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Life & fun · August 13, 2012

HackerNews reimagined without tables or center elements.

A protip by sergiotapia about css, html, and hackernews.

HackerNews reimagined without tables or center elements. launched on August 13, 2012 with 165 votes, #13 of 411 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 14 years on.

Visit coderwall.com ↗Alternativestop 3% of August 2012

In plain words

This is a redesigned version of Hacker News that replaces outdated HTML table layouts and center tags with modern CSS styling. Created by a developer frustrated with the site's reliance on deprecated web constructs, it demonstrates how the popular developer community site could be rebuilt using current web standards. The project serves as both a functional alternative and a critique of legacy web design practices still in use on high-profile tech platforms.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Last week I posted a thread on HackerNews asking why the website used tables for layout. I even noticed they were using the <center> tag. It seemed so strange to me that a website that is so cutting edge for developers would use web constructs plucked right out of a geocities website. All HN needed now was some spinning skull GIF's and it was Angelfire City. This morning was a slow day at work so instead of walking around the office I decided to rewrite the Hacker News website using HTML and CSS - the right way. (Or so I tried! - If I screwed up let me know!) The reason behind this was a commenter in the original HN thread that asked what the point was behind not using tables. "Tables just…from coderwall.com

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