5 FAQ tagged with links


Can I post a fundraiser, or a petition for a worthy cause?

With caution. Open fundraisers (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc) can be touchy posts, and you shouldn't post links to your own active fundraisers, ever. You can post the project once the fundraising period has ended. Petitions and related "like our cause on Facebook"-style campaigns rarely make good posts for MetaFilter. Linking to the work of someone who has a Patreon, but who also has content available outside of donor-locked Patreon posts, is usually okay.
(tags: ) March 1, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

How do I make a link? Can I use HTML in my posts?

There are two ways to make a link: type it in, or use the automated buttons.

To type it in: If you know how to use HTML, you can use an abbreviated list of HTML tags in your posts, including a, b, blockquote, center, em, i, li, ol, pre, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, and ul. You can just type them into the compose/comment box.

To add italics, for example, you would type: <em>italicized phrase</em>
which shows as: italicized phrase

To add a link to example.com you would type: <a href="http://example.com">here is a link to example.com</a>
which shows as: here is a link to example.com

UBB code does not work in MetaFilter. Not all HTML is allowed. If you stick to simple text formatting (b, strong, i, em, a) and lists (ul/li/ol) you'll be ok. Things like tables, embedded video code, javascript, images, and inline styles will be stripped out. There is also a restriction on using html to make the words "posted by" in small size in comments, to keep people from making comments that look like they're being posted by others.

Using the buttons: If you use a modern browser, you'll see B/I/link buttons below the compose/comment box that you can use to add basic formatting. To make a link using the button, you highlight the word or phrase you want to be the link text (like the phrase "here is a link to example.com" above), click the link button, and type or paste the URL into the box that appears.

Here's a short video showing how to use the buttons to insert HTML.
(tags: ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What are self-links? Are self-links ever okay on any part of the site?

"Self-links" are links to your own site, or your own work, or a site that you host or contribute to substantially, or to a site of someone who is a client or business partner, or a site/event/cause you're promoting either professionally or as any kind of quid pro quo.

It is never okay to include a self-link in a front page post you make on Metafilter's community blog. People who self-link in the post text of front page posts on MetaFilter will have their posts removed and their account banned. It is never okay to use MetaFilter as a promotional tool. Transparency and honesty are important to the community and we rely on users to abide by the guidelines and participate honestly.

On Ask MetaFilter, questions that seem to be thinly veiled promotion or self-promotion will be removed. Questions that seem to be being asked with the intent to promote a poster's product or service, or client/friend's product or service, will be removed and the participating accounts banned. If you are unsure about a specific example, please contact us.

Linking to your own site in an Ask MetaFilter question is only okay if it has something specific to do with the question being asked and is necessary for people to provide an answer, for example "Can you look at my logo and tell me why everyone thinks it looks like a devil?" or "What else do I need to do to this website to make it ADA compliant?" (Even then, an extra-safe move is to link your site on your profile page and tell people they can see it by going through your profile.) Other self-links will be removed. AskMe posts that look like link-heavy MeFi posts or other promotional posts with a question tacked to the end of it are not okay.

In comments, in well-defined circumstances, self-links can be okay. Including a link to your own site in a Metafilter comment is okay provided that it has some relevance to the topic being discussed, and you clearly disclose your affiliation to the site or site-owner, and this type of comment is not your only form of site participation. Random off-topic insertions of self-links into other posts are discouraged and such links may be removed and result in a ban. Similarly, linking to your own content in AskMe answers is okay to do occasionally and with disclosure. People who seem to be self-linking continually, or seemingly with spammy intent may have their content removed and their account banned.

It is perfectly okay--even encouraged--to put a link to your own site in your profile, to post your own music to Music, post your web projects to Projects, and to post a job for your organization or post your own job availability in Jobs.

We've lifted the long-time prohibition on friend-linking, i.e. making MetaFilter posts about work that's not your own but which is by someone you have a friendship with or personal connection to. Any such posts still need to be fundamentally good MetaFilter posts in their own right, and to not be posted with promotional or "this will help my friend out" intent. In short, it needs to be something that you unambiguously would have chosen to post even if you didn't know that person at all. See this MetaTalk thread for more detail.
(tags: ) May 10, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why is there a referral code on the Amazon link in that post?

In early 2006 Matt changed the way that Amazon links are handled. The MetaFilter associates ID is added to all Amazon links and any other referral codes are stripped out. This means when someone buys a thing from Amazon thru a link from here, MetaFilter gets a small amount of money, which helps to fund the site, paying for the servers and moderation staff. If you want to help the site but don't want to use Amazon, here's a list of other ways to help fund Mefi.
(tags: ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Should I use an URL shortener or link shortener, like I would on Twitter?

Please don't. There's no length limit here, and it's better if people can see what they're clicking on. Mods will expand short URLs when they see them. There is a difference, however, between site-specific URL shorteners like youtu.be and nytim.es and link shortening sites such as is.gs and j.mp, where the former is okay if not preferred while the latter is something we'd prefer people avoid. People who use link shorteners as a way of sketchily hiding affiliate codes may risk having their account banned.
(tags: ) July 25, 2011 - permalink - back to questions