in reply to New types of links

I think this would be a good idea in general and i only have two criticisms:

1) I think the links should be more perl centric. E.g. a [syntax://grep] that links to the onsite perl documentation.
2) Your suggested links (whatis.com, dictionary.com) are offsite and would provide a rather disjointed experience for the user so I think it would be better to keep the links onsite.

Other than these i'm all for your idea.

~~rob
____________________________________________________________
eval pack "h*", "072796e647022245d445f475454494c5e622b3";

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re(2): New types of links
by Dog and Pony (Priest) on Jun 13, 2002 at 22:16 UTC
    1. That is not a really bad idea, since it might sometimes be clashes betweem where something links, and for instance the username "grep". Otherwise, a simple [grep] is enough to link to the site docs. (Using [syntax://] or perhaps [doc://] could provide a way to show exactly what you want to link to. The site docs are of course outdated, but links onward to other resources in a very elegant way (++ whoever fixed that).

    2. As you can see at What shortcuts can I use for linking to other information?, most link types link offsite, to useful places like Google and CPAN. This is a good thing, as it provides easy ways to link to extra information, without needing to have it all on this very site (imagine mirroring all of google just because you don't want to link offsite).

    I have never heard of anyone having any trouble with any disjointed experience due to offsite linking, that is a big part of how the internet works after all, with cross-referencing and links to places of information.

    You have moved into a dark place.
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
Re: Re: New types of links
by theorbtwo (Prior) on Jun 13, 2002 at 23:29 UTC

    1) Using perldoc://grep will generaly do close to the right thing (points to a perldoc.com search for foo). Also, using perlfunc:grep will link to the "the onsite docs are out of date, but..." page.

    2) I'd personaly like the whatis:// scheme, and dict:// pointing to http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=$whatever. I generaly find m-w.com to give nicer results then dictionary.com, but either way. The important part is that dict:// is better then dictionary://.

    We are using here a powerful strategy of synthesis: wishful thinking. -- The Wizard Book

[reply]
      In response to point 2...

      I like shortening it to dict:// like you did here and demerphq suggested below, and I also like the idea of using merriam-webster's dictionary better. I just didn't realize it was there cause I went to dictionary.com. hehe. :)

      ~Brian
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Re: New types of links
by grep (Monsignor) on Jun 14, 2002 at 04:56 UTC
    [syntax://grep]

    This sounds like a great idea. I would also like to see a [monk://grep] tag added to specify a user's home node. :-)



    grep
    Just me, the boy and these two monks, no questions asked.
[reply]
[d/l]
      How about [syn://grep], as in "Where to send sinning Monks :)

      "Nothing is sure but death and taxes" I say combine the two and its death to all taxes!
[reply]
[d/l]

In Section Perl Monks Discussion