How to view article entries and send article links and text

Some readers are not aware that the time stamp at the bottom of each entry on the main page is the link to the permanent archive page of that entry. This is a common convention in blogs, though many blogs help the reader by labeling the link as “permalink.”

If only part of an entry is displayed on the main page, there is a link that says “More” at the end of the main page part of the entry. That link is identical to the time stamp link.

If you wish to send an entry’s address to a friend (and you should never send the text by itself, but the address as well, so that your recipient and his recipients can effortless access the original article), either click on the time stamp to go to the permanent archive page of the entry and copy the address of that page in the address bar, or right-click the time stamp link on the main page and click “Copy Shortcut” or “Copy Link Location,” whatever your browser’s shortcut menu says, and paste the address/link into the e-mail. Remember that if you simply copy the address of VFR’s main page, you are not helping your friend, because that link will only go to VFR’s main page, not to the permanent page of the entry, and after a few days that entry will not appear on the main page at all. Astonishingly, not just readers, but many bloggers and writers persist in making this mistake, linking the main page of the blog instead of the article page.

Browsers supply easy ways to create an e-mail containing the link or the link plus the text of an entry. With the article page open, click File, Send in your browser’s menu bar.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 06, 2009 02:13 PM | Send