Search Results : truncating long URLs

[abramo]

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in search results page, long URLs without spaces display in a single line in certain browsers (including Netscape Navigator, not MSIE) and therefore cause page layout to be "extended" to accommodate their full length. in MSIE long URLs "fold" in multiple lines without issue, albeit in a very unseemly way.

question: how to configure search-results display to truncate long URLs to a maximum number of characters? omitting the display of URLs works around the issue, but this is not a solution.

thanks,
abramo


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[David]

See this old post regarding long URL line wrapping

[abramo]

thanks - seems indeed an old (and long-overdue?) issue.

comment:

A.- for meaningless long URLs (mostly dynamic) there is little benefit (functional or aesthetic) in displaying them anyway - so in that case not displaying them would seem the best alternative. this option is currently available.

B.- for meaningful long URLs:

1.- wrapping could be an option for some applications : so this option should be available and workable without workarounds.

2.- truncating to a maximum number of characters in the manner of:
http://mydomain.com/category/subcate...some-item.html

- this option should also be available with the sub-option of starting the truncation at "x" number of characters counting from the last character of the URL.

in this way, if for example this sub-option would be set at "0" and maximum number of characters at 150, the end-part would be totally chopped. as the sub-option value is gradually set to a larger digit, chopping would move leftwards, toward the center / beginning of the unseemly URL.

3.- the above would cover most applications, potentially leaving out some marginal ones - anyway, a much better situation than the present one. something along these lines should be made available soon.

thanks,
abramo

[David]

I think we had 3 people with long URLs contact us in 3 years for which wrapping, hiding or custom development was not a good option. So this is maybe 0.05% of our users. It hard to justify doing development that will not benefit 99.95% of our users. But none the less we agree it would be a nice feature for a few people and we'll put it on our to do list for consideration.

If it is important for you, we can give you a quote on making the script change.

[abramo]

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your position is very understandable. it also makes good sense from that certain viewpoint.

progress, however, dictates that some people do move forward, regardless. I do not think I need to tell you that, you seem to know it already well.

zoom is a very fine piece of software as it stands, and if it is not a great hassle a "url truncating" utility should be made available sooner or later (I indeed have it with another much inferior search script). I bet you that if and when available many more of your users, than it is now apparent, will opt for it.

I am a new user of zoom, at the moment "digesting" its diverse possibilities - so it is still early for me to purchase custom options. consequently, I have just turned off URL display - but, no doubt, the availability of a "url truncating" option would have been a much better solution.


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[abramo]

If it is important for you, we can give you a quote on making the script change.

hmm . . . .
any cost estimate of sharing development of this feature?
shoot : PM