feedback - auto hyperlinking of the page title

i've noticed that if i link to a site, say Adobe there's a mod that will change the boring URL into the title of the page and link the title. However, I frequently include a URL in the middle of a sentence and then the auto-title linking makes it weird to read.

I think you should just auto link URLs as URLs and not convert them into their title tag.

 

I agree with this idea. While it is a nice mod, I personally don't like it.

 

It seems that the opinions with this are half-and-half. Several people don't mind it or like it, while others don't like it at all. I personally do like it, and I can see how it would be annoying when you add a link in the middle of a post... but if you link it with a title instead of just pasting the URL, the title you give it will take precedence.

For example:
[Manually giving the link a title] Check out this site.
[Pasting the link into the middle of the post] Check out this photo editing software and photo editing programs | Adobe site

 

I think this is an excellent feature. Most members don't use anchor text when they post a link, thus depriving the website of great keywords. The SEO experts at vBSEO figured out a way to provide forum owners with this little mod and added great value to the product.

It shouldn't take regular members long to figure out how to circumvent the feature. It's certainly not against the rules to use your own anchor text. And for those who would rather give the reader uglytext links can still do so by unchecking "Automatically retrieve titles from external links" in Additional Options in the message editor (not available in the Quick Editor).

R'gards,

Jim

 

Theres times where i like and times where it frustrates me, Is there an option to disable it in posts?

 

Other than using your own anchor text or un-ticking the "Automatically parse links in text" box, no.

 

Isn't this just a matter of how you word your content then? Shouldn't space on either side of the pasted in link, upon conversion, then make it read right?

Or I guess you mean how the sentence then goes b/c the conversion to the Thread Title is now whack. I can see that, yes.

Myself, I just never do that I guess. I always put the link out at the end or all by itself, like, refer to: link here

This to me is a writing style is all.

 

I did not know there was a box for that! Thanks.

Now if I could learn to read instead of ignoring important things like that. :lol:

 

Well that disables hyper-linking all-together... links would just appear as plain text.

 

I think it's a brilliant feature and is easy to work around on the few occasions when you need to for the sake of the reader of your post.

The up side to it far outweighs the down side IMO.

It's brilliant when you're listing URL's and can just copy and paste a whole bunch into a post and hit go and it does it all for you. On an admin forum, there is lots of linking, so why not let those you link to have some link power with anchor text if the content you're linking to, is in fact, good enough to link to.

 

so i understand it's a split decision thing, but personally, i frequently type in things like http://example.com in posts, because on all the different forums, blogs, comments, etc. sites I use, I know that typing http:// before a url, in 95% of the cases, automatically links it. As this is expected behavior everywhere else on the net, it really lets me down here when i type a url, it auto links a terribly title tag and makes my post confusing to read. I then have to click 'edit' and change around the text to fix it.

Maybe if a URL is typed directly into the posting box, you don't try to auto populate the text? Only do it if somebody clicks the link icon? It's really a matter of what feels like common behavior on other sites, breaks my intended function on this site.

 

Unfortunately, you're just going to have to un-tick this option when posting: "Automatically retrieve titles from external links"

 

I disagree with you, Nick. It is NOT unfortunate. What is unfortunate is that the forum user (and far too many forum administrators) do not understand the nature of websites. A website can't be found if no one knows about it. The best place to get found is in a search engine. There are a few tricks that help the forum administrator get listed in search engines and one of those ways is to use relevant anchor text that link to relevant websites.

Most forum participants do not use anchor text when posting a link. They just type in the dubya, dubya, dubya dot website address - sometimes they will go so far as to add the http part. But no anchor text. The link itself helps some, but not as much as good anchor text. And what better and easier anchor text than the title text of the website you are linking to?

There are only a few forum hacks or add-ons that can make this easy for the forum admin and the member. Nick uses one of them. It's likely that some of those reading this right now would not be reading it had it not been for finding this in Google or some other search engine. Getting found in the search engines also means more registrations and more ad clicks. It increases traffic and it increases the revenue the forum owners get, which makes it possible for them to provide the visitor with a quality host that serves pages fast and quality website software that gives its members and staff many features and options to make their time here more satisfying.

For the forum user that understands the value of good anchor text, nothing has changed. Anyone can create the hyperlinks just the way they like them. For those who don't want to take the time or don't understand the concept, they only have to post the website address and the forum software does the rest. The poster can change that with a simple click. It's even easier if the poster proof reads their post before submitting it.

This is a feature, not a bug. It helps the forum owners and administrators. If you don't want to contribute to the success of a website, then don't register or participate.

Just my opinions, of course.

R'gards,

Jim

 

Vlauria is rather well-versed in the aspect of SEO, so I am sure he can relate to your reasoning.

But it comes down to a matter of preference and formatting of post. I do see how it is difficult to read a post with page titles that span longer than one line.

vBSEO is the add-on that auto-links with anchor text, and it comes with the user-option to disable it in a per-post basis. So there's nothing wrong with vlauria un-ticking that box when posting URLs.

And I said 'unfortunately' in the sense that it was unfortunate for vlauria because I wasn't going to fulfill the request of disabling the add-on.

 

So this auto anchor text feature is part of vBseo?

 

I am sure it's not, it just parses the text which comes with normal vB 3.8.4~

 

It IS a feature of vBSEO. Most users of vBSEO agree that it is an excellent feature.

Jim

 

yes

you can easily change the anchor text or add w/e you want when posting

IMO nothing needs "fixed" :unhunh:

 

where is that option? I don't see it in the advanced posting editor (though i usually use the quick one)

and eJM, from an SEO standpoint, i'm familiar with the advantages and thank you nick for mentioning that. my gripe is that it goes against the behavior that i'm used to on every other website, so my #1 priority is always human usability over seo.

I will concede that i'm one of a few asking for this, so i don't expect a change for just a minority request. My other development philosophy is the 85% rule and sometime it's okay to tell the minority that they'll just have to get over it :p So nick, all is good, don't worry about my gripes :p