diff --git a/client/Configuration.cs b/client/Configuration.cs
index 153fabd..db2c6d4 100644
--- a/client/Configuration.cs
+++ b/client/Configuration.cs
@@ -11,4 +11,5 @@ public class Configuration : IPluginConfiguration {
     public bool DisableTrials = true;
     public bool DisableDeepDungeon = true;
     public bool RemoveGlow = true;
+    public bool AutoViewer;
 }
diff --git a/client/Ui/MainWindowTabs/Settings.cs b/client/Ui/MainWindowTabs/Settings.cs
index c1ace84..99579a6 100644
--- a/client/Ui/MainWindowTabs/Settings.cs
+++ b/client/Ui/MainWindowTabs/Settings.cs
@@ -14,12 +14,15 @@ internal class Settings : ITab {
     }
 
     public void Draw() {
+        ImGui.PushTextWrapPos();
+
         var anyChanged = false;
         var vfx = false;
 
         anyChanged |= vfx |= ImGui.Checkbox("Disable in trials", ref this.Plugin.Config.DisableTrials);
         anyChanged |= vfx |= ImGui.Checkbox("Disable in Deep Dungeons", ref this.Plugin.Config.DisableDeepDungeon);
         anyChanged |= vfx |= ImGui.Checkbox("Remove glow effect from signs", ref this.Plugin.Config.RemoveGlow);
+        anyChanged |= ImGui.Checkbox("Open the viewer automatically when near a sign", ref this.Plugin.Config.AutoViewer);
 
         if (anyChanged) {
             this.Plugin.SaveConfig();
@@ -31,6 +34,8 @@ internal class Settings : ITab {
         }
 
         this.ExtraCodeInput();
+
+        ImGui.PopTextWrapPos();
     }
 
     private void ExtraCodeInput() {
diff --git a/client/Ui/Viewer.cs b/client/Ui/Viewer.cs
index ecdc0ca..11e225d 100644
--- a/client/Ui/Viewer.cs
+++ b/client/Ui/Viewer.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ internal class Viewer {
             .OrderBy(msg => msg.Id)
             .ToList();
         if (nearby.Count == 0) {
+            if (this.Plugin.Config.AutoViewer) {
+                this.Visible = false;
+            }
+
             ImGui.TextUnformatted("No nearby messages");
             goto End;
         }
diff --git a/client/Ui/ViewerButton.cs b/client/Ui/ViewerButton.cs
index 3b1dff7..9df7d4b 100644
--- a/client/Ui/ViewerButton.cs
+++ b/client/Ui/ViewerButton.cs
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ internal class ViewerButton {
             return;
         }
 
+        if (this.Plugin.Config.AutoViewer) {
+            this.Plugin.Ui.Viewer.Visible = true;
+            return;
+        }
+
         ImGui.SetNextWindowBgAlpha(0.5f);
         if (!ImGui.Begin("##ogt-viewer-button", ImGuiWindowFlags.NoTitleBar | ImGuiWindowFlags.AlwaysAutoResize)) {
             ImGui.End();
diff --git a/server/src/message.rs b/server/src/message.rs
index fcd8175..0939c2a 100644
--- a/server/src/message.rs
+++ b/server/src/message.rs
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ pub struct RetrievedMessage {
     pub user_vote: i64,
     #[serde(skip)]
     pub created: NaiveDateTime,
+    #[serde(skip)]
+    pub user: String,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize)]
diff --git a/server/src/web/get_location.rs b/server/src/web/get_location.rs
index ca28ed8..91d3fb8 100644
--- a/server/src/web/get_location.rs
+++ b/server/src/web/get_location.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
@@ -16,15 +15,13 @@ pub fn get_location(state: Arc<State>) -> BoxedFilter<(impl Reply, )> {
         .and(warp::path("messages"))
         .and(warp::path::param())
         .and(warp::path::end())
-        .and(warp::query::<HashMap<String, String>>())
         .and(super::get_id(Arc::clone(&state)))
-        .and_then(move |location: u32, query: HashMap<String, String>, (id, _)| logic(Arc::clone(&state), id, location, query))
+        .and_then(move |location: u32, (id, _)| logic(Arc::clone(&state), id, location))
         .boxed()
 }
 
-async fn logic(state: Arc<State>, id: i64, location: u32, query: HashMap<String, String>) -> Result<impl Reply, Rejection> {
+async fn logic(state: Arc<State>, id: i64, location: u32) -> Result<impl Reply, Rejection> {
     // TODO: when we're not just returning all results, make sure own messages are always present
-    let filter = query.contains_key("filter");
     let location = location as i64;
     let mut messages = sqlx::query_as!(
         RetrievedMessage,
@@ -39,7 +36,8 @@ async fn logic(state: Arc<State>, id: i64, location: u32, query: HashMap<String,
                    coalesce(sum(v.vote between 0 and 1), 0)  as positive_votes,
                    coalesce(sum(v.vote between -1 and 0), 0) as negative_votes,
                    v2.vote                                   as user_vote,
-                   m.created
+                   m.created,
+                   m.user
             from messages m
                      left join votes v on m.id = v.message
                      left join votes v2 on m.id = v2.message and v2.user = ?
@@ -53,13 +51,14 @@ async fn logic(state: Arc<State>, id: i64, location: u32, query: HashMap<String,
         .context("could not get messages from database")
         .map_err(AnyhowRejection)
         .map_err(warp::reject::custom)?;
-    if filter {
-        filter_messages(&mut messages);
-    }
+    filter_messages(&mut messages, id);
     Ok(warp::reply::json(&messages))
 }
 
-fn filter_messages(messages: &mut Vec<RetrievedMessage>) {
+fn filter_messages(messages: &mut Vec<RetrievedMessage>, id: i64) {
+    // FIXME: make a migration to fix this, smh I'm dumb
+    let id_str = id.to_string();
+
     // just count nearby messages. this is O(n^2) but alternatives are hard
     let mut ids = Vec::with_capacity(messages.len());
     for a in messages.iter() {
@@ -81,9 +80,7 @@ fn filter_messages(messages: &mut Vec<RetrievedMessage>) {
             nearby += 1;
         }
 
-        println!("{} ({} nearby)", a.id, nearby);
-
-        if nearby <= 2 {
+        if a.user == id_str || nearby <= 2 {
             // always include groups of three or fewer
             ids.push(a.id.clone());
             continue;
@@ -91,8 +88,6 @@ fn filter_messages(messages: &mut Vec<RetrievedMessage>) {
 
         let score = (a.positive_votes - a.negative_votes).max(0);
         let time_since_creation = Utc::now().naive_utc().signed_duration_since(a.created) - Duration::weeks(score as i64);
-        println!("  time_since_creation: {}", Utc::now().naive_utc().signed_duration_since(a.created));
-        println!("  modified: {}", time_since_creation);
         if time_since_creation > Duration::weeks(1) {
             continue;
         }
@@ -114,7 +109,6 @@ fn filter_messages(messages: &mut Vec<RetrievedMessage>) {
             numerator += rounded.max(nearby / 2);
         }
 
-        println!("  chance: {}/{}", numerator, nearby * 2);
         if rand::thread_rng().gen_ratio(numerator.min(nearby), nearby * 2) {
             ids.push(a.id.clone());
         }