Link Rot to IRC Channel(s) Support

[William Paul Liggett <junktext junktext org>]

My Evolution client doesn't like semi-colons when adding multiple recipients in the "To:" block, so as my P.S. note states, I am also forwarding my concerns to this mailing list.

--William

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: William Paul Liggett <junktext junktext org>
To: gnome-web-list gnome org
Subject: Link Rot to IRC Channel(s) Support
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 19:19:49 -0400

Hi GNOMEs,

     I believe there are some problems with some of the links regarding the GNOME IRC channels as advertised on GNOME.org.  For instance, on the footer of most (main) GNOME.org pages, there is a primary link titled "IRC Channels" (under Resources), but it points to:  http://live.gnome.org/GnomeIrcChannels.  The problem is that this link just sends the user to a failed redirect that says:

            Redirected from page "GnomeIrcChannels"
            This page redirects to page "Community/GettingInTouch/IRC" 
            Clear message 

     But nothing ever happens, automatically at least.  There is a link on this failed redirect that says "Clear message" (as noticed in the above copy & paste), which if a person clicks on it, they will be properly sent to the real IRC information page (https://wiki.gnome.org/action/show/Community/GettingInTouch/IRC?action="">).  If this was intentional, it doesn't seem like the best idea, as I had no idea I needed to click on "Clear message" until I cared enough to investigate further -- which I didn't discover until I started writing this e-mail.  Namely because "Clear message" is too vague in this regard.  If anything, "Clear message" should be stated as "Go to new location" or something like that.  Although it would be better to simply point the person to the final location directly.

     I found similar link rot problems as noticed on the http://www.gnome.org/contact/ page.  Under "User Help" there are two links that point to the same bad redirect, which the links are titled "IRC chat" and "#gnome IRC Channel" (the third bullet).  The same thing occurs with the GNOME Design team's Wiki (https://wiki.gnome.org/Design/Contribute), as they have a link titled "IRC page" under "Get Up to Speed".  I am sure there are more places, but I didn't do extensive digging.

     However, I did appreciate the method for reaching the IRC web info page when going through the main GNOME Wiki, via the Community section (https://wiki.gnome.org/Community).  On that page, there is a section underneath "Get in Touch" with a "public IRC channels" link that properly and directly points me to https://wiki.gnome.org/Community/GettingInTouch/IRC.

     So, my suggestion is that the other failed redirect pages I previously mentioned should probably just directly point to https://wiki.gnome.org/Community/GettingInTouch/IRC.

Thanks,

--William 

P.S.  I wasn't sure where to send this e-mail, so I sent it to both mailing lists that related to GNOME website maintenance.  I know this isn't preferred, but I didn't know what else to do.