> Forum websites mostly deliver non-interactive content

I'd say that "Endless Scroll" is a good example of something that is... well maybe not interactive but still breaks the "just an HTML document" page metaphor that plays nice with such things.

Now, personally I find the UI compromises it takes to make endless scrolling happen are abhorrent (like not being able to ctrl-F or export the page content). But other people obviously like them.

Is that the kind of thing you'd be giving up as you move to a platform like HTMX?

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jimberlage 39 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I first learned about endless scroll in a Ruby on Rails meetup, where the presenter was showing how to craft snippets of HTML with ERB and using a bit of JS to insert them below the existing entries. It's definitely possible.

Maintaining a code path with a snippet for each possible viewing experience, back when REST was all the rage, was a bit obnoxious though.

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geysersam an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Infinite scroll with htmx: https://htmx.org/examples/infinite-scroll/

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toddmorey an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Nope, HTMX could power endless scroll features if you want them

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egeozcan an hour ago | parent [-]

Yes but then you're doing HTMX not HTML and at that point why use something that's more flexible. I'm saying this as a person who still maintains a small application done with Intercooler.js and is perfectly happy with it.

If you want basic interactivity, HTMX is fine.

If you want something more (like sortable) I'd reach for lit instead of adding the Sortable.js dependency, something the HTMX docs suggest ( https://htmx.org/examples/sortable/ )

And yes there are also some scenarios that you want to control the whole routing and rendering stuff, then go for Solid, React, Angular, Vue, whatever.

There is no golden rule to all of this but finding out what makes sense is a fun exercise.

	▲	snorremd 3 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I don't necessarily disagree that there comes a point at which you are working more against HTMX than with it. I think rather than measuring that contention point between HTMX and SPA/MPA in terms of interactivity I'd measure it in the amount of client side state and logic needed. If you need a bunch of client side state and logic, for example a digital audio workstation, then a SPA would definitely be the appropriate pattern. But interactivity in largely content-driven sites doesn't necessarily preclude HTMX. You can do a bunch of fancy interactive stuff with HTMX and some minimal JS. Drag and drop sort is a tiny drop-in JS snippet. Skeleton loaders and spinners are supported out of the box in HTMX as is infinite scroll as others pointed out. I'm not saying Next.js, Solid Start, Remix, Nuxt or some other hybrid server and client rendered model doesn't work for forum software. Or that even client only rendering can be a valid approach if you accept the trade-offs (no curl-ability). People should use whatever they feel productive building with. But if your backend is already a non-JavaScript server rendered framework like Django then HTMX makes a ton of sense to add some interactivity.