# Start a topic by pasting a link (like Reddit)
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071
**Category:** Announcements
**Tags:** new-feature, featured-link
**Created:** [6. Dezember 2016 um 00:18 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071 "2016-12-06T00:18:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@neil](https://meta.discourse.org/u/neil)
#### Post date: [20. Dezember 2016 um 19:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/42 "2016-12-20T19:30:59Z")
> [@tgxworld](#):
>
> It seems like topic featured links are not allowed in uncategorized but when editing a category it shows the “Allow featured links in this category” checkbox.
Hmm yeah I don’t think that’s intended. But that raises the question of how to control whether you’re allowed to post featured link topics as uncategorized. I guess a new site setting for that. Wait I’m dumb. Uncategorized is a category and already has the setting. Will fix this.
> [@tgxworld](#):
>
> Another thing I noted is that if I paste the link first and change category, we’re not observing that change and allow the topic featured link to be created.
Once you paste the link and the automatic stuff happens, you’re free to edit the post as much as you want. When you change the category to one that doesn’t allow links to be featured, then it means topic lists won’t give a shortcut to the external url. Do you think the composer fields should be cleared when changing the category?
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### Author:  [@neil](https://meta.discourse.org/u/neil)
#### Post date: [20. Dezember 2016 um 20:56 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/43 "2016-12-20T20:56:45Z")
I fixed permission to use featured links with uncategorized topics. You control it the same way as other categories.
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### Author:  [@mcwumbly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcwumbly)
#### Post date: [20. Dezember 2016 um 22:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/44 "2016-12-20T22:21:11Z")
I still think having some checkbox or other indicator that transparently shows whether the link will be featured is worth considering and might help for this scenario.
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### Author:  [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)
#### Post date: [21. Dezember 2016 um 01:17 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/45 "2016-12-21T01:17:05Z")
> [@neil](#):
>
> When you change the category to one that doesn’t allow links to be featured, then it means topic lists won’t give a shortcut to the external url. Do you think the composer fields should be cleared when changing the category?
Oops. What I meant was the other way round. When a category doesn’t allow a topic link, the URL stays in the title even after you select a category that allows it.
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### Author:  [@ChrisBeach](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ChrisBeach)
#### Post date: [21. Dezember 2016 um 02:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/46 "2016-12-21T02:10:37Z")
Confusingly, when clicking “New Topic” from the homepage, I don’t get the option to paste a featured link. But I do if I choose a category. I haven’t changed any settings except to globally enable featured links. Is this a bug?
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### Author:  [@neil](https://meta.discourse.org/u/neil)
#### Post date: [21. Dezember 2016 um 16:08 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/47 "2016-12-21T16:08:55Z")
Hmm, that’s a case where your site doesn’t allow topics without a category. You’re being prompted to “Select a category…”, and form doesn’t know if featured links are allowed. In that case it should be fine to allow pasting a link.
> [@tgxworld](#):
>
> the URL stays in the title even after you select a category that allows it.
Yeah makes sense that the composer should try to handle that case.
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### Author:  [@DanielMarquard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/DanielMarquard)
#### Post date: [21. Dezember 2016 um 16:16 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/48 "2016-12-21T16:16:34Z")
I love this feature!
I’ve written a browser plugin that allows users to click a toolbar button while browsing to share the page’s URL in a new Discourse topic. Unfortunately, it does not work when [creating a pre-filled topic via URL](https://meta.discourse.org/t/compose-a-new-pre-filled-topic-via-url/28074).
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### Author:  [@neil](https://meta.discourse.org/u/neil)
#### Post date: [21. Dezember 2016 um 21:30 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/49 "2016-12-21T21:30:53Z")
> [@neil](#):
>
> Hmm, that’s a case where your site doesn’t allow topics without a category. You’re being prompted to “Select a category…”, and form doesn’t know if featured links are allowed. In that case it should be fine to allow pasting a link.
Fix this case today. You can paste a link before choosing the category and get the onebox behaviour.
> [@tgxworld](#):
>
> When a category doesn’t allow a topic link, the URL stays in the title even after you select a category that allows it.
Added support for this today.
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### Author:  [@stabares](https://meta.discourse.org/u/stabares)
#### Post date: [1. Januar 2017 um 15:11 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/50 "2017-01-01T15:11:48Z")
Does this work for any link?
I’m trying to make a new post with this link [[http://gokifu.com/](http://gokifu.com/)
] and nothing happens. Linking to youtube homepage doesn’t work either, but links to a video works.
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### Author:  [@alehandrof](https://meta.discourse.org/u/alehandrof)
#### Post date: [6. Januar 2017 um 16:49 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/51 "2017-01-06T16:49:55Z")
Is it possible to edit/revise an existing topic so that it behaves in this Reddit-like fashion (i.e., so that it displays the external link in the topic list)?
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### Author:  [@Orajnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Orajnam)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 02:48 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/52 "2017-01-24T02:48:47Z")
> [@stabares](#):
>
> Does this work for any link?
I just tried with a link to this topic and, like you describe, nothing happens. I copied:
`https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071?u=orajnam`
into “Create a new topic” and it seemed to be ignored. Other links worked as expected and were oneboxed fine.
---
### Author:  [@ChrisBeach](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ChrisBeach)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 06:20 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/53 "2017-01-24T06:20:48Z")
I’ve also found that it doesn’t work for all links. For links that aren’t supported, the user ought to get some feedback rather than no response.
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### Author:  [@tgxworld](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tgxworld)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 06:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/54 "2017-01-24T06:50:19Z")
Hmm where did you try this?
I tested on [try.discourse.org](http://try.discourse.org) and it worked ok
[https://try.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/624](https://try.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/624)
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### Author:  [@ljpp](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ljpp)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 07:37 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/55 "2017-01-24T07:37:29Z")
@codinghorror This feature does not seem to work if there is a template defined for the category. Pasting a link to topic title field does nothing.
The same link works in a category that does not have a template.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 09:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/56 "2017-01-24T09:00:07Z")
Hmm, does this conflict with templates @neil?
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### Author:  [@neil](https://meta.discourse.org/u/neil)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 15:51 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/57 "2017-01-24T15:51:01Z")
It doesn’t work with category topic templates. The body of the composer has something in it. Should the onebox happen and replace the body?
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 16:13 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/58 "2017-01-24T16:13:02Z")
> [@neil](#):
>
> Should the onebox happen and replace the body?
Maybe prepend? Replacing can be a bad surprise 😄
---
### Author:  [@Orajnam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Orajnam)
#### Post date: [24. Januar 2017 um 22:46 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/59 "2017-01-24T22:46:34Z")
> [@tgxworld](#):
>
> where did you try this?
[https://forum.manjaro.org/t/new-discourse-feature-start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/16292?u=orajnam](https://forum.manjaro.org/t/new-discourse-feature-start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/16292?u=orajnam)
**Edit:** When I tried a Youtube link on the same site it worked fine:
[https://forum.manjaro.org/t/the-vulkan-graphics-api-what-it-means-for-linux/16329?u=orajnam](https://forum.manjaro.org/t/the-vulkan-graphics-api-what-it-means-for-linux/16329?u=orajnam)
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [15. Februar 2017 um 01:48 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/60 "2017-02-15T01:48:40Z")
When I try pasting this URL into the title bar, it doesn’t get automatically pushed down:
> **[Sustainable Open Source](https://writing.jan.io/2015/11/20/sustainable-open-source.html)**
And it’s not recognised as a link:
Same for [https://opensource.guide](https://opensource.guide), [https://karissa.github.io/post/okf-de](https://karissa.github.io/post/okf-de) and [http://sarah.thesharps.us/2015/10/06/what-makes-a-good-community/](http://sarah.thesharps.us/2015/10/06/what-makes-a-good-community/).
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### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [15. Februar 2017 um 02:03 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/start-a-topic-by-pasting-a-link-like-reddit/54071/61 "2017-02-15T02:03:06Z")
> [@erlend\_sh](#):
>
> [Sustainable Open Source](http://writing.jan.io/2015/11/20/sustainable-open-source.html)
This one has no HTML `` neither OpenGraph nor oEmbed support.
Facebook does the heavy lift for you, by using the first `` as a title, and a random content inside the firsts `
` as the description. It would also use the first `![]()
` as the image, but this page has none.
I would love for Onebox to do the same, but I’m not sure if the risks (more resource use, more attack vectors) are worth it 🤔.
> [@erlend\_sh](#):
>
> Same for [https://opensource.guide](https://opensource.guide)
This works for me.
> [@erlend\_sh](#):
>
> [https://karissa.github.io/post/okf-de](https://karissa.github.io/post/okf-de)
This returns a 404 error with content, that’s crazy.
> [@erlend\_sh](#):
>
> [http://sarah.thesharps.us/2015/10/06/what-makes-a-good-community/](http://sarah.thesharps.us/2015/10/06/what-makes-a-good-community/).
This one also doesn’t support OpenGraph, so it’s the same case as the first, we would need to do extra work.
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