Automatic double post checking with Javascript?

March 22, 2016 5:58 PM

Would it be possible to add a feature to the new post form that checks for URLs while the user is writing the post, and instantly notifies the user that the post is potentially a double without having to hit Preview? It can be a bummer when you've written a long FPP and then discover it's a double on preview. Site search/domain-specific Google search is kind of unreliable for this in my experience. Or, could we have access to the URL-checking system with a user input field somewhere else in the site?
posted by overeducated_alligator to Feature Requests at 5:58 PM (34 comments total)

The double-link checker is pretty resource intensive so I don't think we'd want to run it as you type. You can throw a single URL into the site search at the top right of any MeFi page and it will try to find posts that contain that URL. That might be your best bet for finding previous posts quickly.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:59 PM on March 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

I usually test it by previewing a FPP with one sentence and the link(s) in question, typically with my planned tags.
posted by jeather at 6:07 PM on March 22, 2016 [8 favorites]

Yep, please consider altering your composition technique. For longer posts I usually gather all of the links at the top of a text document, then write the post below and drop them in where appropriate. But since I start with the list of links, it's easy to plug them into the search box or the new post form (then preview) to check for previous posts right at the start. When I'm satisfied I'm not going over someone else's post and done writing my own, it just get's copy/pasta'd into the New Post form.
posted by carsonb at 7:53 PM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

I consider writing a perfectly good post only to find out it's a double to be just and righteous punishment for my not having read all of MetaFilter.
posted by Etrigan at 8:24 PM on March 22, 2016 [15 favorites]

Also it would be annoying as heck if the URL matcher kept on popping up for incomplete URLS.

Yes, yes, I know there are 50 Gazillion links to youtu.be/ - let me type in the rest dangnambit.
posted by Mitheral at 8:25 PM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

I consider writing a perfectly good post only to find out it's a double to be just and righteous punishment for my not having read all of MetaFilter.

I'm caught up as far as October 2002.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:12 PM on March 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Previewing your post doesn't mean your post is almost done with composition. Dump your links into the new post form, then preview, and if they don't flag the double-checker gizmo, go ahead and write your post.
posted by beerperson at 10:29 PM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

righteous punishment for my not having read all of MetaFilter

which reminds me - i don't think this is worth a separate meta post, but have you ever considered adding "previous day" and "next day" links to the historical view? if you start at the front page and go back 1 year, say, then you can't easily browse nearby (you can edit the url, but i can never remember how many days in each month.....).
posted by andrewcooke at 4:33 AM on March 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

Dump your links into the new post form, then preview, and if they don't flag the double-checker gizmo, go ahead and write your post.

With the added advantage of having all those links right there if you get interrupted and have to come back later, thanks to the new-ish Save Draft function.
posted by Etrigan at 6:14 AM on March 23, 2016

Hmm, OK. Thanks, folks -- I'll change my drafting approach then.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 7:00 AM on March 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

but i can never remember how many days in each month

Thirty days has September,
April, June, and November,
February, May, October,
Janus, Spring, Helicopter
posted by beerperson at 7:01 AM on March 23, 2016 [13 favorites]

Knuckle trick for months is best. Put your fists together and count 'em off. Knuckles are 31, gaps are 30 (or 28/29)

^_^_^_^ ^_^_^

Do it enough and you'll remember that both July and August have 31, and it's pretty easy to work backwards/forwards from there.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:17 AM on March 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

have you ever considered adding "previous day" and "next day" links to the historical view?

I do like this idea!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:32 AM on March 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

We just added those previous and next day links to the Day in History pages.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:42 AM on March 23, 2016 [13 favorites]

Basically, your classic pony-switch.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:11 AM on March 23, 2016 [8 favorites]

Mid-stream!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:33 PM on March 23, 2016 [10 favorites]

Oh look a trifecta
posted by adamvasco at 2:09 PM on March 23, 2016

Thirty days has September,
April, June, and November,

All the rest have 31 -
But February's a son of a gun!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:12 PM on March 23, 2016

I usually test it by previewing a FPP with one sentence and the link(s) in question, typically with my planned tags.

Yup. But don't add the Previously link 'til the last Preview.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:35 PM on March 23, 2016

Previewing your post doesn't mean your post is almost done with composition. Dump your links into the new post form, then preview, and if they don't flag the double-checker gizmo, go ahead and write your post.

Preview early, preview often. That way, if something goes wrong and you lose the post, the site will present you with a backup to work from.
posted by zarq at 9:12 AM on March 24, 2016

Mitheral: Yes, yes, I know there are 50 Gazillion links to youtu.be/ - let me type in the rest dangnambit.

filthy light thief's words of wisdom: when posting a YouTube video, you should:

1. search MetaFilter for the video ID (example: PDubvcpSlRQ - via), to see if the video was posted as a comment or in a different format (youtube.com or youtu.be)
2. search for the video topic/title, to see if this is a re-posted version of an earlier video

These lessons apply to other video hosting sites, too, but YouTube is the worst for multiple URL options and re-posted videos that don't attribute the original videos. Point #2 will also help you check to see if it was posted to another site (some videos are posted by the original content creator to YouTube and Vimeo, for example).
posted by filthy light thief at 9:19 AM on March 24, 2016 [4 favorites]

We just added those previous and next day links to the Day in History pages.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:42 AM on March 23

I'm unfamiliar with the Day in History pages. Could someone link, please?
posted by isauteikisa at 1:34 PM on March 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you go to the front page of MetaFilter and scroll down, on the bottom of the sidebar to the right is a section called "Day in MeFi History." There are links to several different years past, on whatever day it happens to be. It's one of those lonely alleys added to the site whenever someone first revelated 'wow, it's been five years!' The URL is a neat thing too, because it lets you see posts by day for any day. Just build out the url with whatever date you'd like; the /daily.mefi/ archive is maybe the only way to see the site that way? I think it's different than the archive.mefi stuff, and only works for the Blue. ?
posted by carsonb at 1:50 PM on March 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yup, I tried adding /daily.mefi/03/24/2013 to various subsites and I was lost.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:55 PM on March 24, 2016

I consider writing a perfectly good post only to find out it's a double to be just and righteous punishment for my not having read all of MetaFilter.

Damn straight, son.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:58 PM on March 24, 2016

I like how yours and my interests intersect filthy light thief, and how you're not lazy exploring them. I benefit from that greatly and I thank you.
posted by carsonb at 1:58 PM on March 24, 2016

Should '15 years ago' be added to daily.mefi?
posted by zamboni at 9:25 PM on March 24, 2016

I'm caught up as far as October 2002.

2002?!? I'm still stuck on Step 1. I'm placing my hopes on a heavy duty document feeder.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:36 AM on March 25, 2016

Thirty days have September, October, June and February, all the rest have 29, except my brother who got six months.
posted by flabdablet at 11:52 AM on March 25, 2016

Claim: indexing / checking all links from the last few days might not be heavily resource intensive.

Sketch: capped collection, record links on the way in. O (recent posts).

(Architecture dependent, ymmv, dev time isn't free etc.)
posted by gregglind at 5:46 PM on March 27, 2016

(In general this feels very Blame the User, which seems incompatible with the "we want people to feel good posting" efforts of the last year. $.02.)
posted by gregglind at 7:47 AM on March 31, 2016

In general this feels very Blame the User

I think balancing with another claim: double posts aren't such a big deal, rarely happen, and spending dev time to solve a problem that is mostly not a problem may not be an effective use of resources. Also I think "links from the last few days" is the difference between your assertion that it need not be resource-intensive and pb's claim that it is. A double might be a double if it was posted in the last four years, not just the last four days. You may be looking at different use cases here.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 7:58 AM on March 31, 2016

haaahhaha , Extremely good idea!
posted by Martinvermeer at 1:54 PM on April 1, 2016

(All very fine points Jessamyn, dev time isn't free, use cases vary, etc. I mostly didn't like like the "you are posting wrong" piece of it, as someone who already finds posting really intimidating and aggravating.)
posted by gregglind at 5:17 PM on April 1, 2016