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There are around 800 links (ca. 500 in posts, 250 in comments) on Stack Overflow pointing to Quora (using the September 2013 dump). Quora now forces visitors to register to the entirety of a page (e.g. if you want to try), which makes those links pretty useless/annoying for non-Quora users. Adding ?share=1 at the end of the Quora URLs allows visitors to see the entire page without any login window (e.g. if you want to try). So, how about automatically adding ?share=1 at the end of URLs pointing to Quora?

EDIT, as the post got -8 and many downvoters seem to have assumed that the ?share=1 is some ephemeral hack and/or goes against Quora policies: the ?share=1 is officially supported and promoted by Quora:

Marc Bodnick (Leads Quora business & community teams, executive at Quora):

Open any Quora URL. If you come across a Quora link anywhere and you want to read it without being asked to join Quora, you can add the text "?share=1" to the end of the URL. Example: http://www.quora.com/Hostage-Situations/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-a-hostage-negotiator?share=1

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7
  • Is it just me, or does that do nothing at all?
    – Qantas 94 Heavy
    Dec 26, 2013 at 5:29
  • @Qantas94Heavy Sorry, fixed (I had messed the link). Please try again.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Dec 26, 2013 at 5:30
  • 4
    Wouldn't it be easier to blacklist quora links?
    – Danubian Sailor
    Dec 26, 2013 at 12:45
  • 2
    Because people think that mass rewriting of URLs, which have no guarantee to be viable in future, is worth it. Besides, with a simple user script you could do this yourself.
    – user1228
    Dec 26, 2013 at 16:01
  • 2
    I thought mass rewriting of URLs would be straightforward. The ?share=1 is officially supported by Quora (I've just edited the question to make it clear). I'm a Quora user so I don't need a script anyway.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Dec 27, 2013 at 1:07
  • 1
    Quora unblocker extension would do as well.
    – kenorb
    Mar 29, 2016 at 20:34
  • @kenorb true but I guess if one cannot fix the issue upstream one can take care of it downstream :/
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Mar 29, 2016 at 20:35

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
25

Good eye that this could improve linking, but I downvoted this - SE should not get involved in cat-and-mouse games with arbitrary sites to defeat their policies. If Quora really is a significant portion of our outgoing traffic, then we are a significant portion of their incoming traffic, and they'll do the "cat" part.

Secondly, hacking competitor sites seems like bad blood. (per OP's comments this is sanctioned by Quora).

Thirdly, SE is way bigger than Quora by traffic. If this is important to them, let them build a solution, not us.

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7
  • I absolutely agree. What if they update the links once again? +1 for "let them build a solution, not us.".
    – Amal Murali
    Dec 26, 2013 at 5:53
  • 3
    Why downvoting the question? I was just opening a discussion.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Dec 26, 2013 at 13:31
  • 2
    @FranckDernoncourt votes work differently on meta.
    – djechlin
    Dec 26, 2013 at 15:16
  • 1
    @djechlin Thanks, I wasn't aware of that, it's fair game then. I have edited the question's details to address your concerns: in short, the ?share=1 is officially supported by Quora (it was announced by one of its executives), so it does not go at all against their policies, nor is it some hack, and for them the ?share=1 is the solution they proposed to read a page without being asked to join Quora. Sorry, I guess I should have made it clear from the beginning.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Dec 27, 2013 at 1:20
  • @FranckDernoncourt ok, my point #2 is incorrect then, edited answer to reflect that.
    – djechlin
    Mar 30, 2016 at 14:08
  • @djechlin Thanks. Point #3 is incorrect too.
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Mar 30, 2016 at 15:44
  • @FranckDernoncourt Alexa ranks SO at ~70 and Quora at ~130 globally, (and I didn't look at the rest of the SE network). Point #3 is perfectly fine.
    – muru
    Jan 16, 2018 at 5:54
9

Good idea, working links are important. Fixing links makes the StackOverflow experience better.

Not sure if this particular case is worth the effort, but 800 links sounds like a lot.

Shame there's not an API that allows you to script this :-)

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0

Stopped working as of 2021(?). I have not read any news announcing the change.

Further, I believe (please correct me) that https://archive.ph/LewtK is the only record of "official documentation"
to speak of, because https://web.archive.org/web/%5C\*/https://blog.quora.com/Making-Sharing-Better is not allowed (due to "robots.txt" being the only actually legally binding communication) to be archived/rememebred by their administration, so only the other/anonymous/questionable archive service works (that is the law as it stands for internet law and following due process on public record, very few people even know how to read a "?share=1" slug and most probably did not know it was there, very few people can write about these issues in terms of literacy of such "slug" usage, period.).

Disclaimer: My Quora.com account is/was hellbanned/permabanned, so I must use ?share=1 to use the site.

Examples: Proof of question with answers not readable (also check https://archive.ph/00g7Z and https://conifer.rhizome.org/037/sources/20211011061112/https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-AirTable-Coda-and-Notion?share=1 show the exact same unreadable view/behavior) in screenshots shown:

enter image description hereUsing the appropriate "?share=1" URL slug nomenclature, user not logged-in, with Google Chrome Stable Latest Version

\?share=1`` not working in the example of https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-AirTable-Coda-and-Notion?share=1\*, makes me not able read (and prevents any and all employment) period. Screenshot shows proof of user trying to login and using the appropriate "?share=1" nomenclature.

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8
  • 1
    Thanks, isn't quora.com/… working for you? I can see all the content without having to register
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Oct 11, 2021 at 2:24
  • @F quora.com/… does not work. Which if anyone is curious, prevents me from any employment period.
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Oct 11, 2021 at 2:26
  • 1
    quora.com/… works; you had an extraneous space in your url
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Oct 11, 2021 at 2:28
  • @Fr quora.com/… dpoes not work, (I did not originally have the %20 "space" error, sorry that was an added error not related.)
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Oct 11, 2021 at 2:30
  • @FranckDernoncourt Added screenshots for proof/evidence, one not logged in, and one logging in, neither loads full answer(s) (just blurred/collapsed and not openable) for question.
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Oct 11, 2021 at 3:46
  • 1
    @FranckDernoncourt I also get only the first few lines of the answer, with buttons asking me to sign up.
    – Luuklag
    Oct 11, 2021 at 7:27
  • 2
    @prosody-GabVereableContext thanks, got it, that's the different type of restrictions, one has to pay for Quora+ to access those. However, the "?share=1" seems to be useless now because all answers except for the ones reserved to Quora+ subscribers are shown. (PS: downvote isn't mine, I upvoted)
    – Franck Dernoncourt
    Oct 11, 2021 at 7:32
  • @fra I appreciate (and the P.S.). I did not even know about Quora+, staying informed on Quora has become painfully difficult, SE should not be my only lifeline, I can access paid scholarly academic journals for free yet not Quora... And I do not register for a second account, I've only signed up once, and for that I am penalized again for following the rules, I was not even given a written reason, they pointed me to their generic Terms of Service link.
    – prosody-Gabe Vereable Context
    Oct 11, 2021 at 8:04

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