# Website Links pasted into a Topic

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [September 17, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858 "2021-09-17T23:10:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ideas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba9def/32.png) [@ideas](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ideas)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/1 "2021-09-17T23:10:38Z")

</div>

Website Links are automatically expanded to provide additional context and information. What meta data is discourse reading and how is it formatted (e.g. Facebook’s Open Graph).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![JammyDodger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jammydodger/32/254611_2.png) [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2021, 8:57am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/2 "2021-09-18T08:57:19Z")

</div>

Is this any help?

> [@Creating rich link previews with Onebox](https://meta.discourse.org/t/rich-link-previews-with-onebox/98088):
>
> bookmark This is a guide for creating rich link previews with Onebox in Discourse. It explains how to create Oneboxes, use inline Oneboxing, avoid Oneboxing, use hyperlinks, and handle advanced iFrames. person_raising_hand Required user level: All users Onebox converts your web links into useful preview excerpts that help inform readers about the target before they click through. Summary This guide covers how to: Create Oneboxes Use inline Oneboxing Avoid Oneboxing Use hyperlinks ins…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ideas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba9def/32.png) [@ideas](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ideas)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2021, 9:01am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/3 "2021-09-18T09:01:07Z")

</div>

Hello Jammy

It has to work automatically for the Forum Users. However, oEmbed might be the clue I need, perhaps that is what Discourse scrapes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ideas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba9def/32.png) [@ideas](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ideas)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2021, 9:31am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/4 "2021-09-18T09:31:30Z")

</div>

… or you mean OneBox is what provides Discourse with the capability? I currently do not have a forum on my website but I want my website links to be expanded by the Discourse Forums I belong to.

For example the MIT App Inventor Forum uses Discourse and does expand some website links, but not mine. I have Open Graph property tags and my links are expanded by WhatsApp and LinkedIn, but not by Discourse, hence my Topic.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![JammyDodger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jammydodger/32/254611_2.png) [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2021, 9:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/5 "2021-09-18T09:48:33Z")

</div>

I’m afraid I don’t have in-depth knowledge of the inner workings, but the guide above has some tips on what information Discourse needs to be able to Onebox:

> [@Creating rich link previews with Onebox](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-rich-link-previews-with-onebox/98088/1):
>
> Once you’ve pasted the link, behind the scenes, [onebox](https://github.com/discourse/onebox) visits the destination page and checks for [Open Graph](http://ogp.me/) or [oEmbed](https://oembed.com/) tags, including:
> 
> - site address
> - title
> - feature image
> - description (mandatory)
> - product price
> 
> > ⚠ Please note that Discourse _does_ require the description tag to be present and contain enough text to summarize the page, or the target link will not onebox.

And a couple of troubleshooting tips too:

> [@Creating rich link previews with Onebox](https://meta.discourse.org/t/creating-rich-link-previews-with-onebox/98088/1):
>
> ### Troubleshooting
> 
> If Onebox is not working as expected, please check the following:
> 
> - Test your site by pasting the link into [iFramely](https://iframely.com/embed); check that the target is using correct OpenGraph or oEmbed meta tags for content. And remember the description text is _required_ in Discourse!
> - Verify that the onebox request to the target website has not been blocked by `user-agent` . Some WordPress hosts frequently block “unknown” user agents.

How do they stack up compared to your existing metadata?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ideas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ba9def/32.png) [@ideas](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ideas)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/website-links-pasted-into-a-topic/203858/7 "2021-09-18T10:08:50Z")

</div>

Actually, sounds like my existing Open Graph tags should work with Discourse. Lets see what iFramely thinks…

Well, works perfectly on iFramely, including the mobile representation.

For some reason I cannot fathom, it is now working on Discourse (tested on the MIT Forum). The arrangement of the data is different to other platforms, including the iFramely test, but at least it works.

Your help very much appreciated JammyDodger, thank you.
