Theory of Relative Links 🔬
TL;DR (4min read)
Does Steemit have a system in place to handle relative links? In pursuit of an answer, I read a few posts suggesting the addition of the said feature, but I have not found a definitive answer. Source ➀Source ➁ The posts were a bit dated, which has left me wondering if it has since been implemented.
Perhaps a clue,
I noticed a recent change in link visual styles. Links that take you away from Steemit.com have a subsequent 'out of box' icon and the tool-tip:this link will take you away from Steemit.com. However, this does not appear on those that specify https://steemit.com as the domain path. Furthermore, upon considering relative links, I tried inputting one into the post editor on both Steemit.com and Busy.org and to my surprise, in the preview section, the links work! Not being cautious by nature, I decided to give this a live test! Can I get an Upvote for science?!
So, what are they?
Well to put it simply, relative links are shorter links that take into account the current directory on a server. These links point to resources directly on the server and can be made without the need to specify the full path, in other words, the domain leading to the object.How are they useful?
Using relative links when linking to other Steem Post(s), would allow a link to work regardless of which front end someone is using, be it, Steemit.com, Busy.org, or others. Provided, that all front ends standardize a method to parse & route links relative to the blockchain.As it stands.
Using an absolute link (links with the domain specified) really throws a wrench into things for users on a different front end than that which was specified in the link. When clicking on a link that specified an alternative front end's domain, the user is directed to that destination. They are then forced to either sign up for the other front end or monkey around with manually changing the link itself! This of course greatly increases the chances that users will not engage with the post. Not good! 😟Sounds Important.
Since I was not able to find a clear answer, this post will serve as a test. The link in the top-most heading was formatted using the standard method for relative links:/@odrau. It should bring you to my profile page on the same front end you are using. If it does, it worked! It is also safe to assume that for the time being, standard relative links work on that front end. If it does not work, we have yet another answer!
Let's try this on a post!
➥ Finding Your Voice & Knowing Your Audience/steemitmentor/@helenoftroy/finding-your-voice-and-knowing-your-audience-or-steemit-mentor-lesson-2This post is by a blogger named @helenoftroy, she describes herself as:
"Lifelong learner. Enthusiastic teacher. Happy wife and mother. Collecting stories from my travels and living life to the fullest - in love, in faith, and in purity."I think she does a really wonderful job at presenting herself and her content. In this post, she shares some deep insights about how to find your direction on Steem and tips for staying motivated. If the link above does not work click here for an absolute link to the post on Steemit.com (still, my preferred front end, because I
Moving on...
What are the possible downsides to using relative links? To be honest, I'm no expert. I have heard that there 'potentially' could be issues with SEO, but I don't think it is significant in this case. This because I assume most traffic on Steem comes directly via feeds. I also believe that if relative links work (at least on the most used front ends) the benefits far outweigh the risks.<!--Edit --> 🚧
The test has proved a success! Standard relative links do indeed work on Steemit.com & Busy.org!To Clarify...
Formatting a relative link is done by removing the domain name from the link.
Resulting code looks like this:
Markdown Version[Link Text](/steemit/@odrau/hot-tip-relative-links-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-so-important)
HTML Version
<a href="/steemit/@odrau/hot-tip-relative-links-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-so-important">Link Text</a>
** without the strange spacing - Steemit.com parsing bug report!
Participants for Science? ⚛
Try the links out! Let me know if they work or don't work. Be sure to include which front end or app you were using.Any experts or devs in the house?
If you have any information/knowledge on the subject feel free to add to the discussion.
Cool as. I'll give it a try. Although, I'm not on busy.org, but maybe I should get on it..?
Thanks for the tip! :)
I'm using Steemit still myself. Busy has a lot of great features, only reason I haven't switched is that sometimes the pages don't load for me and I noticed a bug where it randomly clears your post form when writing post or comments. That is Frustrating! Anyways, thanks for the read :) Hope it helps.
Hi @helenoftroy,
How are you?
I see that you flagged (downvoted) my comment and also upvoted it. I assume the flag was an accident, yes? Can you please undo the flag? Thank you kindly
I think I did undo it ... did it not work? Sorry about that! It was a mis-click ... the page loaded slower than I thought.
That’s okay. It may have worked but I’m on my phone so I can’t check until I’m on my laptop. Yeah, I always worry that I’m going to accidentally do something like that when the page is loading. It’s all good.
My Results: tested both relative links and they work on Steemit.com and Busy.org. At least for the time being. Another potential risk, is that a front end changes it's steem permalink routing rules. Even with this uncertainty, I still think they are worth using.
I don't use any other front ends, if someone else viewing this does, please, share your results!
Next feature on my wish list: Link attribute
target="_blank"I have been looking for this too, tried a lot already. Seems everything from the
<a>-tag is stripped, apart from thehrefobviously.Another thing I have been trying to solve is the use of anchors on a page. When writing long posts, or posts in multiple languages, it would be great to have some kind of jump-to menu at the top.
That is another good one, it would have really helped on the reference post I made. 😆
Another thing I worked on is fonts. The default one is terrible. There is an option to use unicode, looks a lot better, but... is not available on all mobile devices. All they see is rectangles :(
Are you using the Unicode char itself or the HTML entities? I believe that the entities ought to work, specifically the decimal version. Hexadecimal work too, but sometime they have issues when used within and around Divs.
That font looks 100x better! Right on, Let me know if you figure it out ;)
Congratulations! 100% upvote!
https://steemit.com/contest/@otage/winner-reverse-acronym-contest-iv
Thanks for the really nice mention @odrau! This is a cool trick and I'm going to have to try it out on my next post. I love learning new things ... especially things that are practical but that I wouldn't have thought to research myself :)
No problem, figured it was the least I could do for all your support. Check discord, I shared something that will help ;)