Help talk:Links
The table / floating example box don't render right on Mac Firefox 2.0, the table is too wide. Cosmetic only.
Also, if someone could explain how to do the "citation needed"? I can't seem to find it here.
What do the icons above the text box mean?
Does the signing comments thing work here? I guess I'll find out.
Msilverstar 04:26, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
Question
On the page it says: "Generally, it is best practice to link only the first instance of a word on a page."
How so? Does it put additional load on the server or the sw's capabilities to link multiple instances of the same word? If yes, then that makes sense (and I'll try to stick to it more).
But what I have been doing is often linking multiple instances of the same word. For instance, I tend to find it useful to, if it appears twice, link a reccer's name both in-text and in the actual ref-text, to make it easier for a reader to follow the link from either place, wherever they might encounter it first. Ditto for names of fanwork creators that appear multiple times on an awards page (or fandoms on a thematic Big Bang page) etc., etc. -- especially if instances of the name or thing are somewhat separated on the page.
Basically opting for redundancy to (make breadcrumb following easier and) let a reader know that "yes, there is an existing page for this person/thing, you could follow it to find out more about it!" instead of hoping that a page reader will, if they focus on part of a page where a fandom or person is not linked, actively look for a link to that thing somewhere else on the page to follow it. Is this notion of redundancy Ungood Thinking?
(Again, my notions may be outdated, from hanging out with wiki-thinkers a long time ago when the whole breadcrumb-model (wikis) vs. barely interlinked database model (like library catalogs) -- I forget what they called it but I think of it as a store-shelf model -- was being discussed and hearing (a lot) that wikis rise or fall on the strength/quantity of their interlinking of pages and that the goal was to keep people on the wiki as long as possible (which could also entice them into starting to contribute to it) by making it really easy for them to follow breadcrumbs and find interesting or useful pages from as many places as possible.) --Sk 03:41, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
- Yeah, I think our actual practice does not match this help page. I changed the "best practice" note. Basically, we don't want a sea of bold blue links all pointing to the same page because the page name is really common (e.g. fans).--æþel 04:10, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
- Thank you for the change! And yep, I agree that linking way many instances of common words on a page is too much! (I'm just always hoping to get more page readers to things like fan pages in hopes they'll discover a new writer/vidder/reviewer they might like, or it's one they know something about an could Add To The Page! *lifts tiny torch of hopefulness over the sea of Stubs*) --Sk 04:15, 4 February 2012 (UTC)
Question
Is there a policy on using short urls such as those provided by bit.ly or shorturl? I want to link to an external filtered list, but the url is horribly long and messy. Sahviere (talk) 08:07, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
- Hi Sahviere,
- The goal of Fanlore is to preserve information about fandom history and fannish communities. The use of URL shorteners can cause “link rot” should the companies, like for example bit.ly, discontinue their service. In this case, the shortened link no longer provides any reference to the original link and the documented source is lost.
- While a long URL can make a page confusing and messy, it is not visible to the reading users. It is only visible to editors using the “edit” tab to look at the source text. Therefore, while we appreciate that it might seem neater to use a link shortener, there are no real disadvantages to using the full, original URL but some very real risks from using a link shortening tool.
- Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any further questions either by replying here or by using our contact form.
- Best,
- aruna
- Fanlore Policy & Admin