Trick for Freespace Profile Links

Question

When you create a freespace profile, you probably intend to use it numerous times in profiles of people connected to it.  I use the scratch pad at my Nav Home Page to save the link and avoid having to construct one for each use.  If you save the complete working link on the scratch pad, it appears as a link rather than Wiki code.  If you try to copy it, you open the freespace page instead of selecting the code for copy.  To get to the Wiki code, you have to edit the scratch pad - to me an annoying and time-wasting extra step when I'm on a WikiRoll.

Here's the trick:  save the link on your scratch pad in a deliberately broken state. I do this by deleting the first square bracket, such as [Space:Crescent_River_Port_Pilots_Association|Crescent River Port Pilots Association (CRPPA)]].  Now it appears on the scratch pad as code (almost), instead of as a link.  When I need it, I copy it off the scratch pad (which I don't have to open for editing), then type one bracket and paste.

The same trick works for Categories, templates, etc.

Cheers,

Herb

Comments

Herb, You might try using the tag:  <nowiki>, then whatever you want to show up as text, followed by the closing tag:  <nowiki />.  I'm not sure if this will work as it is intended on the scratchpad, but it's probably worth a try to see.

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Thanks, Gaile!  I just tried it.  It puts the working link between the <nowiki><nowiki /> tags.  <nowiki></nowiki> does the same.  :(

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Aww, sorry 'bout 'dat.  Since that doesn't work, the next trick up my sleeve probably won't either, but that would be to use the entity code instead of the characters that identify tags, for example:

To display <b>this text is bold</b> as exactly that text instead of making the text bold and not displaying the <b> and </b>, type:

&lt;b&gt;this text is bold&lt;/b&gt;

Please accept apology in advance if I'm sending you on another wild goose chase!

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No worries, I appreciate the help.  I don't even have to try it, though, because WT did it for me..  When I edited the scratch pad to insert the <nowiki> codes, then saved it and re-opened it, the '<' had been converted to '&lt;' and so on, and it still doesn't work.

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OK - last ditch effort and I *KNOW* this will work - it's just a bit more nuisance.

1. Open the edit page for your own profile and scroll to the end of the free text section (where you enter Biography and Sources). 
2. Press ENTER a couple of times to add some space, then put in the start tag for a comment:  <!-- and press ENTER
3. Put whatever you want after that - think of it as a scratch-pad.
4. When you're done, press ENTER again and put in the end tag for the comment:   -->
5. Save

​​That will not display anything on your profile page, but will always be there for you to see on the Edit page.  You can copy it from there to paste elsewhere.

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Excellent alternative!  It's always good to have another way, that fits better for some users.  For me, I tend to keep a tab open to my Nav page, showing the scratch pad.  If it's not open, it's always just a couple clicks away.  I seldom open my own profile for editing.

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Well, if you use a comment section at the end of the edit page of your profile then you could keep that page open in another tab and think of it as your scratch pad - it's so much more useful than the one on your nav page since you have plain text there, plus it's a much wider space than that itty bitty text box on the nave page.

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Herb --

Another suggestion: You could add what you're keeping on your scratchpad to a free space page, and the <nowiki></nowiki> tags will work there. This way, you can have that tab open while you're working, and you won't have to go into Edit mode to get to the codes you want to use.

Also, to quickly get to that free space page (and others you use frequently?), you could set up a folder on your bookmarks toolbar that contains the pages you want to get to quickly and often.

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Thanks Julie.

Answer 1

Another way of doing it is by using a Clipboard Manager (I use Ditto).  It's like having a WT Scratch Pad open at all times in a little window in the corner, and doesn't just work with WT.  I wish it hadn't taken me years to find it.

Comments

Yes, I use a text editor (Notepad) and I have a file named WikiTree Links and Formatting on there so I have all categories, links and templates all ready to cut and paste into any profile I want.

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Me Too, Crispin.  I have several notepads saved that if I am working on several profiles that all need the same category, but I am likely to be Copying and pasting other things too, I can just grab it quickly from my notepad app.  I have one with lots of different Civil War categories, one saved with different cemetaries, etc.

Answer 2

I use many headers and sub-headers on longer space pages and then I use their unique url as links on profiles. 

If I use the Space page as a source on profiles and by having Special:Whatlinkshere on the space page then I know every profile that refers to that page, a good checkpoint to make sure profiles of all mentioned on the space page have used that page as a source.