A while back, I noticed that with threads on our forum being frequently started to share links to interesting content, fairly regularly the same link would be used more than once to start threads due to the starter of the later thread(s) not being aware of the original thread.
I figured that it might be helpful to have a plugin that tried to warn members when they were about to start a thread which would duplicate a link in an existing thread (even if the link in the preexisting thread was not in its opening post but in a follow-up post). So, because I couldn't find an existing plugin which did that... I wrote one.
I've tentatively named it "Duplicate link warner". [Edit: since adding a bunch of extra functionality to it, most notably link previews, I've renamed it "Link Tools" and released it publicly here.]
For months now it's been available only to Doug and myself for testing, and for some time I haven't put any work into it. Today, I fixed up a few niggling issues and I've decided to finally make it available to everybody. Be warned though: it is far from perfect.
I don't promise to make any changes/fixes (though I very well might make them if I have the motivation), or even to publish its code, but I definitely do welcome feedback, and at the least, if folks generally find it irritating or otherwise don't like it, I will disable it again.
Basically, the way it works is that if Javascript is enabled, then, when you are drafting a new thread in the editor, if you enter into your draft a URL that is already present in any existing post on the forum, you will be warned about those existing posts. The warning takes the form of a flashing summary box in the centre of the window which moves slowly up to the top of the screen - it has buttons which allow you to either expand the summary to view more information about the posts in question or to dismiss all of the warnings.
If Javascript is not enabled, or if you don't dismiss all of the warnings, then when you click "Post Thread", the warnings - in expanded form - will instead be displayed prior to the thread being posted, and you will have to click an "Ignore warning and post anyway" button if you want to post the thread despite the warnings.
Note that warnings are only given when posting new threads. The plugin does not operate for replies to existing threads.
Any questions, please feel free to ask. Like I said, it's not perfect, and no doubt the user interface could be improved - your suggestions are very welcome, though like I also said, I don't promise to implement them even if they're very worthwhile.
Any comments, please feel free to make them.
Cheers guys.
(This post was last modified: 2021-04-20, 01:12 PM by Laird.)
I figured that it might be helpful to have a plugin that tried to warn members when they were about to start a thread which would duplicate a link in an existing thread (even if the link in the preexisting thread was not in its opening post but in a follow-up post). So, because I couldn't find an existing plugin which did that... I wrote one.
I've tentatively named it "Duplicate link warner". [Edit: since adding a bunch of extra functionality to it, most notably link previews, I've renamed it "Link Tools" and released it publicly here.]
For months now it's been available only to Doug and myself for testing, and for some time I haven't put any work into it. Today, I fixed up a few niggling issues and I've decided to finally make it available to everybody. Be warned though: it is far from perfect.
I don't promise to make any changes/fixes (though I very well might make them if I have the motivation), or even to publish its code, but I definitely do welcome feedback, and at the least, if folks generally find it irritating or otherwise don't like it, I will disable it again.
Basically, the way it works is that if Javascript is enabled, then, when you are drafting a new thread in the editor, if you enter into your draft a URL that is already present in any existing post on the forum, you will be warned about those existing posts. The warning takes the form of a flashing summary box in the centre of the window which moves slowly up to the top of the screen - it has buttons which allow you to either expand the summary to view more information about the posts in question or to dismiss all of the warnings.
If Javascript is not enabled, or if you don't dismiss all of the warnings, then when you click "Post Thread", the warnings - in expanded form - will instead be displayed prior to the thread being posted, and you will have to click an "Ignore warning and post anyway" button if you want to post the thread despite the warnings.
Note that warnings are only given when posting new threads. The plugin does not operate for replies to existing threads.
Any questions, please feel free to ask. Like I said, it's not perfect, and no doubt the user interface could be improved - your suggestions are very welcome, though like I also said, I don't promise to implement them even if they're very worthwhile.
Any comments, please feel free to make them.
Cheers guys.