Preservation of Linked Subject Matter

[Dave Ronyak]

I'm not sure if this subject has been discussed or addressed elsewhere within FOG.  In my experience, some of the links to non-FOG URLs are going to become dysfunctional over time, e.g. because a vendor has changed its catalogue and thus takes down the URL linked in a FOG message.  I have experienced a couple of such instances already, and using the link results only in a blank screen.  Have any measures been taken to capture and preserve the knowledge (often photos) in such links?  Are there any steps members of FOG can take to dos so?  I recognize that copyright issues are connected to this issue.  On the other hand, I doubt that any vendor is likely to be very unhappy because someone at FOG contacts them to buy some clamp or other tool that no longer shows up at the link in the FOG message.

Dave R.

 

[Gary Nichols]

Dave,

Over the years, a lot of my "Bookmarks" have done just as you have described. Anything of any importance, I now save as a PDF file. I don't know if it's a feature of Mac OS 10.4, or of my Canon Printer, but an option when printing asks if I'd like to save as a PDF (instead of printing a hard copy). Pretty simple, and saves on printer ink....

Gary Nichols

 

[TomCrawford]

Printing to PDF file is a function of the MAC OS.  Windows XP did not have this feature - don't know about Vista.  There is a screen capture software for windows, Snagit  that will save to PDF. It will even capture a web scrolling window.http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp?CMP=KgoogleShome

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Dave,
Unfortunately, I think what you're talking about is a function of the Web itself.  I'm not sure what's happening generally to help solve the problem of links getting old or nonfunctional.

It would be a massive undertaking for any forum to assure that all its links are updated, especially as the forum grows and the number of messages expands.

If we have a section of the forum dedicated exclusively to links, that would be relatively easy to update.

The real problems occur when we make casual references to sites in our posts.  The only way I can think of to solve this problem would be for the original posters to update their messages whenever they post links.

I'm not sure, but perhaps there's a programmer out there working on a sort of "link-checking" system.  It's a long-shot, but I'll check on the SMF developers' site to see what they have come up with.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[Ned]

I think Dave's point here is that we can avoid dead links by not linking, when we have the option of copying the content to FOG's own storage.

The two things that affect the option of copying are the content owner's rights and FOG's storage capacity.

A useful "superlink" would be one or two copied pics, perhaps some text, together with the URL of the website and any other contact/search info a later reader could use to track down the item or company if the URL no longer works.

Links will stay good longer if we only link to the top level of the website, and provide search info for the particular item.  No webmaster would want to guarantee that links that point into his site will always work, since he's then agreeing never to change the internal structure.

An Example

You could refer tohttp://www.adjustableclamp.com/sc-3200.htm to show the spring clamps you're talking about.  Or you could attach a small pic [attachimg=1] and give Adjustable's main web address (http://www.adjustable.com) and the model number (3201).  A later reader can go to Adjustable's site and search for "3201".

If you tried the directions to the later reader in the last paragraph, you've realized that Adjustable's site doesn't have a Search facility.  In that case, use Google and enter "site:www.adjustableclamp.com 3201" in the Google search box.

I agree with Dave that copying any content that leads to a sale is unlikely to upset the seller.

Ned

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Ned and Dave,
Ah, yes, do you post a specific link, which, if it stays active, is more useful as it takes the reader directly to the item; do you post a link that gets the reader to the general area, and have the reader search the rest of the way; do you not post a link at all, but rather a photo of the item and let the reader search on his/her own?

Even if we posted photos, the model could change, and the image would be out of date.  Even if you posted a top-level Web address, the entire site could change or disappear.

This gets at the heart of the entire online community.  Information is shared, changed, updated all the time.  How do people posting in a forum best deal with that?  Even if you develop a better practice, how do you get everyone to actually do it that way?

But of course, our concern is this forum, not necessarily the wider Internet.  I'd be happy to hear how we could promote better practices here.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I very much like Ned's idea.  To me the key is for the writer to try to include in the FOG posting the iinformation needed to enable the reader to understand the ideas being communicated, which Ned's approach does well.  If the source contained in a link disappears or the product itself is no longer available, the reader still has enough infrormation including a photo or other description to help him/her understand and to use to find a substitute. 

There is alsohttp://www.archive.org/web/web.php which archives "snapshots" of many website periodically.  It can be used to search for web pages that existed on the archived dates, but what it archives is a hit or miss proposition, too.

Dave R.