06/04/2018

The archive contains older posts which may no longer reflect my current views.

Nomention

There was a recent scenario where I linked to a conversation on micro.blog but, as well as my post being fed through as normal, the generated webmention was interpreted as a reply meaning the full post content showed as a separate response in the conversation.

Micro.blog doesn't make the distinction between webmention types so I wondered about editing the webmention plugin for WordPress by adding class="nomention" or rel="nomention" to a link so that it isn't processed along similar lines to rel="nofollow".

Unknown to me at the time, Chris Aldrich had also recently proposed rel="nomention" but I personally prefer using class as I can easily add this in Drafts using multi-markdown which is supported by WordPress via JetPack:

[Link text](http://link.here) {.nomention}

Matthias Pfefferle (the plugin author) suggested building a blacklist feature so named domains could be excluded but I wouldn't necessarily want this to be the case, having it more at the individual link level so as not to completely preclude sending webmentions to particular sites.

The webmention plugin for WordPress uses the function wp_extract_urls() to grab all links from the post content so I thought about replacing this, finding all link tags instead then, for each that doesn't include nomention, get the url. The initial code looks like this:

preg_match_all('/<a[^>]+>/i',$post->post_content, $results); 

$mentions = '';
foreach ($results[0] as $link) {
  if (strpos($link, 'nomention')) {
    $mentions .= $link;
  }
}

$links = wp_extract_urls($mentions);

It may be preferable to check the full class="nomention" just in case the url includes “nomention” - you never know.

While this works, as pointed out, there are some issues with it in its current form. Firstly, it only deals with <a> tags so ignores images, videos, etc. but it could be extended for multiple tags:

(<a[^>]+>|<img[^>]+>|...)

A more pressing issue, however, is that most people do not, and will not, manually edit the HTML in their posts, especially with the release of the WordPress Gutenberg editor on the horizon. As such, the application of the relevant flag would need to be via an option in the UI. This could be easily achieved at the post level (a "do not send webmentions for this post" checkbox) but not so at the link level.

The question also arises as to whether something like micro.blog should better handle webmention types rather than automatically making everything a reply. As Chris suggests, however, there could be other scenarios where not sending a webmention is preferred.

This is likely an extreme edge case (at least I'm not the only one who's considered it) but I thought it worth discussion even if dismissed.

The implementation works for me and my posting workflow so I'll keep it, even though it will mean manually editing the plugin each time it is updated.

# Liked: Searching for meaning in life? The Japanese concept of ikigai can help you find it | Big Think...

"The idea is not only to find your purpose but the proper balance between all aspects surrounding it. Another consideration, one’s ikigai doesn’t affect the individual alone. "For the Japanese, the concept has a social element. It’s about getting comfortable with your role in your family, job, and society."

The Japanese concept of ikigai (iki means life, gai means value or worth) is interesting and hints at something that often seems to be lacking in Western society. It's not just the sense of purpose but how that fits with those around you and society as a whole rather than the "what's in it for me" attitude.

Via Ann Althouse.

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# I don't know what but something has just clicked this week. It's been busy but I've gotten back in the blogging groove again, happy with what I've been writing and how I've been approaching things.

Also, interestingly, I've gone against the grain of trying to streamline and simplify things on my phone (even if only a little) and installed apps rather than removing them.

It started with my wife's iPhone 8 Plus not charging properly, either by cable or wirelessly, meaning it has to be sent for repair under insurance with our carrier. This means she'll be without it for a few weeks and needed something to use in the meantime.

As our old phones are being used by other family members we had to opt for buying a cheap Android device1 which will handy to keep as a household spare in the event of any other issues.

No iPhone means no iMessage so we moved our family group to Telegram meaning I had to install it.

I then decided to reinstall Halide and Darkroom having previously removed them as I wasn't taking many pictures. Taking and editing RAW photos, however, intrigues me and I want to spend some time getting to grips with it.


  1. she’s gotten used to it after installing various apps and a launcher to give things like unread icon badges and wake on notification to make it a little more iPhone-like 

# It's interesting to see Vero as app of the day. A bit of a dig at Facebook after the Zuck/Tim Cook comments perhaps?

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# That moment when you've been concentrating and realise you've had your headphones on but nothing playing for the better part of 20 minutes. That's a good thing, right?

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# The reason I was concentrating? At the bottom of single post pages is a link to go "back to the day" the post was published.

I realised that for posts from "today" the link went to the day archive for today's date rather than the /Today page. It's a small detail but one that would annoy me until I changed it.

So I did.