# "Auto links"



## ufkacbln (31 Jan 2016)

IN another thread, I typed the word Amazon

It comes up as a hyperlink unless you edit and retype Amazon.

As I have done here

I have never noticed it before!


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## ufkacbln (31 Jan 2016)

... and without editing Amazon


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## Ian H (31 Jan 2016)

I suspect it's designed to help fund the forum. Pay-per-click kind of thing.


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## Shaun (31 Jan 2016)

I have installed an add-on that looks for popular merchants in posts and adds a link. It should only do this once per page (per 15 posts), and the links should be underlined to differentiate them from regular links.

There was a problem when I first installed it, in that it was adding lots and lots of links per page and overwhelming the content, but should now only add one per page, and only for selected merchants: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/autolinking.186920/#post-4021342

Cheers,
Shaun


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## Dogtrousers (31 Jan 2016)

When I was a kid I had a paper round. The Newsagent was run by Mrs Evans We paper boys would always try to Wiggle out of doing the longest rounds. There was one where, if it rained, the gutters ran like the Amazon.


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## Pat "5mph" (31 Jan 2016)

Keep up @Cunobelin, we have had this feature for ages


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## ufkacbln (31 Jan 2016)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Keep up @Cunobelin, we have had this feature for ages


First Time I noticed


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## Rezillo (31 Jan 2016)

Same here - I hadn't noticed it before.

In the black pudding thread today, I put in a reference to Simon Howies black pudding and Howies (capital H) came up as a link to some sportswear company. Not only was it a hyperlink to something completely unrelated to what I was writing about, it changed the case to howies as well.

As unplanned advert hyperlinks appearing on webpages is a classic malware symptom, I've spent over an hour today with malware scanners etc. before finding it is a 'feature' of the forum


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## Shaun (2 Feb 2016)

Sorry, that wasn't really the intention of the links. 

I spent all of last night reworking them from scratch - it obviously _wasn't_ obvious to most members that the links were system-generated, and I can understand your concern if you didn't add the links yourself, so:

to avoid any further confusion I've set them all to be guest view only. Members won't see them anymore.

since the system doesn't "do" context I've also removed _Howies_, _Evans_, and a good number of others that could link out of context and replaced them with full names like _Evans Cycles_, etc.
the links are now case sensitive so Wiggle will only link when used in the brand name form (capital W) and won't link to a _normal_ wiggle. 
the case of the link text should remain the same now too
So now it should behave better and add more friendly / useful links, for guests only, that don't fudge up the context. 

If you notice any that are odd or out of context, please do let me know.

Cheers,
Shaun


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## Dogtrousers (3 Feb 2016)

Btw @Shaun I wasn't having a pop with my paper round story, I was just amusing myself. It was true too - the shop was run by Mrs Evans.


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## Shaun (3 Feb 2016)

Dogtrousers said:


> Btw @Shaun I wasn't having a pop with my paper round story, I was just amusing myself. It was true too - the shop was run by Mrs Evans.



I didn't think you were , but it did illustrate how the links could be added out of context. 

Cheers,
Shaun


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## srw (20 Sep 2017)

Shaun said:


> to avoid any further confusion I've set them all to be guest view only. Members won't see them anymore


Has anything changed deliberately? They now seem to be visible while logged in.


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## Shaun (20 Sep 2017)

srw said:


> Has anything changed deliberately? They now seem to be visible while logged in.


Yes, I've enabled them again. I'll be posting in more detail about it later in the week and offering an opt-out. I've just got some personal stuff that I'm still dealing with so haven't been able to fully catch up yet. Sorry.


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## Ming the Merciless (20 Sep 2017)

There could be a Chain Reaction and if it follows similar tredz we could be in need of a cycle surgery.


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