Modify like functionality on web to stop redirect to new page

[kesha-shah]

Summary

On web, when a user likes any post, it instantly redirects to a new post which is
confusing - I'm just liking a post but haven't finished reading it. Also, the same
post can be liked again and again since there's no client-side storage. I verified
that the app already handles this correctly (likes without navigating away).

Changes

1. From FE, now calls /api/like (existing JSON endpoint) instead of form-submitting
   to /like, so it returns JSON without a page redirect
2. Updated FE code to handle the JSON response and show the increased like count on
   the button in-place
3. Disabled users from liking the same post again by storing likes in localStorage
4. Added a daily sweep to remove localStorage entries older than 7 days, so
   localStorage doesn't accumulate over time

Before

pre-like-fix.mp4

After

post-like-fix.mp4

Test plan

• Click an emoji on a post — page should NOT redirect; count should increment
• Reload the page — the same emoji button should appear dimmed/disabled
• Test with localStorage unavailable (private browsing) — liking should still work

[kesha-shah]

Hi @libhide @vprelovac Thanks for making smallweb App!!

Apart from this fix for web, I also have some suggestions for the smallweb app as well, could you tell me what would be the right place to discuss those? Are github Issues okay?
I would like to contribute on app as well but seems like the code is not open sourced for the same :)

[libhide]

Thanks @kesha-shah!

I think the like + navigate to next post UX was added intentially on web. Maybe @vprelovac can confirm? For the mobile app, that made less sense so we went a more native approach of allowing people to just like a post.

re: mobile contribution: For now, feel free to open issues on this repo and tag me. That said, I would like to open source the Small Web mobile app soon. It is something we are aligning on internally at the moment.

[kesha-shah]

Thanks @libhide !
Yes from code it looks like redirection after like has been added intentionally in March functionality as well but somehow its super confusing for me and few other people I checked with. Because we just expect it to like the post and not redirect it.

Also if I use this on mobile web (not mobile app), once I like and it redirects, there is no way to go back or search also so I generally end up losing those blogs before reading fully.

[vprelovac]

On the web it is intentional as you caneasilly go back. And like serves as new post in this manner (this is why its so close to it). on mobile we should fix that going back works.

[kesha-shah]

Thanks @vprelovac for the response , yes I also checked that it has been introduced in march only but it was still confusing from user perspective as we generally do not expect to redirect anywhere while liking post.
In that case, is it possible to not like same post multiple times? Currently I can keep increasing like counts for the same post from same device.

Feel free to close the PR if you feel this is not an issue!

Thank you :D

[ktsirangelos]

thanks for the suggestion @kesha-shah

if we were implementing that, i'd do it a bit differently, for example like increases the counter and like again decreases it (for the same "person") instead of disabling the button (and there are more details to consider)

since we are not merging, the bug you mentioned "going back and liking the same post multiple times from the same device" is real, i'll create a ticket to investigate and possibly fix ;)