10 replies to this topic

[Stadtplan]

I'm mainly adding this for my own reference, there's a few things I forget how to do but come in handy every so often.  I thought this might be a good place (hope it doesn't already exist) to list these out.

 

How to Properly Embed a Youtube Video:

1) Hit Enter twice before inserting a new link and use this URL and add the unique video identifier from your specific youtube video after the "=" symbol.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

 

(for example I put an extra space after h so you could see the full URL: h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwnsN4UAX1I)

 

 

2) Highlight your link URL and use the Break Link button (next to the Link button) to break the backend link.

 

3) Hit Enter twice after your URL

 

4) Post

[Stadtplan]

How To Do Site-Specific Google Searches

 

I use this a lot when trying to find past posts and to verify if a thread or topic has been previously posted.  The Forum search feature has limitations you've probably noticed called "Flood Control" which I'm guessing restricts the amount of resources web crawlers, spiders and bots have to potentially drag down the forum site but it also has a 15-second hold on your next search.  This method below is a way around that and frankly just a heck of a lot quicker.  This in general is a good tip for doing website-specific research even beyond the forum, hope it helps you out!  

 

1) Go to Google

 

2) In the search field, type the Forum URL after the word "site:" with no space after the colon and then add one space and enter your search parameter which is anything you are looking for.  It would replace the brackets and words within the brackets below... 

 

site:http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/ [your search parameters]

 

for example try this...      site:http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/ Land Title Block building

 

Also works really well for other URL's like           site:http://fortworthtexas.gov/files/ 

 

[JBB]

To simplify it further, I've found that, if I go to Google, type in "fort worth forum" and my search terms, I get what I'm looking for.

[Stadtplan]

To simplify it further, I've found that, if I go to Google, type in "fort worth forum" and my search terms, I get what I'm looking for.

 

You can also add an operator after your search criterion to restrict results by filetype.  In your search field after you type what you're searching for add

 

filetype:PDF 

 

This is handy on the city website and other websites where you're looking for a specific PDF file.  I don't think we have too many PDF's on the forum, mostly photos and links to other sites.  Sort of old news from about 15 years ago but I'm surprised sometimes people don't realize there's advanced searching features available.

 

https://www.oberlo.c...advanced-search

[Stadtplan]

(I will try to add a few screen shots later)

To post photos:
-open a free Imgur account
-upload photos
-grab the image address URL from Imgur by right-clicking on a photo, select Copy Image Address.  (it must have a .jpg or .png at the end)

-go to the Forum thread you want to post your photo and choose the place image button, paste your URL and post.

 

 

-Rinse and repeat

Sidenote: you can also post most images from other online sources this way if the URL ends in .jpg or .png and there's a few sites the Forum will let you know if it is an unsupported image link.

[Stadtplan]

If posting an image using a mobile device, heres the handles to add before and after your image .jpg or .png URL.  Out of habit, I hit ENTER ENTER after the full URL with handles before posting.  It used to make a difference, but not sure anymore if it is still required.

[Stadtplan]

If posting an image using a mobile device, heres the handles to add before and after your image .jpg or .png URL.  I hit ENTER ENTER after the full URL with handles before posting.  It used to make a difference, but not sure anymore if it is still required.

 

If you have the free IMGUR app on your smartphone and a free IMGUR account, you can quickly select photos from your phone camera to upload as "hidden" (not "public") name the  and then you can grab the image hosting URL.

 

 

[Stadtplan]

Maybe I shouldnt post this and I hope you dont think any less of me but it seems like S-T paywall policy fluctuates and they allow a few free article reads per month, except certain articles have a hard lock on premium content. Heres a trick if you dont have a subscription and want to see if you have any free reads around the paywall. This doesnt work all the time, but it seems to come and go depending on maybe your IP address, number of clicks or the monthly allotted freeview cycle, it is relatively unspoken but kind of a long-known workaround. Some publications have an impossible paywall but it almost seems like S-T leaves the back door unlocked intentionally, and they are a lot more relaxed with their free content access than most publishers. Let me know if this is just over the top or already widely known?

(This is using Chrome on an iPhone)

Find a S-T article link on the Forum or on the S-T main page. Press and hold the hyperlink or headline on S-T like this and count for four seconds until the next menu opens:


Select Open in New Incognito Window:


Select Maybe Later and you should see the full article:

[george84]

I do it too

[JBB]

If I want to see an article behind their paywall, I usually figure it out.  Private incognito usually works, Google searching the article and pulling the result from the News tab if it doesn't show up under All, combining both of those processes, finding the article through the social media pages of the newspaper can work occasionally but that's usually subject to the limit on free articles in a certain time period.  The AP app used to carry S-T articles for free but stopped several years ago.  The funniest hack around their paywall was in the early years when an article redirected you to the paywall login after several seconds.  As long as you clicked the stop button on the browser before the redirect, you could read the whole article.

[Stadtplan]

Stop buttons on web browsers....that reminds me of the days where website had page view counters at the bottom.