Link option desired

[Frank_Lin]

Submission Guidelines item 9 reads:

• No HTML links ... are allowed within stories.

what absolutely makes sense to stop spam links.

On the other hand, the ban on links does not only prevent annoying spam
but prevents also text-internal links, which can significantly contribute
to the reading quality for example by setting up a clickable table of content.

Therefore, I suggest to ban external links only
but to permit links within Literotica.

 

[jomar]

Welcome to the AH...

Don't know the tech aspect, but PM Manu...they're always looking for ways to improve Lit.

 

[sr71plt]

I'd first like to see them permit use of fake URLs in story texts on stories where the Internet is integral to the plot. But I don't see that happening anytime this century either.

 

[Darkniciad]

Links to urls within Literotica are actually allowed, provided you don't go crazy with it. I've done it several times.

As to in-page anchors -- I doubt it. I'm fairly certain that it would require overriding the text processor in order for it to not strip out the anchor tags throughout the pages of the story.

Not to mention that you'd have to build the table of contents in the preview window, because that's the only way you could be certain that your links even went to the correct literotica page of the story.

 

[sr71plt]

Links to urls within Literotica are actually allowed, provided you don't go crazy with it. I've done it several times.

As to in-page anchors -- I doubt it. I'm fairly certain that it would require overriding the text processor in order for it to not strip out the anchor tags throughout the pages of the story.

Not to mention that you'd have to build the table of contents in the preview window, because that's the only way you could be certain that your links even went to the correct literotica page of the story.

When I tried one link in one, the story was rejected until I did a workaround.

 

[Darkniciad]

Huh... I've never had the slightest problem.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=269692

On that one, the link was added after the initial publication, and I even stated that it was the only reason I was editing in the notes section.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=273110
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=283455
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=363051

There are others, but those are just the ones I remember offhand.

 

[Frank_Lin]

Links to urls within Literotica are actually (sometimes) allowed, provided you don't go crazy with it. I've done it several times.

Thanks for your info. Thus such links seem possible without changing the existing forum software at least. I assume that you just have to use the following code:

[URL=http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=269692]Darkniciad's example[/U R L] (without spaces between last 'U R L')

Apparently so far it's a decision of the Literotica submissions editor in charge only.

So I suggest Literotica should allow site internal links in general, because such links are quite useful as demonstrated by Darkniciad's example:
------

As to in-page anchors -- I doubt it. I'm fairly certain that it would require overriding the text processor in order for it to not strip out the anchor tags throughout the pages of the story.

Could you explain your objection more detailed. I don't understand why the links (HRML/URL tags) are not stripped but the jump target (HREF anchor tags) are.

According this vBulletin forum post implementation of jump targets (jumpto/anchor tags) doesn't seem that difficult

------

As to in-page anchors -- I doubt it. …
Not to mention that you'd have to build the table of contents in the preview window, because that's the only way you could be certain that your links even went to the correct literotica page of the story.

That's correct. The preceding table of content can't be produced before the last part of the story is published as only after publishing the needed link string is known.

But this fact doesn't mean that a preceding (clickable) table of content isn't possible. You gave the solution yourself:

... the link was added after the initial publication, …

You just need to go step by step:

• Submit an initial table of contents page without links
• Submit the other parts of the story with jumpto-anchor-target-tags
• Resubmit the table of contents page (now with links) afterwards.

------
This procedure would have the additional advantage that the reader would be informed visually if the story is finished, or if he risks to read a broken story which maybe never will be continued.

 

[Darkniciad]

I think the problem is that you're mixing up the code that runs the website and the code that runs the forum. The forum is commercial software, an afterthought added to the site long ago by request.

To the best of my knowledge, the story side of the website is entirely original code with almost no connection to the forum, save that they share a members database.

While it would certainly be possible to add a new exclusion to the text processor that doesn't strip the <a name="whatever"> tags, the rub comes from -- what is the value of doing so weighed against the work required? The purpose of stripping nearly all html is to prevent both malicious code from being inserted in the database and accidental errors from messing up the template Lit uses to display stories. The most reliable way to do that is a general draconian "see something between two angle brackets -- kill it" exclusion. Anything that's allowed has to be specifically coded as an exception, and while it may be nominal, will slow down processing each story into final Lit form and present added potential for human error.

Weigh this against how many people would actually use the feature, considering the amount of work required to do it in preview before publishing or waiting until the final posting and editing ( which could still very well require editing in the preview window, because an anchor near the end of a Lit page could potentially end up shoved onto the next with any change in the text )

It just doesn't balance out on the work/benefit scales -- especially considering everything Manu has already put on his plate with regards to updating and adding features to the site.

ETA: I think it's possible that you may be talking about a series with dissimilar titles that are still linked ( or stories with similar titles not yet caught by the "other parts of this series" feature, such as my "of the wood" stories )

In this case, you shouldn't have any problem adding the table of contents to the first story in the series and editing each time with links to the new ones, because that requires only a hyperlink such as I've added to my stories and no name anchors.

It's only when you want to link within an individual Lit submission that the problem of name anchors arises. Linking to different chapters or sequels that are different Lit submissions is a completely different animal, already within the scope of the existing text processor.

 

[fuckwaffle]

chapters of stories are already linked for you in the side panel of the story. a simple table of contents is displayed to the right at the lower portion of the story. and as far as within story content links, at the bottom of each page there is are links to the next page and previous page.

so i see no need for the links you talk of.

 

[Frank_Lin]

Test please

chapters of stories are already linked ... table of contents ... so i see no need ...

A table of content is a simple example only how internal links could be used.

There are other possibilities which maybe could improve the handling of 190,000 stories drastically.

I'll try to explain what I have in mind when I'm back from holiday in Septembre.
-----

To the best of my knowledge, the story side of the website is entirely original (html based) code

Good to know that it is pure html with the technical possibility of working links as you explained earlier.

Thus creating a link probably will need the following code:

  <a href="http://www.literotica.com/stories/index.php">Literotica</a>

-----

... general draconian "see something between two angle brackets -- kill it" exclusion.

Correct. A way to prevent database corruption might be killing everything between angle brackets.

But you reported that normal links are working and killing everything beween angle brackets would kill these links too. Thus there doesn't seem to be such general killing.

So before we think about implementing something new we need to know if the correspondent code

 <a name="Target1">XXXXXXX</a>

is working in the existing version already.

Could some author integrate above code into his next submission please and test after publication if adding '#Target1' to the adress line and hitting the Enter button results in a jump to the word 'XXXXXX' of his story
(or if the test code is still part of the published html source).

 

[fuckwaffle]

i will bet the story side of the site is not pure html as there are most likely PHP calls to the database to get the information requested. you don't think they store an html page for each story, no they have a template that they insert the data into then the html is wrapped around it and sent to the browser.

the middleware is either asp or php with java thrown in. what you see is html but that is just the display portion.

and who is this "we" you speak of? the site owners are the ones who decide when, what get added or changes, not us.

 

[Frank_Lin]

i will bet ... middleware
... site owners

??? - What do you want to say?

Obviously, submission input will be processed by php/middleware. But what does that change?

Do you think input format of submission links is not HTML code?

<a href="http://www.literotica.com/stories/index.php">Literotica</a>

Obviously, decisions are done by the site owner.

But does that mean that we should stop thinking about suggestions of improvement?

_______
Back from holiday in Septembre

 

[fuckwaffle]

??? - What do you want to say?

Obviously, submission input will be processed by php/middleware. But what does that change?

Do you think input format of submission links is not HTML code?

<a href="http://www.literotica.com/stories/index.php">Literotica</a>

Obviously, decisions are done by the site owner.

But does that mean that we should stop thinking about suggestions of improvement?

_______
Back from holiday in Septembre

well, i just meant...never mind.

except you did make this statement.

So before we think about implementing something new we need to know if the correspondent code

with that all inclusive 'we' and 'implementing' and i was just saying 'we' don't 'implement' anything here, except stories, which as i understand it are submitted in plain text or a .doc/.rtf file.

and from what i have seen of the site, the story side, all the links you have mentioned are already there. so, this thread might just be pointless.