Okay, not really reeducation camps. This is more like Education than Reeducation, but it seemed like a good title.
I have noticed a big increase in raw HTML in the comments lately instead of links. Which is totally fine if you’re on a phone – it’s better to have a raw link than no link at all. (I still don’t know how to highlight SELECT text ON A PHONE or IPAD; well, in theory I know how, but I seldom try because it doesn’t work for me.)
But I do think it might be helpful if everyone knows that long text strings “break the margins” on phones, and it screws up formatting for everything that comes after it in the thread.
So when you write argh or fuck with a million of each of the 4 letters, it does a great job of conveying your frustration, but it borks the format for the rest of the post for folks on phones.
Also, when you’re adding a raw, naked link like the URL below, all you need is the part that’s bolded in this color.
This (below) shows you the result.
I try to clean up after stuff like this, but with more and more raw links being posted, there’s too much to clean up.
So if you have to post a raw URL, please delete everything after the question mark, and delete the “?” also.
Update: Unless it’s a YouTube link, in which case you do need what comes after the “?”.
Update 2: And a NYT gift link needs everything after the ?
Not scolding, just trying to share information.
Totally open thread.
HumboldtBlue
You heard the Water Girl, clean up after yourselves you dirty bastards!
WaterGirl
@HumboldtBlue: Hmm, perhaps the tone didn’t come off in the way I intended! :-)
wmd
Aren’t there verification codes for gift articles in the portion of a WaPo or NYT raw link?
I routinely strip the post “?” portion for non paywalled sites, but think there could be issues with a gift link. Suppose you could generate a tinyurl that redirects though. Sounds like something FYWP ought to add.
WaterGirl
How the hell do these people confuse love of Russia and Putin with patriotism?
Baud
Like that?
WaterGirl
@wmd: I will go get a gift link from the Washington Post, and you guys can tell me if you need the part after the “?” for that.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I used the wrong word. I can’t get it to SELECT the text I want highlight, or bold, or link, or whatever.
Bill Arnold
Another reason to remove the stuff after and including the “?” is that otherwise, you may be leaking personal or doxxing-enabling information. I use a real (though common) name here but many commenters do not. That string past the “?” often also includes an explicit tracker id.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
On the phone, computer, or both? That’s weird.
ETA: just saw your update. Still weird. I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem in my ipad.
Bill Arnold
@WaterGirl:
Oh yeah, right, you’ll probably want to update the top post for gift links.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I updated my comment up top.
I can’t select the text on the phone or a tablet.
I used to try once in a blue moon, and I rarely get it to work, so I gave up trying.
Let’s say that ON A PHONE, I want to select just the words I have bolded here. I just can’t figure out how to tell it where to start and where to end.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Long pressing doesn’t work?
BretH
Scold away, we all adults here. Maybe…
WaterGirl
@Bill Arnold:
Okay, here’s a gift link from the Washington Post:
Link
raw URL: https://wapo.st/3Eu3pRC
No “?” to be found. Can someone share a gift link from the NYT so we can check that out?
prostratedragon
I think sometimes, eg youtube the stuff after the ? is essential. But on my phone I use the buttons. In the Text box it’s the one that says “link” and in the Visual box it’s the one that looks like a little chain, after the “. Paste the url where it says “url” and write your description in the other box, which is how I did this on my phone: Horace Silver.
UncleEbeneezer
I always knew to chop everything after the “?” but didn’t realize I should chop the “?” too. Thanks for the heads up.
WaterGirl
@Baud: okay, I just tried that. Let’s see if my copy will work.
So when you write argh or fuck with a million of each of the 4 letters,
wow I did it.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
👏👏👏
WaterGirl
@prostratedragon: I will go get a youtube link
Link
Raw URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRO5ZZuJGYI
Hmm, yes, you do need it all in this case. I don’t believe this will work. (below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch
prostratedragon
@WaterGirl: Are you on android? On mine a double tap anywhere in the phrase makes a little highlight box with handles at each end. Dragging the handles fore and aft enlarges the box to cover what you want, and there’s a flag to give a choice of Copy or other actions.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Baud: on my Android phone, long press, selects one word, gives handles to extend the selection. A bit hard to use, but adequate.
prostratedragon too quick for me I see
Baud
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
That’s how it works on my ipad.
WaterGirl
@prostratedragon: No, I’m on an iPhone. But Baud’s “long press” did bring up a box with a blue dot on the left and a blue dot on the right, and I was able to slide them to select what I wanted.
Victory!
WaterGirl
Does anybody have a NYT gift link that we can try out ?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
prostratedragon
@WaterGirl: Yeah, that’s what tipped me off🙂.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl:
Ugh, no!
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
Eh, someone’s got to yell at them.
Origuy
@WaterGirl: Another trick that isn’t well known is to hold down the Space button until the labels on the keyboard buttons disappear. Then you can move the mouse pointer where you want to start the selection. Tap the selection pointer and choose Select. Then you move the other end of the selection to where you want to end it.
prostratedragon
Hmmmm. TPM does not use the ? syntax for their gift links: article about Prigozhin
Sorry, no nytimes sub here.
WaterGirl
@prostratedragon: I didn’t know that TPM had gift links! But then I don’t have a subscription, either.
WaterGirl
Is anybody up for telling me what Don Lemon said and what the uproar is about?
japa21
Saw the title of the post and had two immediate thoughts. Written by Betty C and about Florida. Obviously wrong on both counts.
Bill Arnold
@WaterGirl:
Interesting. That WaPo gift link is using a url shortener, and it resolves to a very long url with a “?” followed by a long gift api token.
(Which probably could be used with assistance of the WaPo web site sysadmins (or maybe a third party service) to dox the sharer of the link, but that’s probably an acceptable risk for most.)
Jackie
@WaterGirl: Both links opened to YouTube, but showed different videos.
Gary
NYT gift link: https://tinyurl.com/4kjc233
deleted example that broke the margins. WG
scav
Thank my mother for FTFNYT (straight) for Watergirl to look at. Some of the text looks like it won’t work if I strip past the first question mark.
There go two miscreants
@japa21: My first thoughts as well!
Mr. Bemused Senior
@WaterGirl:
Sample NYT gift link
I confess.
Steeplejack
@wmd:
Some gift links resolve to a tinyurl, some don’t. I note that if you create a gift link and select the “copy” option, the URL (of whatever form) is placed in your device’s clipboard, which removes the biggest problem that people seem to have in creating links.
ETA: Off to get a NYTimes gift link. I think those are the long ones.
Leslie
You do have to leave in the massive url for a NYT gift link to stay gifty. However, using the Visual editor to add a link should avoid the breaking-the-formatting problem.
Here’s Gary’s link using that method. It doesn’t get around the tracking / identifier problem, though.
Steeplejack
A gift link to a happy story: “Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Investigation.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/us/politics/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-jan-6.html?unlocked_article_code=j2FedGjo8MVqowRX55q-IRzQj5cS-3DLJgXQ0672tvxfMKKdYamSUpcCVWw5uzBtn7WUZedtWxtZ2E3iE0idkQBPmpe1ae7EshCTcN12G8ODFKTr3yRnJmLWQnqgIBbhLV2Jzf_3sJQI_oKOIW4iGwj6fleZWNJq8uYkMQWBlAhYRfSSLRbmEHtmr9MYDBye14NkJHu8kEKF2rRtdkpavt30F9goxr8JPFeE8kzQ9-HDxrv_IqmEIhPkaKRGFmJJDx7jTFFTeD0zg09rZWMu6PdU8omRLaYPRCm5M3nIpmGA2vhXGZSgGZdaruUigZj6bczYtXN5dthYJRDAeZWJqbCJuJDh_u5nfweDAddR&smid=url-share
Yes, these are the long ones. I believe, though, that they include enough places for the FYWP interpreter to do reasonable line breaks. Let’s see . . .
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Steeplejack: that’s what I picked too
Gary
I’ve been playing with it. I used the copy-link option and went to tinyurl.com to generate a short URL: https://tinyurl.com/4kjc233
WaterGirl
Holy shit, Jared and Ivanka subpoenaed by the Special Counsel???
Steeplejack
@Gary:
Based on my post of (I think) the same story below yours, I think you have to do raw NYTimes gift links in text mode, not visual.
I wonder if that applies to all long links. 🤔
WaterGirl
@Gary: I get an “unable to find” error with the tiny url.
Steeplejack
@Gary:
I am skeptical that people who can’t handle a basic URL in FYWP will easily adopt (or remember) the tinyurl maneuver.
WaterGirl
@Leslie: Absolutely! If you use the linking function in the comment box, there is no problem.
It’s only the raw URL that makes it an issue.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Steeplejack: with the link text showing my “reply ” box gets shifted off screen
Baud
@Steeplejack:
That URL is garbage.
WaterGirl
@Leslie: URLs can be super long and it’s no problem as long as you use the “link” option in WordPress.
Baud
Comment # 36 has broken the blog.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: so The News is reporting.
Jack Smith prosecuted Balkan war crimes. This bunch of pampered jerkoffs doesn’t even count as an appetizer.
CarolPW
If you (temporarily) pie the person who breaks the margins the problem goes away. If you were interested in the link you could click it first and then pie.
WaterGirl
@Origuy: What is the space button?
NotMax
Color me exceedingly stunned.
Popped over to a satellite office of the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew annual registration and aside from employees was the only person there. In and out in like five minutes.
WaterGirl
Gary
@Baud: It seems so. My Edge abended. I can’t delete the URL any more.
Anyway the correct tinyurl is
https//tinyurl.com/4kjc2332
I’ll go back to lurking now.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I fixed it.
Steeplejack
@Mr. Bemused Senior, @Leslie:
The “breaking the margin” problem is with naked links, not neatly formed ones such as you have both done.
Steeplejack
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
What’s your “environment”? It works for me in Windows and Firefox and in Android with the Samsung browser.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Why, I oughta . . . 👊
ETA: Oops, I thought you were making a joke about the linked content.
Leslie
@Steeplejack: Obvious answer, then. Nakedness is for mopping, not links!
Baud
@Gary:
You don’t need to do that for a long URL. We’ve all done worse. Much, much worse.
Steeplejack
If people would just not do “hahahahaha” (or whatever) × 50 it would help a lot. Figure about 30 characters max for your visual humor.
Origuy
@WaterGirl: The space button on the keyboard of the iPhone that you get when you are entering text.
WaterGirl
@Gary: Please don’t go back to lurking!
Plus, we learned something from your test. :-)
Old School
@WaterGirl:
Unless he’s done something new, people were upset that he said Nikki Haley, 51, was “past her prime.”
But I’m not certain why there’s an uproar about that. I mean, Mrs. School is turning 51 this year and… oh, I see it now.
Dan B
DeSantis is making it easy to sue journalists for defamation and he’s limiting groups that use Capitol facilities to those that further the goals of the state. Orban of the US.
Trivia Man
Good news – the Postcards are getting noticed in Wisconsin. A local radio host, Vicki McKenna, is a reliable barometer of the wort of the worst takes from the Wingnut-O-Sphere. She shared today that she keeps her name on mailing lists for Democrats (See what “those people” are up to!) and her rant today was about postcards. She received THREE handwritten (OUTRAGE!) postcards from people reminding her to vote in the primary for the Supreme Court.
Thanks everybody! Keep it up! The general is on April 4 and there could not be a more clear difference between the 2 remaining candidates.
Dan B
The clouds cleared off the Cascade foothills. They are pure white. The lower slopes are covered with huge Douglas Fir and it takes a boatload of snow for them to be pure white.
Baud
@Trivia Man:
Very cool.
scav
@Baud: We could probably have an entire TBogg thread about favorite ways we broke — or at least highly italicized — the blog. Forgetting to close tags was epic. Then the reboots when we tried to break the place under cover of checking for errors . . .
Baud
@scav:
Yeah. And then there was the time I sent ransomware to the hosting company and the blog had to move to an alternative site for several weeks.
wmd
I had to go deal with generator for a while (high winds here in the SC mountains took out power for going on 28 hours now)… nice to see the jackaltariat has done the testing to resolve my concerns.
Well done!
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: I knew that was you!
Old Dan and Little Ann
I received the public loan forgiveness letter I’ve been waiting forever for today. I had to go buy champagne. I checked the Twitter machine for news. It seems this week a lot of people have had a lot of debt forgiven. Last I applied was early October.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Steeplejack: Android on a Samsung a11, Chrome.
eclare
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Yay!
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl:
Nikki Haley has passed her last fuckable day.
RaflW
@WaterGirl: McCarthy fundraising off a massive security breach he just handed over to Fox
NoozFalse.Christ, what an a–hole.
Arclite
@WaterGirl: Can’t you hard code the max width of the textbox to force unbroken text strings to wrap?
RaflW
@Dan B: Yeah, it does seem that DeSantorum has been gleaning much more from Orban than from Trump.
Shudder.
frosty
@Baud: Nice one! I knew there had to be a reason for all that angst. Good payday then?
Steeplejack
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
So, to be clear, are you saying that the margin for this whole thread is broken for you? I can’t picture a scenario in which only one comment (and Reply button) is out of whack.
Steeplejack
@Arclite:
As I understand it (which is dimly), that is buried in the underlying WordPress functionality and awaits our next major upgrade. WaterGirl would know better.
Leslie
@Baud: Naughty.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Steeplejack: reading the thread worked normally, but a reply to you (on my phone) gave the symptom I described, the “Leave a Comment” box was partly off screen and overly wide.
Now it’s fixed of course (#36 edited).
WaterGirl
@Origuy: Oh. I don’t need to SELECT any text when I am writing a comment. I would need to do that before I started my comment.
Say I’m replying to Baud and I want to quote something I am replying to.
WaterGirl
@Old School: For all the fuss they are making, I thought it would be worse than that.
WaterGirl
@Trivia Man: Pissing off a right-winger. Bonus!
WaterGirl
@scav: Entire posts were in italics!
WaterGirl
@Old Dan and Little Ann: That’s so great! Congratulations!
So which parts of student loan forgiveness were put on hold by the courts?
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I have always loved them for doing that video!
re: Nikki Haley, I find her repulsive, so I think her last faceable day was never. (Is it wrong to say that?)
WaterGirl
@RaflW: I think someone at the DOJ or somewhere should be going after McCarthy for doing that.
edit: hey a new record for me! The last 7 comments, talking to myself. That’s what I get for doing work for a client for the past 45 minutes or so, and then coming back to the thread.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl:
I am glad you didn’t find it as shocking as The Loophole.
Steeplejack
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
Okay, clear now. The comment box has “Post Comment,” not “Reply.” Hence my confusion.
ETA: The comment box being extremely wide and very hard to use is the main symptom of the “broken margin” problem.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: In this case, I knew what it was going to be before I clicked. :-)
In spite of the surprising nature of the loophole, it’s very funny, so good/bad you can’t look away.
kalakal
Meanwhile in the UK another triumph of Tory rule. Food rationing
Booming Britain
Also a test of linking
ETA it seems I have been successfully reeducated !
Steeplejack
@kalakal:
Link works. Good job!
scav
@WaterGirl: Sometimes bold.
A few times, we even may have managed most things being in the same quote box.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: Most excellent!