Suggestions for Active Text - The auto-linking thing?

[Architecht]

As many have noticed, the boards are automatically linking the grading company names now, for example when you type NGC it gets linked automatically.

 

The linking of that text is a feature of the new boards that you can turn on. It seemed helpful to me to have the grading companies linked automatically as many people stumble on these boards from various search engine searches and may not know what CGC/NGC/PMG/NCS are.

 

But in implementation it seems a bit excessive in the average post, and not very helpful to the majority reading the post as most people here are already well familiar with the grading companies, or will be shortly after arrival.

 

I dunno. It seems like it ought to be good for something from an educational perspective, but it doesn't seem to have hit the sweet spot yet.

 

Any useful suggestions?

[pendragon1998]

I think people will quickly pick up on it on their own without the active text.

[WinstonWare]

 

Any useful suggestions?

 

I agree with those who think that links aught to be put in by the poster. I would vote to turn it off.

[bsshog40]

I don't undestand why the links aren't at the top of the forum where they use to be anyway. That was a good place for them and they were easily seen.

[TomB]

Turn them off. Leave them off.

[Stanley]

Turn them off. Leave them off. (thumbs up

[Architecht]

Turn them off. Leave them off.

 

Tom, you're so surly lately.

[MikeInFL]

Personally, I'm not a fan of autolink -- if I need a link, I'll find it, thank you very much.

 

So here are my suggestions, FWIW:

Make it an option, with the default being OFF for registered users.

Make it default ON for visitors.

 

While I'm thinking about it -- good job on making the message text size readable (my eyes thank you), but now the cheezy square around the online/offline smilie in each post is back, and those gremlins are TINY!

 

Thanks for all the hard work and take care...Mike

[TomB]

If I had convenient emoticons I would use them more liberally and not seem to be such a Richard Cranium.

[stinkycheese1]

I like the active text, keep it. I don't see why you shouldn't.

 

[Architecht]

If I had convenient emoticons I would use them more liberally and not seem to be such a Richard Cranium.

 

[Architecht]

[TomB]

I want this one at regular size-

[gmarguli]

Turn them off. Leave them off.

 

Not direct enough. Uninstall them from the system!

[Architecht]

hmm

 

Ok.

[TomB]

Turn them off. Leave them off.

 

Not direct enough. Uninstall them from the system!

The mini sumo guy just makes the post lose some impact.

[Bruceswar]

Take them off. I do like them at all.

[physics-fan3.14]

Personally, I'm not a fan of autolink -- if I need a link, I'll find it, thank you very much.

 

So here are my suggestions, FWIW:

Make it an option, with the default being OFF for registered users.

Make it default ON for visitors.

 

This seems to be the most sensible compromise, if it's possible and if you want to keep the link feature. I personally don't like it at all, but I can understand where you're coming from, Arch.

[Architecht]

 

I think it really might just be a matter of what terms are actually worth linking.

 

For instance, I turned it off for all of the grading companies. My rational was that those "words" are used to often that the linking becomes disruptive, and they're so well understood by most and become obvious in context that it wasn't useful.

 

I have left the word registry as an auto-link though. It's not super common, it might need some explaining, and so far leaving it linked doesn't seem disruptive.

[bsshog40]

I think that's fine in my opinion Arch.