Did a code roll out last night to implement (finally) the report dead link functionality. Plus included a cleaned-up FAQ, tweaked some of the CSSs for the windows platforms and laid the ground work for some of the new functionality we are going to be introducing in the coming weeks.
The first iteration of the “report dead link” functionality will enable users to report links that are dead, which as I said before, will simply provide me an indicator. In the next iteration, there will be a count of how many times a given link has been reported as dead. I can see that now, but I will also be including this in the “link details” page.
What was nice though, is that this code roll out proved out and completely validated the architecture and design of the site. It proved that new functionality could be added with ease and roll out could be done in a phased manner without major impacts to the actual production site. Its raised my confidence level in the site and how it was designed. Yeah, in all my experience in developing complicated applications, I’ve learned that by decoupling each tier (user/display, business logic, data model) you create a system that can better scale, if you do it right. So far, looks like I did it right.
Does an abandoned site count as a dead link? See here. The site still exists, but not at the link provided.
July 12th, 2006, at 1:34 pm #Its a judgement call. Sure, many would report that as being “dead.” I probably wouldn’t take it out of circulation because, in this case, there is a re-direct, a valid re-direct.
This is also why reporting a link isn’t a concrete action, because it is subjective.
July 12th, 2006, at 1:39 pm #Understood. I marked it as dead, figuring “This is not the link you’re looking for.” My idea is that hopefully that will signal the person who owns the link that it needs a change.
July 12th, 2006, at 8:11 pm #i think that is perfectly valid, and also the reason why i have a special indicator to link owners if their link has been reported as “dead” (they see a little ‘!’ after the title in their dashboard).
July 12th, 2006, at 8:54 pm #