XF 2 Can I pay someone to give me the code, or create an addon, that will limit the length of URLs?

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MaximilianKohler

Active member
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Maybe I posted in the wrong section? Should I have posted this to Resource and add-on requests https://xenforo.com/community/forums/resource-and-add-on-requests.68/ instead?

The quotes I'm getting are insanely high compared to the cost of most currently-available addons; many of which seem far more complex than this request.

I posted here because I'm not sure if it requires an addon or what -- I'd settle for just the code that I could implement myself, like I did with the title length.
 
I'm not sure why you would want to shorten the URLS, but there is a XF configuration option under the Search engine optimization (SEO) category: "Include content title in URLs". Disable that checkbox to have URLs that do not include the thread title and they will be short.
 
cwe said:
I'm not sure why you would want to shorten the URLS, but there is a XF configuration option under the Search engine optimization (SEO) category: "Include content title in URLs". Disable that checkbox to have URLs that do not include the thread title and they will be short.
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Yes, I'll resort to that if I can't obtain an ideal fix.

The reason why was mentioned & linked to in the OP:
I increased my thread titles to 300 characters and don't want links like this: https://forum.mysite.com/threads/wow-im-soo-happy-i-was-able-to-find-a-fix-to-make-these-titles-300-characters-now-i-can-put-the-full-title-of-the-study-and-also-include-a-quote-with-the-relevant-highlight-so-that-people-can-view-the-important-points-of-the-linked-article-or-study-when-looking-at-the-title-july-2023-review.11/

I'm coming to Xenforo from Reddit, and I'm trying to mimic Reddit's titles & URLs. It is what I'm used to and prefer.
 
MaximilianKohler said:
The quotes I'm getting are insanely high compared to the cost of most currently-available addons; many of which seem far more complex than this request.
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It is a completely different task to buy an existing add-on (which can have hundreds of licenses sold) or to have a certain add-on developed just for you.

Expect the price for custom development up to 100 times higher compared to the same functionality in an existing add-on.

I also do not get why you want to limit the length of link urls? If you shorten them, they won't work any more. So you simply can forbid posting any urls instead.

If you just don't want to show very long urls in postings, there is existing functionality in XenForo to show another text instead of the url when someone posts a link. Many choose the site title, but you really can use any other text instead (like "External link").
 
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wmtech said:
It is a completely different task to buy an existing add-on (which can have hundreds of licenses sold) or to have a certain add-on developed just for you.
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I understand. That's why I'm thinking I might have posted in the wrong subforum.

The best solution may be for someone to create an addon for everyone, and I'll just be one of the people who buys it.

wmtech said:
I also do not get why you want to limit the length of link urls? If you shorten them, they won't work any more. So you simply can forbid posting any urls instead.

If you just don't want to show very long urls in postings, there is existing functionality in XenForo to show another text instead of the url when someone posts a link.
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I'm not sure what you're referring to. Convert URLs to page titles? If so, that's different.
I don't think If you shorten them, they won't work any more is true.
For example:
https://forum.mysite.com/threads/wow-im-soo-happy-i-was-able-to-find-a-fix-to-make-these-titles-300-characters-now-i-can-put-the-full-title-of-the-study-and-also-include-a-quote-with-the-relevant-highlight-so-that-people-can-view-the-important-points-of-the-linked-article-or-study-when-looking-at-the-title-july-2023-review.11/
can be shortened to:
https://forum.mysite.com/threads/wow-im-soo-happy-i-was-able-to-find-a-fix-to-make-these-titles-300-characters.11/
without breaking anything.

Many choose the site title, but you really can use any other text instead (like "External link").
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So https://forum.mysite.com/threads/wow-im-soo-happy-i-was-able-to-find-a-fix-to-make-these-titles-300-characters-now-i-can-put-the-full-title-of-the-study-and-also-include-a-quote-with-the-relevant-highlight-so-that-people-can-view-the-important-points-of-the-linked-article-or-study-when-looking-at-the-title-july-2023-review.11/
would be changed to:
https://forum.mysite.com/threads/internal-link.11/?
And all threads links on my site would be like that?
 
It feels like the solution to your original problem was the wrong one, and that instead of having monster titles, perhaps having shorter titles and some custom thread fields to capture the extra data you want might have been better...
 
cwe said:
Why do you titles to be so big? Titles should be titles - concise. Not essays. JMHO.
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As mentioned, I'm coming from Reddit and trying to mimic Reddit titles & URLs.
  • 300 title character limit - complete
  • Change the layout - complete
  • Limit the URLs to ~70-80 characters - this thread.
I'll give an example of why I want it:
  • I'll be posting scientific studies. I want their titles to be easily searchable -- thus, Xenforo's built-in option for "Search titles only". So the whole study title needs to fit.
  • Many study titles are too technical and do not contain a summary, so they need to be accompanied by a quote from the abstract or article, so that people who are perusing lists of posts can easily see what the key points are. Thus, titles usually need to contain both the study title and a quote.
Reddit's 300 character titles have worked very well for this. If anything, I'd want to increase the length, but 300 seems like a good compromise.
 
MaximilianKohler said:
I'll give an example of why I want it:
  • I'll be posting scientific studies. I want their titles to be easily searchable -- thus, Xenforo's built-in option for "Search titles only". So the whole study title needs to fit.
  • Many study titles are too technical and do not contain a summary, so they need to be accompanied by a quote from the abstract or article, so that people who are perusing lists of posts can easily see what the key points are. Thus, titles usually need to contain both the study title and a quote.
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Just thought i'd help highlight the intended reasoning as to why your idea isn't as seemingly excessive as i think others may be assuming.

Here are two arbitrary screenshots from my boards Bibliotheké-(*library)
Screenshot_2023-07-11-19-03-19-49_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.webpScreenshot_2023-07-11-19-04-49-12_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.webp
PSA: These are infact relatively short titles-(*had to shorten quite a few too), and in my experience, the particularly complex subject matter more often absolutely necessitates comprehensively descriptive titles—essentially blurbs.
 
MaximilianKohler said:
So are you interested in the 300 char title + shorter URL as well? Someone gave me a quote for $20. Since there are two of us interested perhaps they'd be willing to put it on the resources for $10 and we'd both buy it?
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😄 Honestly i can't tell if you're joking aye.

$20? USD? Surely not?
That'd be around ~$30NZD.
i genuinely have no idea what a general price range would be for a custom dev—however a measley twenty nak seems kinda ridiculously low.

However, in case you're actually being honest about that number... i propose that i will cover the entire $20 on the condition you put me in contact with the developer so i can tip them at least 400%

And to address your questions, tbh i would be more interested in learning how to increase title character limits.
🤣Yeah, yeah, it's probably simple af aye.
 
Ληδré said:
😄 Honestly i can't tell if you're joking aye.
in case you're actually being honest about that number... i propose that i will cover the entire $20 on the condition you put me in contact with the developer so i can tip them at least 400%
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I showed how I changed the title character limits here: https://xenforo.com/community/threa...racter-thread-title-limit.215208/post-1636200

It may be worth the developer's time to include that in the URL-shortening addon, to appeal to more buyers. They may also want to include a change in the layout, since that's pretty much an essential component as well. Perhaps all 3 could be included in a "Reddit-like titles & URLs" addon.

@JustinHawk and @forumSolution quoted me $40, and @thetechguy quoted me $20. 2 others quoted me $60+.
 
MaximilianKohler said:
I showed how I changed the title character limits here: https://xenforo.com/community/threa...racter-thread-title-limit.215208/post-1636200
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🙂 Awesome. Thank you.

MaximilianKohler said:
It may be worth the developer's time to include that in the URL-shortening addon, to appeal to more buyers. They may also want to include a change in the layout, since that's pretty much an essential component as well. Perhaps all 3 could be included in a "Reddit-like titles & URLs" addon.

@JustinHawk and @forumSolution quoted me $40, and @thetechguy quoted me $20. 2 others quoted me $60+.
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@Moazam Shakoor DM'd earlier saying he's willing to do it for less,...i think he may have mistaken me for you.

Tbh, i am mildly concerned with the eagerness to charge so little.

Semi-jokingly, i half expect to check in here tomorrow to discover competitive quotes in the negative.

As i mentioned earlier i am completely ignorant of custom dev pricing—yet as of right now, based on the above quoted numbers, i think developers deserve a much more reasonable bare minimum for their efforts.

By that i simply mean i would not accept paying any one of these developers less than $100usd for services rendered.

Eg; if techguy quoted me $20, well unfortunately for him i'd pay $100.
Same with JustinHawk & forumsolutions, they can try to charge $40, but they would have to settle for $100,...as would the others.

Yeah, i am a terrible person.😄
 
Well please update me here if you go through with that. I was basing my expectations on the existing addon prices on the resources page. Considering I paid $160 for the forum software it would irk me to continually pay $30+ for small tweaks. $160 + monthly server fees + difficulty & time was already a big leap for me from free & easy Reddit.
 
MaximilianKohler said:
Well please update me here if you go through with that. I was basing my expectations on the existing addon prices on the resources page. Considering I paid $160 for the forum software it would irk me to continually pay $30+ for small tweaks. $160 + monthly server fees + difficulty & time was already a big leap for me from free & easy Reddit.
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😄Aye? i thought this is your deal brah.

i was really just here for,...ahhh, i dunno, probably moral support or whatever.

Tell ya what, i'll just pay @forumsolutions $100usd-if he's keen to go sort out this URL shortening computer wizardry for ya.

Once you and he both confirm with me that the task has been fully completed—💥 he's 100 bucks richer and you're variable URLs shorter—meanwhile i'll be,...🤔,...possibly hittin the gym or loosing arrows at targets or something, anyone's guess really.

Point is,...well there is no point, or maybe there's one tangled up in here somewhere, it's hard to tell.

Yeah, so if @forumSolution and @MaximilianKohler can go sort it all out and gimme a holler once it's done—i will cover the 100usd.

🙂👍Sound good?
 
Ληδré said:
Tell ya what, i'll just pay @forumsolutions $100usd-if he's keen to go sort out this URL shortening computer wizardry for ya.
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Are you wanting to use the addon if it contains both the URL shortening and title lengthening? You can use the code I shared to lengthen titles but you'll have to redo it every time Xenforo updates, so an addon that contains both options seems more convenient.

I'm also thinking that the most convenient thing would be for the dev to post the addon on the Resources page (free/paid?) so that if it needs to be updated in the future to stay functional with future Xenforo updates it would make it easy to get them there.
 
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