Two weeks ago I provided a patch Re: node_info_string - (patch) to change the linking of the ID in the header of all nodes to [id://...] style.

The idea is to facilitate linking to nodes by simple copy&paste.

NB: Some browsers facilitate this further by providing a "copy link text" entry in the context menu (right-click/long touch)

Explicitly

==== BEFORE:

The links in the page headers below the title looked like

==== AFTER:

Now they display [id://...] around the link

History

This patch was experimental, but so far nobody complained. I'd even say almost nobody noticed. :)

Linking with id:// has many advantages, like avoiding lock-outs and displaying the nodes title.

I hope this will make proper linking easier.

On a side note: I personally used this for over a decade already, changing the link was one of my first Nodelet hacks in JS. Implementing it for PM proved to be far more complicated tho.

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Cheers Rolf
(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
see Wikisyntax for the Monastery

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    • Comment on New feature: copy/pastable self referential backlink [id://...] for every node
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    Re: New feature: copy/pastable self referential backlink [id://...] for every node
    by kcott (Archbishop) on Feb 05, 2024 at 19:33 UTC

      G'day Rolf,

      Before your change:

      Quite some time ago, all nodes in a thread, except the root node, had [id://nnnnnn] added, as plain text, after the header. It had this basic format: 

      Re: Thread Title [id:/nnnnnn]

      In order to see that change, "Show an id:// shortcut on replies?" in Display Settings needs to be selected.

      I have been using this often and find it extremely useful.

      After your change:

      [I don't know about others, but I hadn't noticed this changed. I haven't been around much lately due a bout of COVID followed by the side-effects of anti-viral drugs.]

      I would like to see some consistency with the previous change. This would involve two things.

      Firstly, the previous heading style is retained with [id://nnnnnn] added, as plain text, afterwards: 

      on <timestamp> ( #nnnnnn=<section> ...) [id:/nnnnnn]

      Secondly, a new option is added to Display Settings": "Show an id:// shortcut on root nodes?" (comparable to the "... on replies?" option shown above).

      By the way, the space you show before "=section" (two instances) doesn't actually exist. Selecting [id://nnnnnn] from [id://nnnnnn]=<section> can be tricky as it's quite easy to end up following the link rather than selecting the link text.

      — Ken

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        I agree about the inconsistency, but frankly I'm happy we have at least this solution now.

        What you want needs adjustments at totally different locations and might imply changing the look and feel.

        I'm not eager to open up that box of snakes... ;)

        As always with the monastery this was much harder to implement than thought, because of some obscure dependencies.

        It's already hard for Gods even much worse for pmdevs.

        But you might want to apply for pmdevs and try it by yourself?

        > By the way, the space you show before "=section"

        Yes. Reason: I wrote everything today on mobile browsers. (Tl;Dr)

        > can be tricky

        Yes, I usually "copy link text", in the years before I just edited the "greedy" copy.

        You may wanna talk to the gods about this. :)

        Cheers Rolf
        (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
        see Wikisyntax for the Monastery

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          yeah... I'm not happy with the current format, on <datetime> ( [link]=type: print, xml ) (or whatever - depends on the node type)

          I'm going to change it. Feedback welcome.

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          "But you might want to apply for pmdevs and try it by yourself?"

          For personal reasons, it's not feasible for me to take on such work at this time.

          — Ken

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        After rereading your post concerning consistency, here my 2c

        • not all nodes include a thread view of replies, hence a backlink should always be at the top near the title
        • this top line is imho cryptic, I remember that it took me a while to decipher it. It might be worth discussing rearranging them Like 
          on Feb 05, 2024 at 16:40 CET ( [id://11157535] = monkdiscuss ; display: print w/ , w/o replies, xml )
          and adding some

          alt="print view without replies"

          descriptions on mouse over to all links.
        • I'm personally strictly against adding more features to display settings, they are not only hard to understand, but the code becomes littered with if conditions and increasingly unmaintainable. The few using these settings force the many to deal with static code. KISS!!!
        • Nevertheless, for "consistency" I submitted a patch to display the backlink once matter in the bar with "comment" and "msg" link, right above the replies. It's activated by the same option, and appears just behind the title,

           Comment on ${title} [id://...] | Download Code ...

          (NB: this is pseudo code the real "template" is far more complicated)

          Alas the gods didn't like it ...

        Cheers Rolf
        (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
        see Wikisyntax for the Monastery

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    Re: New feature: copy/pastable self referential link [id://...] for every node
    by pryrt (Abbot) on Feb 05, 2024 at 17:36 UTC
      Thank you.

      I have my Display Settings show that link in the replies in threaded conversations, but I was always mildly annoyed that it wasn't in the top-level post, too.

      I had previously grabbed the copy/paste version for the top-level post from the Approval Nodelet, but that sometimes required additional scrolling to get that nodelet into view.

      Once I saw your Docs for enhanced linking style with '<' for '|' ? post, and noticed that the displayed ID now has the wrapper, I knew I'd be using it going forward (and I just used it to grab the link to your earlier post).

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        "I had previously grabbed the copy/paste version for the top-level post from the Approval Nodelet, ..."

        I hadn't thought of using that. Thanks for the tip. :-)

        "... but that sometimes required additional scrolling to get that nodelet into view. "

        I have a fairly large screen. I can usually see Approval Nodelet; with a busy Chatterbox and Other Users, a single spin of the mousewheel will bring it into view.

        — Ken

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