

HN Guideline Reminder: Please remove numbers from post titles - sant0sk1

Just a gentle reminder that we are encouraged to remove non-meaningful numbers from post titles before submission. I thought this reminder was necessary because of a decent-size group of front-page submissions including top [X] lists, see:<p>http://skitch.com/sant0sk1/bssdm/hn-lists<p>From the guidelines page:<p>'If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective, we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."'
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wastedbrains
I disagree if the title of the article being linked to contains numbers so
should the post title. It is more misleading and awkward to click the link and
then do a double take when the article names don't match.

I think this is a bad guideline.

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frossie
Eh? Submitters routinely submit a different title than the original article
(eg. to give more context) - if that makes you do a double take, you must be
doing it a lot. I don't even notice.

The N in "N ways to" is usually noise, so I can see why the guideline is
there.

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mbrubeck
This has always been my favorite of HN's editorial conventions. It's
interesting how the tone changes with the tiny alteration from e.g. _20 Common
Mistakes Java Developers Make_ to just _Common Mistakes Java Developers Make_.

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greyman
Why? It seems very similar to me...

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anigbrowl
Numbered lists imply completeness, omniscience etc. - it's a literary gimmick,
both in terms of attracting the lazy reader and in giving the writer a
convenient structure they can fill out easily, with the last few points
usually being fluff. A famous example is the '7 habits of highly effective
people' followed by 'the 8th habit' (strangely, not titled 'oh wait, I forgot
one').

Of course, you could argue that leaving the numbers in informs HN readers
about which articles are mere gimmickry rather than carefully written essays.

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catone
I disagree with this. At least from my own perspective, numbered list imply
one thing: that I can expect a specific number of items.

In fact, in the given example, the non-numbered version of the title sounds
like it should be more authoritative. It goes from an interpretation of, "a
list of 20 common mistakes," to one of, "a list of /the/ common mistakes."
I.e., to me at least, the second option has an implication of being a list of
all the common mistakes, while the former implies that this while this is a
list of 20 mistakes, there could be more.

It is the adjective ("amazing," "killer," "must-have," etc.) present in the
title and NOT the number that conveys authority, completeness, etc.

Perhaps I am the exception, though, and not the rule.

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jimrandomh
Numbers in the title of a blog post reliably indicate bad writing, because
they indicate that the writer used a template rather than original thought. I
would prefer not to see "N ways to X" articles on HN at all.

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thingie
Important difference among "Some N of something" and "Somethings" is that I
can see, without looking at the link, that it's a "Some N of something" type
article, which are mostly crap (I don't know, but I didn't see any interesting
article titled "N of something" yet), so it saves time, a little.

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mgenzel
This makes no sense. You should instill good writing, yes, but good linking
should respect the original title. I come across the same articles from
different sources; it would be nice to be able to quickly understand that it's
the same article (because of the identical title).

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yycom
If only churnalists did the same thing.

I've seen it done a staggering 100 million times.

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philelly
i love rules

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agraphmaul
I only like some rules.

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vaksel
do we also need to do a secret handshake when posting?

