URL Links Denied??

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » January 21st, 2019, 6:44 am

Hey, I tried to make url links in my posts to wikipedia pages of Aristotle, Pjotr Kropotkin, Eudaimonia and such. However, they were denied. The forum said that I could not create links to url's outside of the forum's domain. I would like to know why not? Especially something like the wikipedia seems useful, albeit not that accurate at times. If I have to create informational topics in order to inform people what I am talking about, it will certainly take me a serious amount of time!

January 21st, 2019, 11:24 am

I have just now clarified the "other notes" section of the Forum Rules to include the matter of links. As a new member, you are unable to post links until you have 20 approved posts.

Even when you are able to post links, it should also be noted that the website linking policies require you to still summarize the content one would find at the link so that nobody has to actually click the link to understand your post or participate in the discussion.

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » January 21st, 2019, 1:31 pm

What I often do is use a term or a name and add a wiki (or other) url, making that word or name the link. Is that following the guideline? Or should I add a small summary of the links at the bottom or top of my post?

January 22nd, 2019, 10:21 am

Arjen wrote: ↑January 21st, 2019, 1:31 pm What I often do is use a term or a name and add a wiki (or other) url, making that word or name the link. Is that following the guideline? Or should I add a small summary of the links at the bottom or top of my post?

If someone doesn't know what a word means, they can typically check their preferred dictionary or encyclopedia on their own, so that's not usually needed. Off the top of my head, I think that usually the only reason you will need to provide a definition or encyclopedic information is (1) if that information is likely to be a matter of debate (e.g. if there is or is likely to be argument or dispute over what the definition of word is) or (2) if a word or term is equivocal and you need to specify which definition or meaning you mean by the term at that time.

If you were going to link to the dictionary or encyclopedia, then yes you would want to either summarize or quote the info you would otherwise want the person to find at the link. So if you were linking to the dictionary, you would typically quote the definition in your post and then provide the link to the quoted dictionary as a citation of that quoted definition. The idea is that readers of the post do not have to check the citations to understand the post and participate in the discussion; the citations are just there to verify the information that you have provided in case the person doubts it or otherwise is interested for more information.

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » January 22nd, 2019, 10:27 am

My experience is to find conversational partners that do not know, or are unwilling top check the terms. So, I decided long ago, to add a hyperlink to an encyclopedia or sometimes the Gutenberg page, or something similar. That way, uneducated people get an easy way to educate themselves and people that do not know how to investigate get a good link as well. If someone still responds without any knowledge of what I am saying, I stop talking with that person. My problem was that this happened so often, I lost interest. Is that different here?

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » January 23rd, 2019, 4:25 pm

When can I edit my posts?
My quote tags went wrong.

January 25th, 2019, 10:54 am

Arjen wrote: ↑January 23rd, 2019, 4:25 pm When can I edit my posts?
My quote tags went wrong.

Please make sure to always use the "preview" button to view the edit-able draft of the post. Only hit submit when you are ready to send it to the presses so to speak. Generally, you can't edit posts after clicking "submit".

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » January 25th, 2019, 2:23 pm

Scott wrote: ↑January 25th, 2019, 10:54 am
Arjen wrote: ↑January 23rd, 2019, 4:25 pm When can I edit my posts?
My quote tags went wrong.

Please make sure to always use the "preview" button to view the edit-able draft of the post. Only hit submit when you are ready to send it to the presses so to speak. Generally, you can't edit posts after clicking "submit".