"Expand all comments" button

Question

When there are lots of comments under a post, they're automatically collapsed, and if you want to find (Ctrl + F) a specific word/phrase on the page, you have to look for and click the show (n) more comments link under each post separately. Here's a feature request: add an Expand all comments button above all posts.

Answer 1

That would be a nice-to-have feature, but doubt it will be done. Most people are not going to use it.

So as alternative, in a page where you want to expand all the comments you can do that by following those steps:

1. Open the browser developer console. (e.g. in Chrome CTRL+SHIFT+I)

2. Copy and paste the following:

   function TriggerSingleLink(links, index) {
       if (index >= links.length) {
           console.log("All done.");
           return;
       }
       var oLink = links[index];
       oLink.trigger('click');
       window.setTimeout(function() {
           TriggerSingleLink(links, index + 1)
       }, 500);
   }
   var links = [];
   $('.js-show-link').each(function() {
       var oLink = $(this);
       if ($.trim(oLink.text()).length > 0)
           links.push(oLink);
   });
   if (links.length > 0) {
       console.log("Expanding " + links.length + " link" + ((links.length > 1) ? "s" : "") +"...");
       TriggerSingleLink(links, 0);
   } else {
       console.log("No valid expand links found.");
   }
   

3. Press ENTER. All comments will be expanded in all posts.

You can then close the console, e.g. F12 in Chrome.

Answer 2

Create a bookmarklet for @ShadowWizard's handy JavaScript snippet:

Chrome:

1. Bookmarks > Bookmark Manager
2. Click the More (vertical ellipsis) icon then "Add new bookmark"
3. Enter a name for the bookmarklet (e.g., "Expand All") and paste this into the URL field: javascript:$('.js-show-link').trigger('click');

Firefox:

1. Right click Bookmarks Bar > New Bookmark...
2. Enter a name for the bookmarklet and paste this into the URL Location field: javascript:(function(){$('.js-show-link').trigger('click');})();

Safari:

1. Cmd + D
2. Enter a name for the bookmarklet and click Add
3. Right click the bookmark > Edit Address...
4. Replace the existing location with javascript:$('.js-show-link').trigger('click');