Isaac
Years ago
Linky: What it is and how to use it
Regular Hoops users may have noticed that I've added a little feature under the new topic/add reply text box. It allows you to create a "Linky" without leaving Hoops and easily copy and paste it into your post.
If you ever use TinyURL, you'll quickly understand what Linky is. Feed it a URL/web address of some length, and it'll give you a much shorter alias back (in the form: linky.com.au/xxxxx).
On top of that, a Linky allows you to track outgoing clicks, their source, and for other users to easily share it with others. I built Linky.com.au a few weeks ago just to see if anyone would use it, and hope to have time to fix a few things (timestamps on clicks are server time in the US, for example, and the statistics only show the last few weeks) over time.
Also, its use need not be limited to this forum. Sending a long link via email/MSN to a friend and they're struggling when it breaks as the line wraps? Make it a linky to get around that, plus see how many times it was clicked as a bonus.
For those posting on the forum who don't know HTML, it should make it pretty easy to add a clickable link:
Paste in your link (e.g., http://www.nba.com/), hit Go!, click in the resulting box, Ctrl-C to paste the code, select where you want the link to be, and Ctrl-V to paste it in.
(Of course, abuse it, and it's a one-way ticket to BanTown.)
If you are linking off to another site or article, create a Linky and then see how many people actually click through to read it.
If you've got any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
