Power Rankings

[OZoner]

http://t.co/107Cm3Yr

[zen]

can we actually post something here in this forum instead of offlinking to other sites with masked URLs?

[LZIp]

can we actually post something here in this forum instead of offlinking to other sites with masked URLs?

What's the problem with people posting links of something submitted on their website?

[zippy5]

Any kitties want to come and complain in this thread too?

[OZoner]

can we actually post something here in this forum instead of offlinking to other sites with masked URLs?

http://www.macreportonline.com/1/post/2013...ooms-large.html

Better?

[The Hip Zip]

Like these reports and find it not too cumbersome to click on the link.

Western has played very well since getting spanked here. I can't find much to dispute.

[Dave in Green]

Yes, thanks. I like that better because I like to see the actual site address I'm going to before clicking on links.

[OZoner]

Yes, thanks. I like that better because I like to see the actual site address I'm going to before clicking on links.

Noted.

[zippy5]

You can hover over links like that and you'll see the target in the bottom of your browser. But on the phone, I'm not sure if there's a way.

[Zipmeister]

You can hover over links like that and you'll see the target in the bottom of your browser. But on the phone, I'm not sure if there's a way.

It doesn't work that way on my laptop either. When I place the cursor over a link, whatever is under the cursor is exactly what shows up at the bottom of the screen.

Unlikely, but scarey thought... What's to prevent someone from providing a link to a destructive site, but using the technology on this board to make the site appear innocuous?

[Dave in Green]

Try hovering your cursor over the link in the first post and tell me what site you'd be going to. As Wikipedia describes: "TinyURL is a URL shortening service, a web service that provides short aliases for redirection of long URLs." If you get redirected to a mystery location, you may not end up where you want to go.

[Zip Watcher]

I think it's safe to say everyone here recognizes JSF aka OZoner and his long time posting, including these power ranks.

Also, there's protections to prevent new users from posting spam links .. etc.

No need to hand wring about how he posts his links.

[zen]

Noted.

This isn't my site, but on my forums, noobs who post links to pull people offsite are perma-banned. Regs who do it are warned for the first couple of offenses, particularly if they just post a link and don't actually create a topic in their post. A masked link is even more egregious. Apparently this site has different rules. I'm not on staff here and have no intention of falsifying a sense of authority. I'm just voicing this as a pet-peeve. Why did you go through the trouble to mask the URL?

[Dave in Green]

@Zip Watcher, I don't distrust JSF, who's been a longtime contributor here. I distrust masked links in general, and there's really no need for them when there's an unmasked Insert Link feature right here on the forum. I agree with @zen that masked links should be discouraged.

@zen, I can understand penalizing a forum member for posting unrelated, unwanted links, i.e. spam. But I don't understand the purpose of discouraging the posting of on-topic links of interest to many forum members. Copyright law does not allow for data on one website to be freely copied and posted in full on another website. The best way to share this data with those who might find it of interest is to post a link. I'm glad that ZN.o encourages this.

[zen]

You're right Dave. And it did eventually start a discussion, despite my angsty off-topic ranting.

I'll just try to bow out of here with as much grace as I can salvage after just suggesting, perhaps, throwing up a little blurb/excerpt/teaser from the actual article instead of just a link. I dunno

[Dave in Green]

@zen, I don't see anything at all out of place with your suggestion to include a quote or two from an article along with the link. Many posters already do that.

[OZoner]

This isn't my site, but on my forums, noobs who post links to pull people offsite are perma-banned. Regs who do it are warned for the first couple of offenses, particularly if they just post a link and don't actually create a topic in their post. A masked link is even more egregious. Apparently this site has different rules. I'm not on staff here and have no intention of falsifying a sense of authority. I'm just voicing this as a pet-peeve. Why did you go through the trouble to mask the URL?

I post the article on Twitter first, and Twitter auto-shortens the link. I just copy that shorter link to post in forums.

[Dave in Green]

@JSF, looking at the shortened link more closely, I see now that it's a Twitter-generated link and not a masked link. Here's what Twitter has to say: "Twitter uses the t.co domain as part of a service to protect users from harmful activity ....." With that in mind, I don't have the concern I would about masked links that could lead to riskier sites. Sorry about the false alarm.