Ask HN: "Marking" Paywalled Articles Posted on HN

by zahirbmirzaon 2/3/2026, 10:36 PMwith 6 comments

I do not like wasting two clicks on articles that sound interesting but I cannot read because they are behind a paywall.

What do my fellow HN users think? Should they be autoflagged or marked as paywalled?

Should contributors post a summary that they have themselves written, and add the link elsewhere in their post for those interested? I do think that a smidgen of extra effort would be valued greatly by all.

I know there is HN guidance on this, and I have previously and regretfully posted paywalled articles, but keen on seeing is anyone has any new or better ideas.

by tim-tdayon 2/3/2026, 11:57 PM

We should fork an open source browser and anytime a page bait and switches (providing anything but the article) the browser automatically loads the archive page instead.

I’d switch to that browser instantly.

by ramon156on 2/3/2026, 10:53 PM

Most of the time there's an archive.is link in the comments

by chrisjjon 2/3/2026, 11:24 PM

I don't like it either.

Manually marking would be error-prone.

I'd prefer a bot to spare readers the current labour of adding the archive.is copy (where available).

by DivingForGoldon 2/3/2026, 10:52 PM

I fully support your opinion.