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I always say that my most important piece of work was learning about “tel:”. Someone had build this a operational report that listed people to contact—hundreds
by bertil 5y ago
I always say that my most important piece of work was learning about “tel:”.
Someone had build this a operational report that listed people to contact—hundreds of them. Users would copy-paste the person ID and search for their phone number in another internal database. Then they would type that number. One of them had this hack where they typed it into a software phone that made the bulky physical phone attached ring. All that felt suboptimal to me.
That other database had standard URL structure so I knew that I could turn the id into a link by appending `https:\\admin.company.com\users?id=` That way, they could click and be in the right page without searching. But the reporting system had relevant personal information, so I could instead add a SQL JOIN and include the phone number right there. So I did, and I was showered with praises.
That’s when I thought: why not also have a link? There is this rarely used protocol `tel:`, the phone equivalent of `html:`. It never really made sense, until your phone turned into a computer… I had seen work a while ago. Lo-and-behold! It worked!
So I turned two painstainking ten-digit copying and look-ups into a single-click. I think that hack doubled that team’s productivity.
- alister 5y ago> turn the id into a link [that] they could click But the idea has gone way overboard. Everything that could be a phone number, address, or calendar date is now automatically made into a link in many web pages, apps, and instant messengers, such that you have to be very precise with your mouse or finger to be able to copy-paste without accidentally clicking the link. And in some apps they've made it literally impossible to copy-paste the data that they've turned into a link. You have to resort to using developer tools or copy the data by hand. There needs to be some general UI convention that allows you the option to copy-paste as plain text. There are lots of situations where I don't want a link but just the data.
- somebodynew 5y agoMost applications recognize either Ctrl+Shift+V or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+V (Cmd+Opt+Shift+V) as "paste without formatting" or "paste as plain text".
- madcaptenor 5y agobut what is that in finger motions for my phone?
- MrJohz 5y agoLong press in a text box. At least on my Android phone I get a "paste as plain text" option when I do that.
- slater 5y agoPro tip: Hold down alt key before and during clicking to select a link to copy. This prevents the "link click" action from firing, and allows you e.g. place your mouse cursor in the middle of a link (don't forget to hold down alt!) and select the link's text.