Magic link new [about] pages in comments

Question

We already have the ability to have certain links auto-expand in comments as per Add data.SE style "magic links" to comments.

Can the new about pages also be added using the [about] format since they are an awesome reference to point new users to along with the FAQ?

What should the link text be? "About $sitename"? "about page"? Something else?

I really hope the new quickstart pages will have an auto-expand keyword from the get-go. — J. Steen, Commented Jan 17, 2013 at 7:04
@J.Steen So far I see it deployed to most sites, but there is not auto-expand yet. — BinaryMisfit, Commented Jan 17, 2013 at 7:40
@BoltClock'saUnicorn It's been so long since I saw it that I had forgotten about that meme. — J. Steen, Commented Jan 17, 2013 at 9:36
@balpha: As for what the link should be, what's wrong with just linkifying the word "about"? That'll match [faq]. — ale, Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 21:07
@AlEverett Might be a bit weird in the reading flow, since "about" isn't a noun. I don't have strong opinions on this, but I'd like to hear from the people who would be using this feature a lot. — balpha, Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 21:32
@balpha: It could easily be expressed by simply sending someone to look at the tour page and the faq for example. — Jon Egerton, Commented Feb 12, 2013 at 22:41
This has been status-complete-ed, but I'm missing the pictures mentioned in the bounty ... I really want to see those sloths! — Joachim Sauer, Commented Feb 20, 2013 at 10:12

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-20 08:46:32Z

8

+50

I think just having the link as [about] would be fine - this would lead to the comment to the user reading:

"...Please check out the [FAQ] and the [About] page on how to get the most out of the site..."

which would appear as:

"...Please check out the FAQ and the About page on how to get the most out of the site..."

It reads ok.

EDIT: The wished for Sloth pics: (afraid I'm not up to hand drawing, so t'interweb will have to provide instead). Anyone else fancy a go?

Pics from here:

A sloth

Another sloth

And lastly (from here:

Awwww...

Sloth in a Onesie

CommunityBot

1

answered Feb 13, 2013 at 9:08

Jon Egerton

2,11213 silver badges18 bronze badges

4

Looks like nobody's objecting to this, hence so be it!
– balpha StaffMod
Commented Feb 20, 2013 at 10:06
2

@balpha So is tour working yet? Awesome work! Thank you,
– BinaryMisfit
Commented Feb 20, 2013 at 11:35
1

@balpha Oh, I just found this thread. “About” would be completely useless to me, I don't think I'd ever want it. “questions and answers site” is what I use often. I'm telling people to read the /about page for a reason, not because it's called “about”, but because of what it explains.
– Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
Commented Feb 25, 2013 at 13:26
@Gilles, I see what you mean, but its quite restrictive in how it could be used. Maybe, if it was to be the case, then we could have a standard comment insert function to give the usual canned,"Welcome, see these links" message. (I type some variation on this several times a day at present.)
– Jon Egerton
Commented Feb 25, 2013 at 14:20

Add a comment |

1 Answer 1