SOLVED: "Dressed" links

[Sarkand]

I use Thunderbird (linked to my Gmail accounts) as my mail client, and I often send links for articles to those I think may be interested.  Within Thunderbird, one has the ability to create a link with the title of the article, underlayed with the link itself.  So a link that appears in my email would look like  Start new topic - DonationCoder.com, with the raw link - https://www.donation...tion=post;board=71.0 - hidden beneath.  Firefox has, as r. click context menu item, "Copy page title and locatiopn as...".   This I do, then compose my email, adding the link with the Thunderbird link creation option, which is done with a popup box.  There are two fields in this box, one allowing specification of a title and the other specification of the link itself.  I have to copy the title and location as plain text, then paste it into both boxes, editing the first to show only the title, and the second to contain only the URL.  This works great, but it's kind of a pain.  Since I have no idea how this stuff is programmed, I don't know a way around this process.  I would like a utility to extract and format the link in this fashion, copy it to clipboard, and allow me to paste the "dressed up" link directly into my Tbird mail.  Perhaps I am missing something or just do not know the trick.  Short of such a utility, enligthtenment would be welcome.

[Deozaan]

A lot of times you can just select some text and ctrl-c copy it and it will save the formatting details to the clipboard when you copy. Or in other words, instead of just copying the plaintext, it will also save the link and even font information.

This happens for me in Gmail, which can actually be annoying, because if I copy some text from another webpage and paste it into an e-mail, then it can even change font and/or font size sometimes.

[Sarkand]

A lot of times you can just select some text and ctrl-c copy it and it will save the formatting details to the clipboard when you copy. Or in other words, instead of just copying the plaintext, it will also save the link and even font information.

This happens for me in Gmail, which can actually be annoying, because if I copy some text from another webpage and paste it into an e-mail, then it can even change font and/or font size sometimes.

-Deozaan (December 31, 2013, 08:15 PM)

Thanks, Deo,

I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, but it sounds as if I would still be faced with editing the link to appear they way I want it.

[IainB]

Most times, a straight copy/paste of the link should/will probably be just fine, and it will present to the recipient as a fully working link, with no editing required on your part.
Not sure whether this would be of use, but there is a handy Firefox add-on called QuoteURLText that also does a good job of collecting a URL in other forms (e.g., for DC Forum, which requires URLs to be in BB Code). Here's an example screenshot of the menu for it:

[Sarkand]

Most times, a straight copy/paste of the link should/will probably be just fine, and it will present to the recipient as a fully working link, with no editing required on your part.
Not sure whether this would be of use, but there is a handy Firefox add-on called QuoteURLText that also does a good job of collecting a URL in other forms (e.g., for DC Forum, which requires URLs to be in BB Code). Here's an example screenshot of the menu for it:
 (see attachment in previous post)

-IainB (December 31, 2013, 09:14 PM)

Yes, this is basically the method I use - as described.  I can copy the title and location as plain text and paste it as is and have a viable link.  But I'm looking for a nice, clean title, with the URL hidden (linked) beneath and invisible.  I can do what I want to do, it just takes several steps.  I'm looking to reduce that to just two steps:  1) extract title and URL/format/copy to clipboard and 2) paste into email.  Call me lazy, but I do it quite a bit, and visually it is much more pleasing (and professional) in the body of a mail.  The link should look like  "Dressed" links - DonationCoder.com with the URL completely hidden.  A look at the extention  QuoteURLText leads me to believe that it will not give me this, and I can find no FFx or Tbird extentions that will do this.  Perhaps I should take it up with Mozilla.  Ideally, this would work just as well for the browser-based use of the Gmail client, which I also sometimes use, though I much prefer Tbird.

[IainB]

...The link should look like  "Dressed" links - DonationCoder.com with the URL completely hidden.  A look at the extention  QuoteURLText leads me to believe that it will not give me this, and I can find no FFx or Tbird extentions that will do this. ...
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-Sarkand (December 31, 2013, 09:39 PM)

No, the QuoteURLText add-on is quite smart and senses any links - it can do this "dressed link" - it's the menu option Rich Text HTML.
I know it works as I frequently use it to past linked web page headings into OnrNote. (It's cumbersome to get linked web page headings otherwise - too many steps.)

If one right-clicks on a link, it comes up with this alternative menu option:



Otherwise, if you just right-click on the page heading or a blank area of the page, it comes up with the first menu option as per the image I copied above. Do you see the difference?

[Sarkand]

...The link should look like  "Dressed" links - DonationCoder.com with the URL completely hidden.  A look at the extention  QuoteURLText leads me to believe that it will not give me this, and I can find no FFx or Tbird extentions that will do this. ...
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-Sarkand (December 31, 2013, 09:39 PM)

No, the QuoteURLText add-on is quite smart and senses any links - it can do this "dressed link" - it's the menu option Rich Text HTML.
I know it works as I frequently use it to past linked web page headings into OnrNote. (It's cumbersome to get linked web page headings otherwise - too many steps.)

If one right-clicks on a link, it comes up with this alternative menu option:
 (see attachment in previous post)
Otherwise, if you just right-click on the page heading or a blank area of the page, it comes up with the first menu option as per the image I copied above. Do you see the difference?

-IainB (December 31, 2013, 10:35 PM)

Yes, I see the difference - the arrow is going the other direction and the context menu is now on the left    JK.  Thanks, Iain, I'll give this a try tomorrow and let you know.  Right now, I have to go and celebrate the end of this pretty nasty old year.  Hope you have a good New one.  I will let you know for sure if this does what I want.  When I tried RT HTML within the page context menu, it gave me nothing on the clipboard.  I'll install the addon and try it with a link.  Thanks for the info, I'll let you know. 

[Sarkand]

Iain,

   Okay, tried RT HTML Nothing visible when I try to paste it to a notepad, but pasting directly into the email draft worked perfectly.  This worked both with and without the extension and in both Tbird and browser-based Gmail.  However, since the link per se is not on the target page (in this case, a New York Times article), I was able to use the "Copy page title and location as Rich Text HTML"  Thanks for the enlightenment, I owe you one.  Just what I wanted/needed, give that man a cigar. 

[IainB]

Sorry @Sarkand, I had a complete confused brainf#rt on this (probably due to lack of sleep - been up coughing all night) and mixed up the URL-related add-ons. It's also difficult to remember which add-ons do what sometimes, as I have so many!

To clarify:
Please note that the tool that offers the menu option "Copy page title and location as" is CoLT and not QuoteURLText.
Refer: Born Geek » Copy Link Text (CoLT)
Also see: Firefox Add-Ons to Copy WebPage Title and URL to the Clipboard

I first came across CoLT here:

CoLT 2.5.5[/url]

• http://www.borngeek.com/firefox/colt/
  
• Makes it easy to copy link text and locations.

-Curt (March 22, 2012, 09:52 AM)

CoLT and QuoteURLText have been mentioned in several DCF discussions.

This is where I first came across QuoteURLText - it does a lot more than you might think:

Quote URL Text_1.0.9b (title, url, quote, date)
multicopy_1.1 (list of Ctrl-c clips)
Scrapbook_1.5.6
Web Of Trust
firefox_18.0.1 in live linux puppy-precise_5.4.3 from DVD-RW in amd64 box

-sword (March 05, 2013, 02:15 PM)

I have been using this add-on for some time now and am keeping it. It really is useful and a real timesaver.
The great thing is that the selected text and all the associated URL metadata is saved as text into CHS (Clipboard Help & Spell) - which is a feature in CHS that I have wanted for quite a while.
Developer's website: http://qoelabs.com/quoteurl.php
Mozilla addon site: https://addons.mozil.../addon/quoteurltext/

I went to the latter website, highlighted some text, pressed Ctrl+Shift+C, and pasted the text in the Clipboard below, in the quote. Note that the emboldened text in the quote was the selected text, to differentiate it from the rest of the text - which is related metadata collected by the add-on.

QuoteURLText :: Add-ons for Firefox
https://addons.mozil.../addon/quoteurltext/
Sun Jun 16 2013 00:08:19 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
QuoteURLText 1.0.9b
by Jay Palat

Quote URL text will copy selected text to the clipboard including Page Title, Location and copy date.

Pretty nifty.

-IainB (June 15, 2013, 07:34 AM)

[Sarkand]

Iain,

   No worries, sorry you're feeling so bad, been a bit under the weather myself, and know what sleep deprivation can do to you.  I have tons of extensions in FFx as well.  I've been using ColT for so long that I forgot where this context menu came from.  I have very little idea what rich text format is about, since I've done very little, and very simple, web programming.  In any case, this is exactly  what I wanted to do, and I thank you again for having the answer.

Cheers, and have a Happy New Year

[skwire]

@IainB: Nice work.   
@Sarkand: Do you mind if I mark this thread as solved?   

[Sarkand]

No objection at all.  It is certainly solved for me, thanks again to Iain.    

[dr_andus]

Great add-ons, thanks IainB!