Guidelines to Posting Web and Image Links on PolishForums

Misty:

It may not happen to you because you refresh your site and are still active yourself. If you leave the site and delete your account or you account becomes inactive then if you have (for example) posted a picture here and someone click on it they will get "image deleted" or inactive or a similar message. Same with youtube videos that are removed on youtube for whatever reason.

Misty:

Is it possible for you to post a list of sites which delete or deactivate their links after a period of time? (I mean well known sites of course, obviously it's not possible to post every site that does this).

AdminThreads: 74 Posts: 3,059 Joined: Oct 31, 05 [Administrator]	Edited by: Admin Feb 1, 09, 00:34 / #
As some of you may have noticed, we have slightly changed the way how links to websites and linked images should be composed. Below is a quick guide on how to post links to websites and how to link to images. - LINKS to websites As a general rule, the quickest way to post a link is to just copy-paste the link from the web address bar. For example, if you want to link to the PolishForums index page, all you have to do is to copy and paste this link as follows: http://www.polishforums.com. However, more advanced users may want to link to a website using an 'anchor text link.' Here is an example of an anchor text link: Polish Forums Index Page. In order to create an anchor text link, you need to write the text FIRST, then highlight the desired text. Next you need to click on the "URL Link" button and paste the web address. Of course, the anchor text must be closely related to the destination page (otherwise, such links will be deactivated by moderators). - LINKS to images There are two ways to link to external images. You can use one of the example codes below (remove the space after 'imgs'): 1. [imgs =http://www.webaddress.com/img/logo.gif]image description[/imgs] - this is the quickest way. All you have to do is to click on the "Image Link" button and paste the web address of the image. NOTE: you must comment the image in order to make it work. Again, nonsense comments will be removed along with the linked image. [imgs ]http://www.webaddress.com/img/logo.gif[/imgs] - an alternative way to link to an image 2. [img =http://www.webaddress.com/img/logo.gif]image description[/img] - this way the image will not be linked as URL and the image's original size will stay. Use only on small images. - LINKS to YouTube Videos We prefer that you always link to YouTube videos using the "Insert YouTube Video" button . All you have to do is to copy the web address and paste it to the prompted window. Q: Why some of the links are 'deactivated' by moderators? A: There are two main reasons: 1. The posted link did not follow one of the above rules (for example, the posted image's dimensions were large but the user still used the [img] tag instead of [imgs] tag), 2. The link pointed to one of the sites that we know keep links only for a limited period of time. For example, links posted to Yahoo news or Google associated press usually expire within a couple of months. Same applies to content hosted on free hosting accounts or image storage websites (like photobucket or imageshack). If the link expires, that means that clicking on it the user is taken to a page with "Page or image unavailable" text. Obviously, that is not a good user experience, not to mention other negative aspects of linking to non-existing pages. It takes A LOT of human hours (I should say days) to find and manually clean expired links. Last time it took a week and resulted in manual correcting of about 3,000 expired links. Thus it's better to clean such links on a regular basis. Admin

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07	Feb 1, 09, 00:41 / #
Admin: Same applies to content hosted on free hosting accounts or image storage websites (like photobucket or imageshack). If the link expires, that means that clicking on it the user gets is taken to a page with "Page or image unavailable" text. Obviously, that is not a good user experience, not to mention other negative aspects of linking to non-existing pages. i've never had that happen to any image i have ever hosted though either site.

MistyThreads: 6 Posts: 196 Joined: Jul 20, 08	Edited by: Misty Feb 1, 09, 17:59 / #
plk123: i've never had that happen to any image i have ever hosted though either site. It may not happen to you because you refresh your site and are still active yourself. If you leave the site and delete your account or you account becomes inactive then if you have (for example) posted a picture here and someone click on it they will get "image deleted" or inactive or a similar message. Same with youtube videos that are removed on youtube for whatever reason. Admin: The link pointed to one of the sites that we know keep links only for a limited period of time Is it possible for you to post a list of sites which delete or deactivate their links after a period of time? (I mean well known sites of course, obviously it's not possible to post every site that does this). Admin: As a general rule, the quickest way to post a link is to just copy-paste the link from the web address bar. Sometimes the untidiest way too I guess, some of those addresses are HUGE. I like the anchor text. I use it in hotmail often.

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07	Feb 1, 09, 19:16 / #
Misty: It may not happen to you because you refresh your site and are still active yourself. If you leave the site and delete your account or you account becomes inactive then if you have (for example) posted a picture here and someone click on it they will get "image deleted" or inactive or a similar message. Same with youtube videos that are removed on youtube for whatever reason. Misty: Is it possible for you to post a list of sites which delete or deactivate their links after a period of time? (I mean well known sites of course, obviously it's not possible to post every site that does this). that is true of ANY link. i'm surprised any links are allowed with that kind of reasoning. soon i'm sure .... :D

MistyThreads: 6 Posts: 196 Joined: Jul 20, 08	Edited by: Misty Feb 1, 09, 19:24 / #
plk123: that is true of ANY link. i'm surprised any links are allowed with that kind of reasoning. soon i'm sure .... :D Not true. Some links don't expire. Some do because the company archives them. Sometimes deletes. Youtube videos can be active one moment and not the next because they were removed after infringing some law or another or they are not allowed to be posted outside of youtube. EDIT Anyway, I like this idea of anchor texting, I use it in lengthy emails or blogging, it allows the natural flow of what I am writing plus also the addition of external links. It's a good idea and doesn't take long to do. I suppose as a regular user of something like that I feel a bit more relaxed about it. :)

plk123Threads: 30 Posts: 6,410 Joined: Aug 29, 07	Feb 1, 09, 21:57 / #
ANY link CAN expire. you never know. sometime i use text linking but i find pasting the actual link better in most instances.

AdminThreads: 74 Posts: 3,059 Joined: Oct 31, 05 [Administrator]	Feb 1, 09, 22:35 / #
Misty: Is it possible for you to post a list of sites which delete or deactivate their links after a period of time? It's not possible, but in general all sites featuring news remove the content within a few months or less.. Misty: Youtube videos can be active one moment and not the next because they were removed after infringing some law or another or they are not allowed to be posted outside of youtube. Exactly. plk123: ANY link CAN expire. you never know. It can indeed, it all depends on the company or webmaster. Admin

childwithinThreads: 15 Posts: 220 Joined: Nov 18, 08	Edited by: childwithin Feb 12, 09, 14:28 / #
Admin: LINKS to YouTube Videos is it possible to insert videos from other websites?

AdminThreads: 74 Posts: 3,059 Joined: Oct 31, 05 [Administrator]	Feb 12, 09, 22:09 / #
childwithin: is it possible to insert videos from other websites? No because each website has a different code and it would require to create a different script for each of them.

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,647 Joined: Mar 10, 08	Edited by: SeanBM Feb 12, 09, 22:11 / #
Could you tell me what are the size limits for posting my own photograph, please?

osiolThreads: 59 Posts: 4,714 Joined: Jul 25, 07	Feb 12, 09, 22:28 / #
Right, that's enough, I'm not playing now!

AdminThreads: 74 Posts: 3,059 Joined: Oct 31, 05 [Administrator]	Feb 12, 09, 22:12 / #
SeanBM: size limits http://www.polishforums.com/fileupload.html

osiolThreads: 59 Posts: 4,714 Joined: Jul 25, 07	Feb 12, 09, 22:13 / #
Why do so many images appear in a window that is just a bit too small for the image, irrespective of the size of the image?

AdminThreads: 74 Posts: 3,059 Joined: Oct 31, 05 [Administrator]	Feb 12, 09, 22:14 / #
osiol: Why do so many images appear in a window that is just a bit too small for the image, irrespective of the size of the image? For example? Not sure what you mean.

SeanBMThreads: 41 Posts: 8,647 Joined: Mar 10, 08	Feb 12, 09, 22:15 / #
Thanks, 100 Kb it is then.

osiolThreads: 59 Posts: 4,714 Joined: Jul 25, 07	Feb 12, 09, 22:21 / #
When someone posted a picture of a toilet on RC this evening, it opened in a new window that was too small for the image, even though the image was less than half the size of my screen. This is just one example of many. Not all images do this on PF, but quite a few do.