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This feature request is partially a response to the following: URL inside parenthesis are not automatically hyperlinked.

I propose requiring link text for all hyperlinks in questions and answers (and by extension, not converting bare URLs into hyperlinks). Cody Gray makes the following case for using link text instead of bare URLs (emphasis is mine).

The problem [in which bare URLs between parentheses are not automatically converted into hyperlinks] solves itself if you don't post bare URLs. Make the link text explanatory. Showing us where the link goes is what tooltips are for.

There are very few cases where bare URLs make sense, and in those few cases, you could use the "workaround" of creating a hyperlink with the URL as the link text.

Note that this would only apply to

  • questions and answers (not comments)
  • links outside of the Stack Exchange network (as Robert Harvey has pointed out, "bare links automatically get descriptions if the links are within the SE Network")
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  • Does this also apply to comments? Because I often just cut and paste Urls when I want the OP to look at them and don't have time to do anything else (comments are throwaway anyway).
    – user102937
    Commented Jul 26, 2011 at 23:57
  • @Robert: Good point. This would probably just be for questions and answers. Also, although I said that it is a response to this issue, I didn't intend for it to only apply to URLs inside parentheses.
    – Chris Frederick
    Commented Jul 26, 2011 at 23:58
  • I wouldn't agree with applying it to comments, only questions/answers. The distinction is a relative straightforward one, as comments already use the somewhat different mini-markdown syntax.
    – Cody Gray
    Commented Jul 26, 2011 at 23:59
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    @RobertHarvey I think the original title better matched the behaviour that this is a request to remove, actually.
    – Tim Stone
    Commented Jul 26, 2011 at 23:59
  • I updated the title to be a compromise between my original and Robert's edit. Feel free to adjust it further if necessary. :)
    – Chris Frederick
    Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 0:03

1 Answer 1

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I think you guys are missing something: bare links automatically get descriptions if the links are within the SE Network.

Example: Require link text for hyperlinks in questions and answers by disabling automatic hyperlinking of bare URLs

Another example, from Stack Overflow: How can I filter a DataSource before applying it to a ListView

Well, I think it would be cooler to pull the text from the <title> element of the hyperlink's target page, and paste that as the description on the bare link.

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  • Good point. I guess this would apply for any site other than the one on which the question is asked?
    – Chris Frederick
    Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 0:05
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    @Chris: Well, I think it would be cooler to pull the text from the <title> element of the hyperlink's target page, and paste that as the description on the bare link. :D
    – user102937
    Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 0:08
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    That would definitely be one cool way to handle bare URLs. Could you add that to your answer so that people can vote on it?
    – Chris Frederick
    Commented Jul 27, 2011 at 0:13
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    I just noticed that bare links do not get descriptions automatically in comments. Is this by design?
    – Chris Frederick
    Commented Aug 3, 2011 at 17:30

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