# Plugin Request: Website Thumbnail Previewer

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [June 5, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982 "2017-06-05T19:39:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![jlippiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@jlippiner](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jlippiner)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982/1 "2017-06-05T19:39:37Z")

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I’d LOVE a website thumbnail preview plugin, similar to what Slack does, when someone posts a URL. As an example, here is what Slack does:

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/9/1/914362c950710bb5cb9e5007013252e11b48376a.png)

Would it be possible for someone to create something like this or does it not fall into the architecture?

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### Author: ![tobiaseigen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tobiaseigen/32/539204_2.png) [@tobiaseigen](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tobiaseigen)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982/2 "2017-06-05T19:40:57Z")

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I think you’re talking about oneboxing. If the site supports it, we get a pretty summary as in your screenshot. Like below. To get this effect, put the URL on its own with a blank line above and below.

> **[Where Tech Companies Build Communities](https://www.discourse.org)**
>
> The customizable, scalable community platform powering over 22,000 communities. Create knowledge through conversation.

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### Author: ![pfaffman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/pfaffman/32/120154_2.png) [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982/3 "2017-06-05T21:28:37Z")

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Well, from his words, he wants something that will make a thumbnail of the site itself, which I think would be pretty cool (for sites that don’t do oneboxes?). From his example, he wants a onebox.

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### Author: ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/plugin-request-website-thumbnail-previewer/63982/4 "2017-06-05T22:40:14Z")

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I dunno, the difference between this (screenshot of a website) and the existing oneboxing based on opengraph and oembed tags is pretty slim.

I guess you would only do it if the target site has no opengraph or oembed tags, but even then, is a tiny screenshot of the website really that useful or interesting? I would say no..