Idea For A Reddit Reader

[y0himba]

I am a fan of Reddit, but I am overwhelmed by it's horrible web interface. My idea: organize it in an interface similar to Windows File Explorer.  Reddit is the root, each sub-reddit is a folder in the tree, a directory, each post a file.

\Reddit
    \sub-reddit
        \post

The program (reader) could have a preview pane, like Explorer, for media such as photos and videos.  It would also have a "Favorites" or "Shortcuts" section for subscribed Reddits. Possibly even a download function, although that may be questionable.

Simple, clean, easy to navigate, with a nighttime theme of light text on a dark background, or just follow Windows.

I would sacrifice a beer to Dionysus for this.

[Renegade]

At a glance:

https://www.reddit.com/dev/api

It looks more than doable.

[y0himba]

Really?!  I am honestly excited about this.  "Reddit Explorer". Tree view in the left frame, article in the right frame, media from the post in the bottom right frame, like Windows Explorer. 

[mouser]

This is intriguing.. But are there existing Reddit reading clients out there already? That would be the first thing to look into.  I'm curious to know the answer.

[y0himba]

Three are plenty, but not with this interface. My feeling is that with a familiar Windows Explorer interface it will be easier to read Reddit in a new way.

There is nothing like this as far as Reddit readers go, that I have found.  This would be unique, and I think popular.

[Renegade]

y0himba... I hate you. This really is some of the kind of stuff that I **REALLY** love doing... and I have no time. 

(I don't really hate you. Cheer up! )

Anyways... for anyone that does have time, it's not that hard. I did a very quick mockup here:

[attachurl=#]

It's garbage, but it populates a treeview with all the subscribed subs and the top 21 posts (threads). More could be added, but it would be better to start over. The API has a few wrappers. I used the C# one, and it's pretty easy.

More API wrappers here:

https://github.com/reddit/reddit/wiki/API-Wrappers

The 2 inputs are for the username and password. After clicking login, it populates, though it takes a while -- no threading or anything sane in there.

A basic reader would take less than a week to get done with a few minor bells, whistles, and polish.

[y0himba]

  All my hopes and dreams, shattered.  Hopefully someone can take up the cause! Thanks for looking at it Renegade, I appreciate the time.

P.S. Will it help if I beg?  Send you photos of my cats?

[Renegade]

Sigh... Nothing will help. We're in the long process of moving across continents and getting set up. I still haven't had enough time to do any serious searching for a vehicle, which is a pre-requisite to looking for a place to live. Thank god for family here!

[y0himba]

Good luck to you then! I would just about give you my minivan for this.  Reddit is the best source of information for one of the games I play.

Anyone want to take up the cause?  Maybe show me what to do with the attached file?

[TaoPhoenix]

I'm no programmer but just adding a noisy voice for voting the project cool!

[y0himba]

Yeah! 

[wraith808]

LOL!  I was trying to work on it just to see how interesting it was... and was getting errors.  Accessing stupid things.

Then I realized reddit has gone private for many boards.  What a strange coincidence.

[y0himba]

Isn't that in protest of a mod getting fired?  I am hoping it is only temporary.

[wraith808]

Isn't that in protest of a mod getting fired?  I am hoping it is only temporary.

Yeah... but who knows how long it will go on?  Especially since the story seems more muddled than they made it.

[Renegade]

Reddit is one of the birthplaces of buttburt.