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If I paste the URL for a Stack Exchange answer (with or without the anchor), the text of the automatic hyperlink is automatically populated with the title of the question:

https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/346901/improving-the-review-queues-project-overview/346916#346916

Improving the Review Queues - Project overview

However, if I paste the short link that redirects to that same post, no such text is populated:

https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/346916/353600

https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/346916/353600

Given that the short link is what gets automatically copied when you press the button to share an answer, shouldn't it utilize the same convenient functionality that the normal link does?

Note that short links for questions do get prettified, as muru's answer pointed out.

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It's not that short links don't get prettified. Links to answers don't.

Compare with https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/346901/270345: Improving the Review Queues - Project overview

And the reason long links to answers work would be that they're actually links to the question, with an anchor leading to the answer (all URLs of the form https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/<qid>/<anything-whatsoever> go to the question with ID qid, it's just that the #<answer-id> causes the browser to scroll to the answer). Whereas short links to answers are links to a different kind of post (a vs q in the URL).

And I'd think it makes sense - it's the question which has a title, not the answer. (Though I suppose showing the question title for answer short links could be done.)

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  • The example link I gave that gets prettified is a link to an answer, though. I guess the problem only applies to links that are both answer links and short links (not question links or answer long links). I'll update the question.
    – Kyle Delaney
    Apr 30, 2020 at 18:27
  • That's what I said - that "link to an answer" is technically a link to the question (note post type in the URL).
    – muru
    May 1, 2020 at 1:35

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