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Message |
    
Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2809
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 1:18 am: |     |
I keep discovering and forgetting an easy way to include links in my posts. The JADE URL link feature is probably very easy for most people, but I have bad luck with such things.
I have gotten into the habit of responding to posts using MS Word (mainly because it gives me spellcheck and the window is larger).
I've noticed that if I copy a website URL into Word and hit enter, it becomes active. More importantly, it stays active when I cut and paste my post into the JADE reply box. If it is more than 1 line long, sometimes it doesn't look right, but it seems to work.
This may be something everyone already knows, but I thought I would mention it!
Thank you, Carl Sagan... |
Angakuk
flint knapper
Username: Angakuk
Post Number: 560
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 2:44 am: | |
I use the feature frequently and find it very convenient. Just use the format below, replacing | with \. The length of the address will not effect the appearance of the link, as only the description will show.
|newurl{copy the page's url address from the address bar here,type in a descriptive name here after the comma}
If this is not what you are talking about, ignore this post.
When quoting from the page I am linking to, I like to embed the newurl command in the quoteauthor command so that the header in the quote box is also a link to the source.
"WOW! Welcome to the group! I couldn't have replied better myself... I may regret this in the future, but 'Angakuk has a finely tuned sense of debative sarcasm'." Cavebear 7/22/05
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Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2810
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 6:40 am: | |
Now compare your process to that of simply typing it in Word and letting it do the whole thing for you. LOL!
No, actually, you didn't "get it" at all...
I was simply describing an easy way...
Thank you, Carl Sagan... |
Miisa
flint knapper
Username: Miisa
Post Number: 783
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 7:46 am: | |
Copy and paste link into posting window:
http://www.auelfans.ca/discus/messages/21/4199.htm l#POST20292
Writing the newurl thingy:
link
I would just bypass the whole Word phase, me. The downside is that it uses the same browser window instead of opening a new one, so I prefer the newurl. It is also prettier.
Creative-aggressive |
Annie
storyteller
Username: Annie
Post Number: 1881
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 11:47 am: | |
CB is just talking about the easiest way for people who have trouble with coding - and there are many such people, IME. We can put up with some raw links, if that will let more people contribute. 
What Angakuk describes is the correct board formatting, including the "advanced" option of embedding newurls in quoteauthor titles, that I wish more people would use. 
A further tip, Angakuk: if you start with an extra "\", you can type out board code without activating it - this lets you post the correct code to start with, without the need to "mistype" something and add instructions on what to replace it with.
example:
typed: \b{bold} - result: bold
typed: \\b{bold} - result: \b{bold}
Miisa pointed out the main downside of the raw links: they are opened in the same browser window. There is of course the option to return with "back" after reading the linked page, but if people already have a habit of dealing with newurl links (which, as the name suggests, open in a new window) and just closing them when they are done reading, and automatically do that with a raw link, they will lose the ability to return easily to the original window, which can be very annoying - particularly if they left a post half-typed there!
Typing in Word, NotePad, TextPad, etc. can be a good habit though, particularly for longer posts, since it provides a backup. These files are accidentally lost far less often than browser windows... but personally, I disable automatic link activation in Word and type out links in the board format (and other board code too).
Chess is the purest form of debate, unadulterated by a topic. |
Angakuk
flint knapper
Username: Angakuk
Post Number: 561
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, August 12, 2006 - 11:33 pm: | |
Thanks annie, I knew there had to be another way of doing that.
Composing the post in Word would add just another layer of process for me. Beside the fact that I don't much like using Word. But hey, whatever works.
"WOW! Welcome to the group! I couldn't have replied better myself... I may regret this in the future, but 'Angakuk has a finely tuned sense of debative sarcasm'." Cavebear 7/22/05
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Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2813
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 2:09 am: | |
You wouldn't be using Word to use the link, Angakuk. It would be transparent. There is no added "layer of process" for you. It's just easier for the provider of the link.
You see the link and click, you don't have to care how it was created.
I use Word to compose replies because it is easier and more feature-filled for me than the JADE reply box. That too is transparent to the reader. I like the Word spellcheck and the size of the screen to see my whole post. Those are advantages to me as the originator of the post and link.
Are you objecting to ease of originator posting-construction? Why would you care? I am merely mentioning a way for some people to do it easier…
Thank you, Carl Sagan... |
Cavebear
cave painter
Username: Cavebear
Post Number: 2814
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 2:13 am: | |
(Angakuk) "Just use the format below, replacing | with \. The length of the address will not effect the appearance of the link, as only the description will show. |newurl{copy the page's url address from the address bar here,type in a descriptive name here after the comma}"
Compare that to "copy, paste, and hit enter"… LOL!
Thank you, Carl Sagan... |
Annie
storyteller
Username: Annie
Post Number: 1883
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 9:08 pm: | |
CB, there are two lines in the Options section under any posting window, that say:
Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Both are checked by default. Unless deliberately unchecked, this means that any URL put into a post will be automatically activated by the board software itself, whether you have copied it from an active Word link, or directly from an address bar, or even just typed it manually. Activating a link in Word first isn't actually a necessary step for that, though I encourage typing posts in a word processor program anyway, for the extra backup that provides.
Angakuk: Composing the post in Word would add just another layer of process for me. Beside the fact that I don't much like using Word. But hey, whatever works.
Sure, it takes some more actions, but you may change your mind about the worth of going that extra length after losing a couple of long posts to various browser window quirks, if you won't learn from advice. 
Agree that MSWord isn't actually the best word processor program to use for text meant to be posted, though, as it has a nasty habit of making "helpful"  formatting decisions for you unasked. After globally disabling every automatic fancy formatting option I could find in mine, I have it simplified to about "halfway decent" now... 
But I would recommend WordPad or Notepad, which are installed in most coputers anyway. (For Windows PCs, look in Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories.) These are "simple" text editor programs, which work with .txt files, and mind their own business - which is just to let you type, edit, and save text files in them.
Cavebear: Are you objecting to ease of originator posting-construction? Why would you care? I am merely mentioning a way for some people to do it easier…
I think Angakuk wasn't objecting to anything, just mentioning his personal preferences for his own posts. But there is actually a reason "why people would care" how you post links, as I have explained in my previous post to this thread - links posted without the "newurl" format do not open in new browser windows. This means, in other words, that while your method is easier for the poster, it may cause annoyance to the reader. Vice versa, using the newurl function may be difficult to learn for some people, but it's more reader-friendly. Since usually more people read a given post than write it,  it follows that the preferable method, if at all possible, would be for the posters to learn to use newurl (and other board formatting). The use of raw links is accepted, but not particularly encouraged.
Chess is the purest form of debate, unadulterated by a topic. |
Angakuk
flint knapper
Username: Angakuk
Post Number: 562
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 12:42 am: | |
Annie,
I do make it a habit of copying longish posts to the clipboard before posting them to the board, just in case. In the event that I have to interrupt a long post, mid-composition, I copy and save it to Wordpad or Notepad. I have observed that posting from Word or Works does have a tendency to result in some funky formatting problems when copied to the board. I also have the preview and spellcheck functions selected on JADE. While JADE's spellcheck function doesn't offer suggestions it does have the virtue of alerting me to possible spelling errors. Making my own corrections from that point is pretty simple, and possibly a better learning tool than a more advanced spellchecker.
"WOW! Welcome to the group! I couldn't have replied better myself... I may regret this in the future, but 'Angakuk has a finely tuned sense of debative sarcasm'." Cavebear 7/22/05
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