Anybody know how to use a URL with square brackets in inline citations?

Question

I have a source that uses square brackets (http://pdrprod.bbaw.de/webfrontend/3-0/index.php?cat=8&projekt[4]=on&projekt[5]=on&projekt[6]=on&projekt[7]=on&projekt[8]=on&projekt[11]=on&projekt[14]=on&projekt[202]=on&pdrId=pdrPo.001.008.000053264&filter=filter). Anybody with a way to use that as inline citation without the square brackets messing it up?

Answer 1

Convert it to a tinyurl (or similar), it makes a nicer looking and easier to use citation anyways,

http://pdrprod.bbaw.de/webfrontend/3-0/index.php?cat=8&projekt[4]=on&projekt[5]=on&projekt[6]=on&projekt[7]=on&projekt[8]=on&projekt[11]=on&projekt[14]=on&projekt[202]=on&pdrId=pdrPo.001.008.000053264&filter=filter  

becomes

http://tinyurl.com/y8zwfn2d 

Comments

Probably the most elegant way.

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You should be able to simply use quotes around the URL

["URL" short name]

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apparently, I'm wrong -- still doesn't help.

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And just for testing, I tested with single quotes too, ['URL' name] and it didn't work either.

Answer 2

As far as I know the format is...

[ URL  Description]

So should look like this... [www.somesite.com  This is interesting]

EDIT...  opps my mistake. Your URL has sq brackes in it.

HTML code is   [ = &#91   and ] = &#93  you could try using those codes instead of the brackets.

Answer 3

You may have to replace the brackets with the appropriate ASCII code to prevent the conflict. The left bracket is ASCII 91 and the right is ASCII 93.

I'm testing the exact format you would use - my brain won't give me the precise format at the moment, but I'll get it here after a few tests.

Answer 4

Or if you want to keep the url as it is, encode the brackets

[ = %5B

] = %5D

and it will become like this

http://pdrprod.bbaw.de/webfrontend/3-0/index.php?cat=8&projekt%5B4%5D=on&projekt%5B5%5D=on&projekt%5B6%5D=on&projekt%5B7%5D=on&projekt%5B8%5D=on&projekt%5B11%5D=on&projekt%5B14%5D=on&projekt%5B202%5D=on&pdrId=pdrPo.001.008.000053264&filter=filter

Comments

Nice one - I was using the Decimal and it appears the Hex works properly. Great Job!

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I see - if you use the decimal, you have to do it like:

[ = %&91

and

] = %&93

Easier to use the Hex codes.

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Works well. Question - what's preferable for WikiTree, tinyurl or replacing the square brackets?

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Depends on whether you ask an old programmer like me who is a bit rusty, but can still figure it out - vs. someone who probably doesn't how hex code from a hole in the ground, and might have to edit the profile someday.

Of course the same could be said for tinyurl, which is still a learning process to use. I myself have never used tinyurl, but I understand the principle and it's not terribly hard to learn. Picking up ASCII code, learning how to insert it (several examples above), and making sure it works takes a bit more work.

I can see your point. It's probably easier for me to learn tinyurl than to teach everyone ASCII.

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An alternative to tinyurl is goo.gl

https://goo.gl/

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I generally avoid clicking on tinyurl's, just because I have no idea where they lead.

Not sure if WikiTree has a specific policy concerning them.

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Helmut, I think it is a personal preference.  I personally think profiles with lots of embedded links are vastly easier to read and edit if shortened url's are used.

Dennis, I've heard this concern about shortened url's before, and I think it is really unjustified.  It is a very common device and the risk is exactly the same as clicking any other link.  Google has their own similar service, twitter has their own similar service, etc.  The number of shortened URLs out there is in the many billions.  All of the services actually screen out links to dangerous sites.  Even most of the links on wikitree you cannot see the root URL unless you take the time to look for it.  Do you really think coming across a tinyurl on wikitree entails any more risk than the dozens of links you click on out on the internet daily?  It is not a reasonable concern.

Rosemary, I do prefer tinyurl to goo.gl and t.co because neither google nor twitter guarantees they will maintain the links forever.

Scott, if you look at the tinyurl.com site you will see directions for adding a link/button to your toolbar.  There is nothing to learn.  It takes literally the time of a single click for me to convert any url to a tinyurl.

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...cannot see the root URL unless you take the time to look for it.

I do take the time to look for it. I like to know where I'm going before I get there :)

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So for every link to every profile and to every source on wikitree you first go into edit mode and try to find the url?  I don't believe you.  Here on G2G, if you use the link button just above as is usually done, you can't even do that (google.com , see what I mean).

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it displays at the bottom of my browser when I hover over the link -- so I can easily see that your link to Google, actually goes to Ancestry.com without having to click on it -- so yes, I check every link, before I click on it, and if I have doubts, I don't click it.

There's a lot of click-bait harvesting out there -- I know, I'm in the business. I know how its done.

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Are you one of those IT guys that makes me have 9 character passwords with at least 1 each of CAPS, small caps, numbers and symbols and then change it every three months?

Did you click on Helmut's link because i know you had no idea of where that was going to take you.  If you saw this reference:

  Hill, Don Gleason Hill ed.    ''Dedham Town Records, vol. 1: The Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Dedham, 1634-1845.'' (Dedham, Mass., 1886): [http://tinyurl.com/yclsjrme page 41].

Would you really be scared to click on the link to page 41?

To think there is any concern about a reference in a wikitree profile using a shortened URL is unreasonable paranoia.

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hahaha... yeah, no those guys annoy me too -- but I'm afraid I'm cut from the same cloth :)

nope... as soon as I see that the link for "page 41" goes to "tinyurl...blah,blah,blah" -- I won't click it :)

paranoia - sure. unreasonable - I don't think so :)

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I agree with Dennis :)

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I'm with Dennis and Maria as well. If I can't see the actual URL when I hover over it, and it doesn't match what it says on the page, then I get nervous - unfortunately, that's how spammers get you to click on things that have the potential to load malware or viruses, and as much as places like tinyurl do their best to control it, I can't imagine that they're foolproof.

So unfortunately, when I encounter one of those links, and I feel like I have to click on it, I kind of feel like the bomb disposal unit being told to click the blue wire... and hoping it's the right one.