Suggestion Can We Add Links to Quote Titles?

[NeoDevin]

Is it possible that we could include custom links in the quote titles?

For example, if I quote a post from this forum, it shows up like this:

...

With a little arrow link to where it was quoted from. Is it possible to generalize this for any links, so that if I quote from wikipedia:

...

I could have a little arrow (maybe a different colour to indicate off-site link?) pointing to the article/page I was quoting?

 

[Gokul43201]

Nice idea!

 

[Evo]

I can see the reason for having a link back to a post that was quoted, because without that link you would have to manually search for the original post, but what would be the purpose of a link to a link?

 

[mgb_phys]

At the moment there is no way to show a quote is from a book/website or other source rather than a quote of another poster.

 

[Defennder]

Just to make it more convenient to access the externally linked article with a single click instead of having to copy and paste the URL in a new window.

 

[NeoDevin]

I can see the reason for having a link back to a post that was quoted, because without that link you would have to manually search for the original post, but what would be the purpose of a link to a link?

Because if I'm quoting something from another site, the link allows people to see it in context. Of course, currently you can just post the link, and then the quotation, I just think my suggestion would make it look a little nicer.

 

[Evo]

Just to make it more convenient to access the externally linked article with a single click instead of having to copy and paste the URL in a new window.

If a link is properly posted, you just click on it. One click.

two examples

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=130401"

or

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=130401

I don't see what the use of a link to a link would be?

 

[Evo]

Because if I'm quoting something from another site, the link allows people to see it in context. Of course, currently you can just post the link, and then the quotation, I just think my suggestion would make it look a little nicer.

Are you suggesting that the entire web page be automatically quoted and then you have to edit it to reduce it? Because that is how that feature works here, it quotes the entire post, and you edit it down.

This could be a serious copyright problem unless each quoted site is fixed to conform to copyright laws.

It's a nice idea but I can see the problems it would create.

 

[Defennder]

Um, I don't know what you mean by "a link to a link". He was proposing to enable the URL tag for the quote titles. Currently they don't appear to work.

 

[Evo]

Um, I don't know what you mean by "a link to a link". He was proposing to enable the URL tag for the quote titles. Currently they don't appear to work.

I clarified in the post just before your response, I didn't realize what he was saying at first. He is suggesting (from what I understand) to have the page he wants to link to automatically quoted with an arrow to link back to the page. Just like your post I have quoted above. That is a nice idea, but not realistic due to copyright laws, it would require manual editing.

 

[LowlyPion]

I don't see that it saves any effort in posting. Currently quotes to external sites are usually provided or referenced for others to view if desired. This isn't really a new copyright issue, any more than it is now.

But it would clean up the display of posts by removing the visible URL. There would be the little carrot that avid readers could go back to instead of the URL under the quote or wherever it might be.

Currently people can already encode a URL as a Text Tag, so encoding it within a Quote Tag isn't all that much of a stretch.

Speaking for myself though, I'll probably just dump the URL directly in the text so people can evaluate for themselves the site and whether they have an interest in going there without having to cursor over it. (Plus from my pov it's just easier.)

 

[NeoDevin]

I clarified in the post just before your response, I didn't realize what he was saying at first. He is suggesting (from what I understand) to have the page he wants to link to automatically quoted with an arrow to link back to the page. Just like your post I have quoted above. That is a nice idea, but not realistic due to copyright laws, it would require manual editing.

The only thing I'm suggesting is to add another argument to the QUOTE environment, which let's you add a URL. ie. You still copy/paste the sections you want to quote, just as you do now.

 

[Gokul43201]

I don't see what the use of a link to a link would be?

It's purely aesthetic.

 

[NeoDevin]

It's purely aesthetic.

Exactly.

Instead of posting the link and then the quote, like this:

www.wikipedia.org

...

We would be able to include the link as an argument to the QUOTE tags, and have it show up as a little arrow.

 

[Redbelly98]

He is suggesting (from what I understand) to have the page he wants to link to automatically quoted with an arrow to link back to the page. Just like your post I have quoted above. That is a nice idea, but not realistic due to copyright laws, it would require manual editing.

He's not suggesting the part about automatically quoting the page, he's just suggesting the part about including the link to the page. The PF poster would still have to copy-and-paste the relevant text into the quote box, as is done now, so there shouldn't be any copyright issues. (See post #14)

As Gokul said, it's purely aesthetic.

 

[NeoDevin]

Any word from Greg or Warren if something like this is feasible?

 

[Moonbear]

The only thing I'm suggesting is to add another argument to the QUOTE environment, which let's you add a URL. ie. You still copy/paste the sections you want to quote, just as you do now.

I like the idea. It would make it easier to attribute the source of a quote if the link was in the quote heading rather than stuck somewhere after the quoted text. I wouldn't care if it was really a link-back arrow thing, but even if the text itself was the link, like you'd embed a link anywhere else.