Last modified: 2013-06-18 16:44:27 UTC
At a conference I met a group of scientists who have a problem citing Wikipedia. They wanted to have a URL that always shows that specific version of the article ... I showed them the permalink and got as a reaction that this is what should always show as the URL. What they want will never be implemented, but what may be possible is to have a user preference that will show a permalink type URL for the latest version. This should then be enabled from within the user preferences. Thanks, GerardM
They have problems with going/getting to "Cite this page" in the side toolbar?
Indeed, all you ask for is already there. Reopen this bug if not. $ lynx -dump -nolist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucana | grep -A 9 Toolbox|sed '/^$/d' Toolbox * What links here * Related changes * Upload file * Special pages$ * Printable version * Permanent link * Cite this page P.S., I on the other hand cannot fathom offering users links to soon-to-be-stale versions of articles, therefore my in LocalSettings.php, >function JidanniLessSkinMess($sktemplate,$nav_urls){$nav_urls['permalink']=$nav_urls['print']=false;return true;} >$wgHooks['SkinTemplateBuildNavUrlsNav_urlsAfterPermalink'][]='JidanniLessSkinMess'; zaps the permalink, along with the paper wasting non-green Print link for good measure.
Jidanny, I am well aware that there is an OPTION on the sidebar to show the permalink. The request is to show the permalink ALWAYS when you move from article to article. It is also "nice" that you cannot fathom why people very much involved in proper citation want this. What they are looking for is a localsetting that can be selected from the preferences and one that is available to everyone. Having an option as a consequence of your work is only relevant when it is indeed available to all. Until that time, it is an open request. Thanks, GerardM
Inclined to say either INVALID or WORKSFORME. The left panel has the permanent version link (in core MW) and the cite page link (with Cite installed), both of which clearly give the permalink URL. I'm pretty sure there's not enough people wanting this to warrant adding an new user pref for this (maybe a Gadget/userscript though?)
When it works for you, it does not follow that it works for others. There are people for whom this would be really beneficial and even spoke at conferences about this. Thanks, GerardM
The "normal" URL and the oldid URL are not the same thing - substituting one for the other would be wrong -> INVALID The permalink is available already -> WORKSFORME I'm really not sure why this has been re-opened, other than the assertion (without any rationale or argument) that this isn't good enough. Please explain /why/.
When you need to cite Wikipedia, you have a problem. The "normal" URL does not provide a valid reference because it does change. This adequately invalidates the notion that the two URL types are the same. They are inherently different. The permalink is available on the right hand side. The people that are looking for the option to have the permalink always on consider this insufficient. Thanks. Gerard
Please note that making links from one article to another point directly to the permalink URL is pretty much impossible, and if it were accomplished it would significantly reduce the effectiveness of the parser cache. A more viable solution would be to make the 'normal' URLs redirect to permalink ones.
This redirect would very much defeat the object because these people would copy the URL and paste it in their document. Also given that this would only be of interest for a very small group of people, all signed in, it is not likely to make much difference on the cache. Thanks, GerardM
(In reply to comment #9) > This redirect would very much defeat the object because these people would copy > the URL and paste it in their document. That issue exists only with #REDIRECT, which doesn't really redirect on the HTTP level but just shows a different page. An actual HTTP redirect doesn't have this issue. > Also given that this would only be of > interest for a very small group of people, all signed in, it is not likely to > make much difference on the cache. For parser cache effectiveness, it doesn't matter if the split is 50-50 or 90-10: as long as both options have a certain critical mass of people using them, effectiveness will be halved.
That sounds really good. Thanks Roan, GerardM
This is not something to be done via MediaWiki, not least for the cache fragmentation risk. You want a gadget or userscript, which could easily get the permanent link and display it prominently on the page, eg just below the page title - if the "permanent link" in the toolbox is really not handy enough.
