Link With Care!

[admin]

Did you know... to include links in posts, you can use the "Insert Link" button in the message editor (), or manually type the [URL] tags:

Check out [URL=http://www.google.com]my favorite search engine[/URL].

These options are usually preferrable to posting the "naked" URL in your message.

Also, a new item has been added to the list of helpful tips included in the HawaiiThreads.com FAQ on using links in posts:

The beauty of an online conversation is that you can easily direct readers to more information while crafting your own message. By linking to other sites, you can back up an assertion you make in a debate, or let people see for themselves what got you thinking.

But when directing people to other sites, please include some information about the destination. Instead of posting just a URL, or a message with a generic hyperlink like "click here," include some context, like, "Check out this great Hawaii message board."

Please post links to web pages rather than directly to multimedia content (i.e. Flash, video or audio files), and include a warning if the site includes multimedia content or content that may be considered objectionable or inappropriate for children or workplace viewing.

Finally, please don't use tools or tricks to obscure the real destination of your link (like TinyURL).

I know TinyURL is popular, in part because some URLs can be extraordinarily long. But again, with the "Insert Link" button or the manual tag, you can create a link without showing the full URL yet still allow people reading your message to determine the destination before clicking it.

[helen]

Re: Link With Care!

From the thread titled Playing at the Doris Duke Theater in the Big Picture subforum:

Performance: Classical Guitar Virtuo...s Barbosa-Lima

The problem with the link in the quote above is that the actual text of the URL is not a valid. Instead of starting with http:// it starts with performance:. Considering the text of the URL and the description text are the same it would tend to suggest you pasted that text twice. I wouldn't fret about that issue, I even did it for the link above in the text of Playing at The Doris Duke Theater, until I caught it.

Not sure why the link didn't work above^
http://www.honoluluacademy.org/event...s_barbosa_lima

Even through the above URL is valid it doesn't convey any useful information since the text description is truncated and this is because the text of the URL and the description is the same text. I think this would have been the better one to use:

Performance: Classical Guitar Virtuoso Carlos Barbosa-Lima

[mel]

Re: Link With Care!

Also don't link to sites that have PAYWALLS since a lot of people who don't pay can't view them.

[anapuni808]

Re: Link With Care!

Thanks for mentioning that, Mel. It's really irritating to read about something and want to follow up but you can't open the page - such as Star Advertiser articles.

[scrivener]

Re: Link With Care!

Thanks for mentioning that, Mel. It's really irritating to read about something and want to follow up but you can't open the page - such as Star Advertiser articles.

I've been guilty of this. Not here, but elsewhere. I don't think I've done it lately, but when the Star-Ad first went to a pay structure, it was easy not to remember that not everyone had the access I had. From a subscriber's standpoint, the experience looks mostly the same. I think a little bit of forbearance can be allowed these errors once or twice.

On the other hand, if it's worth discussing, it's worth linking. And since we are talking about Honolulu's only local daily, there are people here who subscribe who might not have seen what's being linked to. Should we completely disallow links to the Star-Ad just because not everyone has access?

People link all the time to YouTube videos when not everyone has the bandwidth to support that format. We don't ban links to YouTube.

[Amati]

Re: Link With Care!

This is a good time for me to ask how to change a "link" to show descriptive wording instead of the actual link when it appears in the thread. I can get the link in OK, such as "http://www.linkxyz". But, how do I change it when I am posting it, so that instead of showing the actual link, I can instead have it show wording such as "Info on XYZ"?

Also, regarding anapuni808's notation about the SB links, I know that as long as the SB article is part of "breaking news", the link will work for everyone. But as soon as the article goes into the "regular" articles, then you need to be a paid subscriber to view it.

[anapuni808]

Re: Link With Care!

I've been guilty of this. Not here, but elsewhere. I don't think I've done it lately, but when the Star-Ad first went to a pay structure, it was easy not to remember that not everyone had the access I had. From a subscriber's standpoint, the experience looks mostly the same. I think a little bit of forbearance can be allowed these errors once or twice.

On the other hand, if it's worth discussing, it's worth linking. And since we are talking about Honolulu's only local daily, there are people here who subscribe who might not have seen what's being linked to. Should we completely disallow links to the Star-Ad just because not everyone has access?

People link all the time to YouTube videos when not everyone has the bandwidth to support that format. We don't ban links to YouTube.

Scrivener - Mel's post was about links to sites with "paywalls". I merely agreed with him, using Star-Advertiser as an example of one such "paywall".

[LikaNui]

Re: Link With Care!

This is a good time for me to ask how to change a "link" to show descriptive wording instead of the actual link when it appears in the thread. I can get the link in OK, such as "http://www.linkxyz". But, how do I change it when I am posting it, so that instead of showing the actual link, I can instead have it show wording such as "Info on XYZ"?

Pretty easy, actually. For example, a link to this page we're on now:

(url=http://hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=8066)Info On XYZ(/url) would actually look like this: Info On XYZ.

Except instead of the ( and the ) you'd use the [ and the ]. I couldn't use them here, because then you wouldn't have seen how to do it.
Make sense? Give it a try here. And you can look at your Preview Post to make sure it worked for you, then use the Submit Reply.

[tutusue]

Re: Link With Care!

Amati...check admin's first post above.
Scriv...I think SA has a 99¢/24 hours feature. If a story is that important to me, I wouldn't mind paying. Like you, I don't think SA links should be frowned upon...and I don't have a subscription!

[helen]

Re: Link With Care!

For Amati's question: While editing a post you highlight the text you want and then click on the icon that has a globe with a link on the bottom (it is under the smiley icon). A pop-up window will appear and this is where you place the actual URL.

The gotchas:

1. For some browers may block pop-ups so you will have to allow it for this site
2. By default the text of http:// comes out in the popup so if you are copying and pasting URL you need to make sure there isn't an extra set of http:// in the target

On Mel's and Scrivener's point: It would nice if there is a warning that the URL in question points to a site that requires a someone to subscribe to it (either pay or free) or requires certain software on your computer to view it (be it PDF, QuickTime, Word, Excel, etc) or something that starts automaticly like sound or video when you get there.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Link With Care!

Also don't link to sites that have PAYWALLS since a lot of people who don't pay can't view them.

I hope we're not banning such links. Sure, link to a free site over a paid site as much as possible, but that's not always possible. Particularly when dealing with the local daily. Not linking forces people to try and find it on their own, only to discover that they still can't read it.

But it would be good form to warn if it's a paywell link.

[Amati]

Re: Link With Care!

Thanks Helen, it worked! I've successful tried with this listing:
How to give a description when linking.
I had been missing the step of writing the text and then highlighting it.

[mel]

Re: Link With Care!

I think a good policy to adopt when linking to paywall sites would be to add a warning next to the link you are linking to... kind of like this:

Here's a great article... check out this link (paywall)

or

Here's a great article... check out this link (subscribers only)

Pesonally I make it a policy never to link to a paywall site. But if you want to link put a warning like that one above to tell cheap people like myself that it is a paywall and generally we'll stay away.

Furthermore even if it is a well known paywall site like the StarAdvertiser, a word of warning is always a good idea because a lot of non-member people access this board, many probably not from Hawaii and they have no idea whether or not the site is pay or free.

No one likes to click on a link that they only find out after clicking that they have to pay to get access. To me that doesn't add value to the link.

BTW, in the 2 examples I listed above none of the links work... I only used the color option for illustrative purposes.