recursive linking? July 16, 2008 5:27 AM Subscribe
Why do people keep linking back to the thread they're in?
I keep seeing links that are clearly meant to go to other sites, that actually just link to the thread where the comment is posted. See here for an example. I've seen it dozens of times, and I feel like I'm seeing it a lot more recently. Nobody ever mentions it or follows up with a corrected link. Is this just a common mistake or some sort of mod-trickery?
I keep seeing links that are clearly meant to go to other sites, that actually just link to the thread where the comment is posted. See here for an example. I've seen it dozens of times, and I feel like I'm seeing it a lot more recently. Nobody ever mentions it or follows up with a corrected link. Is this just a common mistake or some sort of mod-trickery?
I'd like to see some Mod Trickery, actually. Whatcha got, mods?
posted by cashman at 5:42 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by cashman at 5:42 AM on July 16, 2008
It's not that the comment system does anything to empty links. Empty links (like <a href = "">blah</a>) are interpreted by all browsers as a link to the current page. Makes sense, right? An anchor link that doesn't tell you where to go just leaves you where you are.
posted by gleuschk at 5:53 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by gleuschk at 5:53 AM on July 16, 2008
This thread sheds some light on the subject.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:57 AM on July 16, 2008 [16 favorites]
posted by burnmp3s at 5:57 AM on July 16, 2008 [16 favorites]
The links are references to other comments in the thread - usually used instead of, but sometimes thrillingly as well as, pull quotes.
posted by Jofus at 5:59 AM on July 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Jofus at 5:59 AM on July 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I've had it happen once or twice when I would swear on a stack of O'Reilly Missing Manual titles that I entered a proper URL. So much for perfection.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:10 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 6:10 AM on July 16, 2008
Who_Am_I: "Why do people keep linking back to the thread they're in?"
Sometimes it's just easier than scrolling up.
posted by Plutor at 6:25 AM on July 16, 2008
Sometimes it's just easier than scrolling up.
posted by Plutor at 6:25 AM on July 16, 2008
If you leave the trailing quote off your URL, in your A HREF tag, it silently changes it to a blank URL. It would be nice if it was smarter in fixing it, or at least warned you.
posted by smackfu at 6:25 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by smackfu at 6:25 AM on July 16, 2008
Why do people keep linking back to the thread they're in?
These are coded signals from a splinter sect of Creationists, the Legendary Jackwads, whose sworn goal is to bring about the destruction of Ab-sa-nural, the anicent Spider Women of No Morals, who built and currently maintain the WWW.
Do not be drawn into this war, you risk your second mouse button if you are.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:48 AM on July 16, 2008
These are coded signals from a splinter sect of Creationists, the Legendary Jackwads, whose sworn goal is to bring about the destruction of Ab-sa-nural, the anicent Spider Women of No Morals, who built and currently maintain the WWW.
Do not be drawn into this war, you risk your second mouse button if you are.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:48 AM on July 16, 2008
Nobody ever mentions it or follows up with a corrected link.
Well they/we do. I've done it a couple of times recently. It's usually done at the beginning of the thread, plus there's a flag for borked links. The mods come in, fix the link, and remove the correction comment, which makes little sense after the fix. This is a bit like asking why you see so many broken windows but never see any fixed ones.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:13 AM on July 16, 2008
Well they/we do. I've done it a couple of times recently. It's usually done at the beginning of the thread, plus there's a flag for borked links. The mods come in, fix the link, and remove the correction comment, which makes little sense after the fix. This is a bit like asking why you see so many broken windows but never see any fixed ones.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:13 AM on July 16, 2008
Do not be drawn into this war, you risk your second mouse button if you are.
That's cool, I use a Mac.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:01 AM on July 16, 2008
That's cool, I use a Mac.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:01 AM on July 16, 2008
I'd like to see some Mod Trickery, actually. Whatcha got, mods?
I can raise the temperature of a room by one degree with my mind, but I can't necessarily intuit what link you're trying to put somewhere.
If there's a broken link and it's clear what the link was supposed to be [like it's somewhere else in the post] I'll put it in but I'm not going to Google what you may have been thinking about -- like your Sperry example -- just to save someone the embarassment of a broken link. If someone does this though and emails us the actual link, we'll fix it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:06 AM on July 16, 2008
I can raise the temperature of a room by one degree with my mind, but I can't necessarily intuit what link you're trying to put somewhere.
If there's a broken link and it's clear what the link was supposed to be [like it's somewhere else in the post] I'll put it in but I'm not going to Google what you may have been thinking about -- like your Sperry example -- just to save someone the embarassment of a broken link. If someone does this though and emails us the actual link, we'll fix it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:06 AM on July 16, 2008
I can raise the temperature of a room by one degree with my mind
Sweet! I'd like to see it. Now I just have to figure out how to teleport to portland.
posted by cashman at 8:20 AM on July 16, 2008
Sweet! I'd like to see it. Now I just have to figure out how to teleport to portland.
posted by cashman at 8:20 AM on July 16, 2008
Which of the mods is it that can assume the shape of any animal? That’s pretty cool, skillz wise.
I hear they got their powers when their plane crashed in Tibet.
posted by Artw at 8:27 AM on July 16, 2008
I hear they got their powers when their plane crashed in Tibet.
posted by Artw at 8:27 AM on July 16, 2008
That's cool, I use a Mac.
Ah yes, one of the Blasphemous Jobinits. Beware their startup chime.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:45 AM on July 16, 2008
Ah yes, one of the Blasphemous Jobinits. Beware their startup chime.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:45 AM on July 16, 2008
That's nothing; I can convert beer into urine.
posted by yhbc at 9:15 AM on July 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by yhbc at 9:15 AM on July 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
Sometimes if you check the URL when you end up on the same page, you can see that there's a URL for another site tacked on there. Not sure why it happens, but you can see where they were trying to link.
(That's if they're not making a joke or linking to a specific comment.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:22 AM on July 16, 2008
(That's if they're not making a joke or linking to a specific comment.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 9:22 AM on July 16, 2008
I can raise the temperature of a room by one degree with my mind,
Is it hot in here, or is it just jessamyn?
posted by tkolar at 9:25 AM on July 16, 2008 [3 favorites]
Is it hot in here, or is it just jessamyn?
posted by tkolar at 9:25 AM on July 16, 2008 [3 favorites]
Artw: Which of the mods is it that can assume the shape of any animal?
That has to be pb. It's always the mild-mannered ones who can shift into beast form.
posted by Kattullus at 9:35 AM on July 16, 2008
That has to be pb. It's always the mild-mannered ones who can shift into beast form.
posted by Kattullus at 9:35 AM on July 16, 2008
It's always the mild-mannered ones who can shift into beast form.
Ah yesh, the first Property of Doppelganger Reservation.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:19 AM on July 16, 2008
Ah yesh, the first Property of Doppelganger Reservation.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:19 AM on July 16, 2008
Thanks guys, I wasn't sure that I wanted to tear down Metafilter's fourth wall, but it wasn't so scary after all.
mod trickery
posted by netbros at 12:50 PM on July 16 [+] [!]
And that's just cool. Maybe I should hang around MetaTalk more often. No, probably not.
posted by Who_Am_I at 10:54 AM on July 16, 2008
mod trickery
posted by netbros at 12:50 PM on July 16 [+] [!]
And that's just cool. Maybe I should hang around MetaTalk more often. No, probably not.
posted by Who_Am_I at 10:54 AM on July 16, 2008
Don't tell the muggles, but the portkey is a half eaten pancake near a rabbit hole on a mountain. The drawback is, the mountain is Mount Hood. If you are there, you really don't need a portkey. Just roll down hill into Portland.
posted by Cranberry at 11:17 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by Cranberry at 11:17 AM on July 16, 2008
Sweet! I'd like to see it. Now I just have to figure out how to teleport to portland.
posted by cashman
Sigh that should precede the previous comment
posted by Cranberry at 11:18 AM on July 16, 2008
posted by cashman
Sigh that should precede the previous comment
posted by Cranberry at 11:18 AM on July 16, 2008
Sometimes if you check the URL when you end up on the same page, you can see that there's a URL for another site tacked on there. Not sure why it happens, but you can see where they were trying to link.
If you are trying to link to another site and don't start your link with http:// then your browser assumes you are actually linking to a page on the site you're currently on. Thus the difference between:
Check out this awesome site!
and
Check out this awesome site!
posted by turaho at 11:18 AM on July 16, 2008
If you are trying to link to another site and don't start your link with http:// then your browser assumes you are actually linking to a page on the site you're currently on. Thus the difference between:
Check out this awesome site!
and
Check out this awesome site!
posted by turaho at 11:18 AM on July 16, 2008
That's nothing; I can convert beer into urine.
[Insert obvious joke about American beer already tasting like piss here]
Example: "It's like, with Miller, how do they get the cat to squat over the bottle?"
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:10 PM on July 16, 2008
[Insert obvious joke about American beer already tasting like piss here]
Example: "It's like, with Miller, how do they get the cat to squat over the bottle?"
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:10 PM on July 16, 2008
What I've never understood is why all the folks making those jokes know how piss (human, cat, or other) tastes.
posted by zoinks at 5:19 PM on July 16, 2008
posted by zoinks at 5:19 PM on July 16, 2008
Because I tried it once, in the interests of science. My own, I mean. Drinking another person's, that's just obscene.
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:35 PM on July 16, 2008
posted by turgid dahlia at 5:35 PM on July 16, 2008
I can imagine a scenario wherein an American serviceman living in barracks on an airforce base in England does not have a fridge. To cool his beers he'd put them on his widow sill. Damn teenagers could spot this opportunity to score some free beer. They might even do it twice. The third time they are not going to get any beer. I can categorically state that piss does not taste like American beer. I also did not go back a fourth time.
posted by tellurian at 8:24 PM on July 16, 2008 [4 favorites]
posted by tellurian at 8:24 PM on July 16, 2008 [4 favorites]
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posted by Mitheral at 5:32 AM on July 16, 2008