssexchange
all over again.

~~~
davej
Typo there.

The original domain had potential to be misread too though! :-)

~~~
codezero
It's not funny unless it's a malapropism.

------
ohwp
Same with vBulletin™ boards.

Change

    
    
      showthread.php?1234-title
    

to

    
    
      printhread.php?t=1234
    

and suddenly you can read all the content (except for attachments) without
login.

~~~
JonnieCache
Nice! Thanks for the tipoff.

Another good one is simply to load the google cache. Often these sites want to
turn up in search results, so they allow the googlebot to see the content, and
then show the user a paywall. Obviously this means the full content ends up in
the cache. This works for the Financial Times, and probably many other such
places.

~~~
AznHisoka
I wonder why Google doesn't do anything about it. It seems these big
companies/brands get to get away with anything.

~~~
kalleboo
Google claim to detect when people do that, but I guess it's not foolproof.

~~~
ohashi
It's why experts-exchange has all the content all the way at the bottom now if
you scroll half a mile down. They used to show users and google different
results until Google cracked down.

------
Piskvorrr
So, essentially, Quora is now expertsexchange, with page cloaking and whatnot?
Good to know. (I hope they won't remove this method now that it's
publicized...)

~~~
jaredsohn
It has been for over a year now.

[http://www.quora.com/Quora/Why-hasnt-Google-banned-Quora-
for...](http://www.quora.com/Quora/Why-hasnt-Google-banned-Quora-for-hiding-
answers-from-search-engine-visitors?share=1)

Edit: Link fixed :)

~~~
justincormack
Of course I tried clicking on Android and it refuses to show stuff without me
installing the app. Ban them Google!

~~~
acdha
The more people who report webspam, the more likely that is to happen…

------
yalogin
Rather than that I have trained myself to never click on Quora links. I never
understood why they became popular in the first place but then they went and
thought forcing people to register to view pages is somehow needed for success
on a Q&A site.

~~~
seiji
They became popular because of Founder Fame by Association.

They started requiring registration because they belong to The Cult Of
Registered User Metrics and they forgot the internet is 98% read and 2%
contribute.

------
logicallee
Jesus H. the lengths people go through not to register a throwaway astounds
me.

"How to get into a library without having to fill out a registration form"
where the library doesn't care what you write in it, including Dicky McDick.

Honestly. Just register under some kind of pseudo. The sense of entitlement
here... why do you think people write great answers there?

You're taking for granted the resource - which wouldn't exist if Quora didn't
create and encourage a platform - and want to not give back to an uttely inane
extent: even the idea of registering a pseudonym is abhorrent to you.

~~~
gergles
> why do you think people write great answers there?

Well, I certainly don't think it has anything to do with the fact that they
require registration. People write great content on 4chan.

> Jesus H. the lengths people go through not to register a throwaway astounds
> me.

Have you ever actually been to Quora? The registration modal doesn't even give
you the offer to register with a pseudonym that you so casually throw out. You
get smacked in the face when you go to the site with a demand to link to your
(real-name required) Google or Facebook accounts before you can so much as
_read_ 'their' precious content. To sign up with just an email address (that
you then have to verify, which automatically opts you in to literally over 30
different 'newsletters' and notifications and other bits of spam that you have
to manually opt out of individually). It certainly isn't just "type something
into this form to shut up" as you suggest.

~~~
MichaelGG
Dunno, I used some Mailinator-type email, signed up with some Quora-mocking
name, and it seems to work. I still think it's annoying, and I'm not sure how
Quora's a "business", but whatever.

------
mkolodny
This fact was reported on the official Quora blog back in February
([http://blog.quora.com/Making-Sharing-Better](http://blog.quora.com/Making-
Sharing-Better)).

> If you come across a Quora link anywhere and you want to read it without
> being asked to join Quora, you can add the text "?share=1" to the end of the
> URL.

------
benologist
Trafficking their site is supporting their site and practices.

------
colemanfoley
The hostility to Quora seems a little excessive. Is it so bad to just sign up,
then be able to use it from then on? I don't see why someone would actually be
offended by this kind of thing.

~~~
Piskvorrr
You are attacking a straw man argument. The problem lies not with
registration, but with purposeful degradation of content a la expertsexchange,
for the purpose of _forcing_ registration just for viewing. I'm _not_
interested in registering into every walled garden out there on the Internet,
just for the purpose of reading _a_ result of _a_ web search.

(All right all right, you can do the "but it's _technically_ not content
cloaking" quora astroturf dance now; but you know the saying: if it walks like
duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck...)

------
joeblau
I see that a lot of people aren't happy with Quora, why is that? I've only
asked one or two questions on there but the answers I've received have been
alright.

~~~
waxjar
\- They blur their answers for non-registered users. They're wasting my time
when I think I find what I'm looking for only to find a blurred image. Just
tell Google you don't want to be indexed if you don't want to share the
content.

\- You can't use their website without using your real name. They're really
persistent in this. A pseudonym won't do, they'll ask you to identify yourself
with a scan of your ID before they let you participate. It's ridiculous.

~~~
vdaniuk
That's not true. You can register an account with a fake name and you won't be
required to provide any ID.

~~~
waxjar
That's not my experience.

~~~
jaredsohn
I just moments ago successfully registered for Quora using my fake Facebook
account (which has a realistic sounding name.)

------
deletes
I couldn't before but now i can see all the answers without ?share=1. Did they
change their policy? I can't find any blurred answer anymore.

~~~
voidiac
If you have been on any answer with ?share=1 they're setting a cookie and you
get no blurred answers until you remove the cookie or it expires.

------
reginaldjcooper
or better yet just don't share links from Quora, let them die their shameless
death, and instead post answers to things that want to be and remain open like
Stack Overflow or your own blog.

------
cpeterso
I'd like a Firefox add-on that can rewrite URLs that "fix" sites. This Quora
fix is one. Another is "&pagewanted=1" on nytimes.com to force single-page
article view.

------
mofle
I wrote a Chrome [1] extension and UserScript [2] which does this
automagically:

[1]: [https://github.com/sindresorhus/quora-
unblocker](https://github.com/sindresorhus/quora-unblocker) [2]:
[https://github.com/sindresorhus/quora-unblocker-
userscript](https://github.com/sindresorhus/quora-unblocker-userscript)

------
nollidge
Alternatively, I could just not read Quora.

------
jentulman
This is handy and all but have the last 12 months not taught us all that this
sort of unauthorised access to systems can land you a period of state funded
accommodation?

~~~
wpietri
It is authorized. They have published this and encourage people to use it. The
main goal was, from what I could tell, to get popular writers to stop bitching
about their interface all the time.

------
slig
They're too big to fail, they have some very nice friends at Google or they're
some kind of big shot AdWords client.

Google should come out and do their thing banning them.

------
tech-no-logical
funny, I'm browsing with latest opera with some plugins (notably addblock plus
and disconnect) and I can read everything without logging in and without
adding the ?share=1

still not using that site though.

edit : my mistake. it seems that once you've used a ?share=1 link, that
changes some cookies so after that you seem to always see everything

------
Sagat
How did you figure this out?

------
bsullivan01
Great hack but unless absolutely necessary I'll just keep searching to find
the answer on other sites. Let them keep their info

------
hearty778
Most likely, they have to meet VC benchmarks on the number of registered
users. Sad what that site has become.

