An issue with creating hyperlinks

Discussion created by xander_bakker on Aug 2, 2014
Latest reply on Sep 7, 2015 by timothy_hales-esristaff
Branched from an earlier discussion

Like • Show 1 Like1
Comment • 20

Hi Jim Barry,

It sounds great incorporating the ideas site and others into GeoNet.

Perhaps off-topic, but I'm not sure I completely like what GeoNet does to any link included in a post (the "auto-title"). Just look at the links below, that link to the Home REST folders of 3 different sample servers:

Folder: /

I noticed you can click on the link, a "hyperlink/insert link" icon appears and allows you to change between auto-title, bare url and "un-link".

Now, when writing a post, place your cursor on a hyperlink and click on the "insert link" button. This will remove the actual hyperlink and leave the "auto-title" text, which in the case above is not very useful. I think there is some room for enhancement here...

Kind regards, Xander

Outcomes

20 Replies

jbarry-esristaff Aug 4, 2014 5:20 PM
Yes, I've noticed this too. GeoNet (specifically, Jive) sometimes gets a little too helpful when it comes to URLs, especially URLs to other content and people within GeoNet, but also external links. There are times I actually want to show the URL or have a bit more control over what the hypertext looks like and where it goes.

One alternative is this. When you click the "Insert Link" hypertext tool, then enter the URL, and then it changes the hypertext label to "Folder /", you can click the HTML button on the editor window and change it there.

For example, here's what the link looks like when I just use the Insert Link tool:

Folder: /

But then here's what it looks like after I edit the HTML of my reply:

http://sampleserver1.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services
1 person found this helpful
Like • Show 3 Likes3
Actions
- iamurray @ jbarry-esristaff on Jul 10, 2015 1:35 PM
  Another issue is sometimes hyperlinks when directly accessed through GeoNet don't route correctly to the address.
  
  Example:
  
  Samuel Tompsett's response in thread Parcel Editing - getting started.
  
  On click for this hyperlink:
  
  https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url=http://training.esri.com/gateway/index.cfm?fa=catalog.courseDetail&Course… , which should take you to the specific course, with the the link he posted takes you here Esri Training Catalog, because of geonet.esri.com/external_link.jspa.
  
  If you parse the link to remove the geonet.esri.com portion, then it takes you to the direct course listing
  
  Esri Training | Editing and Maintaining Parcels Using ArcGIS
  
  I've noticed this before as have several other users. It may have been brought up before, but thought it was worth bringing up again.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - rscheitlin @ iamurray on Jul 10, 2015 1:40 PM
    Ian,
    
    This is known Jive issue and is scheduled to be address with the update to GeoNet that will happen this evening.
    3 people found this helpful
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
    - iamurray @ rscheitlin on Jul 10, 2015 1:58 PM
      I thought it had been brought up but couldn't find the thread for it, this was the closest one I could find.
      
      Thanks for the info
      Like • Show 0 Likes0
      Actions
      - rscheitlin @ iamurray on Jul 11, 2015 3:30 PM
        Ian,
        
        It seems to be fixed now.
        1 person found this helpful
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        xander_bakker @ rscheitlin on Jul 11, 2015 4:47 PM
        Let's do a little test...
        
        Pasted URL from resources 10.2.2
        ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)
        
        URL from "insert link":
        Polygon (arcpy)
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        xander_bakker @ xander_bakker on Jul 11, 2015 4:49 PM
        ... nope, it still inserts the "https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url= " before the URL and that causes the link to go to http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.2/index.html instead of to http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.2/index.html#/Polygon/018z00000061000000/
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        rscheitlin @ xander_bakker on Jul 12, 2015 11:16 AM
        Xander,
        
        OK I see the issue that you are having and the one I was having are not the same. The issue I reported to Timothy was that URL parameters were being dropped from links. That particular issue is now fixed with the last maintenance release of Jive.
        1 person found this helpful
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        xander_bakker @ rscheitlin on Jul 12, 2015 11:30 AM
        Thanks Robert Scheitlin, GISP for the explanation.
        
        Timothy Hales do you have any news on the particular case that "https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url= " is inserted before the link and the fact that it seems to omit everything after the # in an URLlike: http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.2/index.html#/Polygon/018z00000061000000/ ? It makes the URL useless since it will go to the index page...
        1 person found this helpful
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        timothy_hales-esristaff @ xander_bakker on Jul 13, 2015 5:57 AM
        It looks like this one is a little different. I have logged a case with Jive. Thanks for letting me know!
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
        Dan_Patterson @ timothy_hales-esristaff on Jul 13, 2015 6:16 AM
        In the interim use the 10.3 help...it works for some reason whereas the same topic in 10.2.x doesn't
        
        main page: Help | ArcGIS Resources
        ArcGIS/Map Help | ArcGIS for Desktop
        1 person found this helpful
        Like • Show 0 Likes0
        Actions
  - Dan_Patterson @ iamurray on Jul 10, 2015 1:42 PM
    And similarly for the online help
    10.2 help on Introduction to Arcpy Mapping ArcGIS Help (10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2)
    10.3 help on Introduction to Arcpy Mapping Introduction to arcpy.mapping—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop
    Which do you prefer (obviously the latter), but it would be nice to dump the Help | .... section which isn't really necessary within GeoNet
    1 person found this helpful
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
timothy_hales-esristaff Jul 13, 2015 6:58 AM
I think it has something to do with the meta behind the webpage.
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
timothy_hales-esristaff Aug 3, 2015 6:54 PM
Just wanted to give an update to the issue where the hyperlink gets broken when a "#" is in the URL. This was introduced with the June 30^th update. It only affects new links added since that date. You can go into the HTML of the content and replace the number sign with "#". It doesn't look like they are going to have this fixed until the 2015.3 release this fall.
6 people found this helpful
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
- rastrauch @ timothy_hales-esristaff on Aug 14, 2015 7:52 AM
  Tim, just FYI, I haven't had much luck with the "#" solution....maybe because I keep forgetting the sequence. But I'm finding Jim Barry's suggestion (first comment) to work the best.
  
  I sure hope the next update fixes this. It can be a bit frustrating, since many posters aren't even aware of the issue, and since the auto-text looks correct, there is no reason them to go back and verify the links in their response. Even searching for the "auto-text" label provided does not always get the user to the help doc the poster was hoping to direct them.
  
  Do you know if the update will fix all those that are "broken" right now? or is it "time will tell"?
  
  Edit" the is what I meant be Jim's suggestion "One alternative is this. When you click the "Insert Link" hypertext tool, then enter the URL,"
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - Dan_Patterson @ rastrauch on Aug 14, 2015 8:10 AM
    which is why I use 10.3 links...not much different and they work
    2 people found this helpful
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
    - xander_bakker @ Dan_Patterson on Aug 14, 2015 8:14 AM
      I agree completely, that is the way to go...
      Like • Show 0 Likes0
      Actions
  - timothy_hales-esristaff @ rastrauch on Aug 14, 2015 8:25 AM
    That was the suggestion provided by Jive. This bug is my top priority with Jive. I have been pushing to get a patch, but there are only a couple of their customers that use this link structure. They currently have it scheduled to be fix in their next release this fall.
    
    The issue only applies to new links added since the last release. If you notice new urls now have a prefix url (https://community.esri.com/external-link.jspa?url=). Jive add this as a security measure to prevent the misuse of external links.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
    Actions
    - rastrauch @ timothy_hales-esristaff on Aug 14, 2015 9:53 AM
      Thanks Tim. I agree with Dan that 10.3 help links work better, but personally I have a harder time finding topics in the 10.3 structure (personal issue) and browser searches for help topics, even when specifying 10.3 in the search topic still come up with 10.0 links. I've cleared browsers, etc, and different machines/browsers/searches and still turn up with 10.0 links....not even 10.1/10.2 This has been an issue for a long time for me. Personally , I have a harder time searching the help system these days that geonet ...and I do a lot of searching (usually browser based). Just a comment.
      Like • Show 1 Like1
      Actions
timothy_hales-esristaff Sep 7, 2015 3:25 AM
The issue with the urls that contain a number sign (#) redirecting to the index page has been fixed with the September 7, 2015 Jive patch. Please let me know if you continue to encounter issues with the URLs from ArcGIS Help. Thanks!
4 people found this helpful
Like • Show 1 Like1
Actions

GeoNet

The Esri Community

An issue with creating hyperlinks

Outcomes

Related Content

Recommended Content

Incoming Links