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While it's a convenient feature to have an image from somewhere in the internet be automatically cloned to the (hopefully) permanent i.sstatic.net, automatically turning the image into a link to the original (or it's source, which might even be auto-determined for some sites like Wikipedia, maybe even automating correct attribution) would help for correct attribution and further research on that image's source site (instead of having to use e.g. TinEye first). Something like this maybe:

mockup

Clarification: The image would still be uploaded to imgur, but in addition its markdown would be a hyperlink to the source (or e.g. its dedicated Wikimedia page).

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    Bonus points for adding a third tab from xkcd.com where entering the number automatically adds a [![](https://sslimgs.xkcd.com/comics/NAME.png)](https://xkcd.com/NUMBER/ "hover text")
    – Tobias Kienzler
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 8:36
  • A new upload is being tested, but that also doesn't have a direct link to xkcd.com ;-)
    – Arjan
    Commented Feb 23, 2013 at 18:12
  • I wonder if there's any "standard" HTML thing (like microdata) for this. Just a link might still not make it easier for the copyright owner to find linked copies.
    – Arjan
    Commented Mar 2, 2013 at 8:25
  • Wikimedia's URL structure aside, what would such image URL tell the user who clicks that? For most URLs it would only reveal the website domain but not, for example, on which specific page(s) an image was used, or who created the image?
    – Arjan
    Commented Mar 2, 2013 at 11:23
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    @Arjan Good point, and adding another "Site where you found this [optional]" would probably overcomplicate the dialogue... But anyway it's easier to image-google for that URL (first hit: check) then having to first correctly determine where this specific version came from. Plus this way the image owner can use google to find SE sites using their image.
    – Tobias Kienzler
    Commented Mar 3, 2013 at 12:35

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I can get where you're coming from... but I think any user who understands web concepts well enough to get what that feature means would be comfortable editing the Markup manually.

It merits note that the StackExchange network isn't just for developers anymore; will it be that easy for someone on cooking.stackexchange.com to understand what this option does? Or will it just seem confusing?

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    Time it takes to notice the checkmark: 0.03s. Time it takes to edit the Markup: "Let's see... [![](http://url)](http://url)..." even copy-pasting on a US keyboard where [] doesn't require two keys, at least 2s. Every-Time. And no-one does.
    – Tobias Kienzler
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 8:33
  • But the StackExchange network isn't just for developers anymore; will it be that easy for someone on cooking.stackexchange.com? Or will it just seem confusing?
    – Richard JP Le Guen
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 17:41
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    Isn't that rather a pro reason? Since you mention cooking.SE, someone including a Wikipedia image to show what Kohlrabi looks like may not even know that their link is turned into an imgur upload, so this might actually de-crease confusion.
    – Tobias Kienzler
    Commented Nov 6, 2012 at 20:17
  • No, adding more settings they don't understand does not de-crease confusion ;)
    – Richard JP Le Guen
    Commented Nov 12, 2012 at 18:46

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