Is there any reason for why we only match the links in the bot-message? I as a user would assume that the task is to paste any link and get a onebox out of it. I wouldn’t neccessarily copy one of the links from the bot and I don’t think that we especially need the user to copy the link. The learning the user should have is that there are oneboxes, and this learning is made with every link, not just those in the bots message.
Not every link results in a onebox. For example https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beghilos
The goal of this step in the tutorial is not just to get the user to insert any link, but to show what’s special about a onebox.
I actually also assumed that, as before the change by martin in February, it would first try to find a general onebox and if that fails, it would check the links as an alternative. Because these links are also suitable for adapting the text to one’s own community. I have already adapted the tutorial with completely different links to match the forum and the company behind it. So the problem doesn’t just affect foreign-language forums.
I'm quoting my message to Gerhard from early April here
I noticed that one of the 3 German Wikipedia links in the Discobot tutorial is no longer working because the corresponding article was deleted at the beginning of 2023. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beghilos
It should therefore be replaced so that new users in particular are not confused by being shown a feature with an example that doesn’t work.
Are there ways to prevent something like this from happening again and then nobody notices it for 2 years?
So is it sensible to choose less funny Wikipedia articles, because then the risk of deletion is lower? Or do you choose other sources instead of Wikipedia and link, for example, to websites where you have control that the links work, like Discourse Discover and the blog post with tips for new users.
If I understand the comment on the PR, which is linked here, correctly, then the fix for other links doesn’t work anyway.
This will fall down if someone customizes the onebox
step text, or if the user uses a different link instead,
but we are willing to accept that risk at this time to simplify things.
Because this affects not only individual customizations, but all links that are not identical to the English ones, including those in the German tutorial. I also have the impression that the problem affects not only very fast users who submit before the onebox is loaded in the preview, but also all those who use the mobile version, where no preview is displayed at all. The fact that the fix only works for the predefined links would be a reason for me to use the English links in the German localization as well. However, it then seems translated to me and not like an authentic German tutorial.
As a compromise, I could also imagine leaving the 3 links from the first step different from the English original and changing the 2nd step, if no onebox was recognized on the first attempt, so that the reliably working English link is there, but this would only be seen by users for whom the onebox recognition has already failed and who therefore need the fix with the specified links.
However, this should then perhaps also be ensured in the code by making it impossible for translators to adjust this link, but the placeholder %{link} is directly specified.
What do you think?
Just another link? Another funny Wikipedia article?
A switch to the English links?
Another link and if it’s not recognized, an English link in the 2nd step?
Here are the messages from Discobot in question
Excellent! Now you can easily find our conversation again at any time via the bookmarks tab on your profile. Just select your profile picture in the top right ⬆️
Next up: Can you share one of these links with me? Reply with a link on its own line and it will automatically be expanded into a nice, short summary.
To copy a link, tap and hold on mobile devices or right-click with your mouse:
Then we should check wether the link works. That should be kind of implementable. Or we just extract the links from the message the bot sends and check for that links instead of a static list.
I’m not sure whether any changes are worth the effort right now. The @team disabled the Discobot tutorial welcome message on most forums in August and was discussing removing Discobot entirely.
