# Adding links to quotes? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 11, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804 "2018-10-11T14:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/1 "2018-10-11T14:40:51Z")
Do people have any thoughts about the acceptability of modifying quotes with hyperlinks as long as it’s alerted? For example changing > [@Source](#): > > Blah blah blah to > [@Source](#): > > Blah [blah](http://NotARealLink) blah or > [@Source](#): > > Blah blah [[link](http://NotARealLink)] blah Naturally stuff like > [@Source](#): > > Blah [blah](http://NotARealLink) blah should not be allowed. I prefer the second method, but the first looks cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/2 "2018-10-11T15:41:56Z")
Do you have an example? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/3 "2018-10-11T15:44:52Z")
Frankly, I don’t like any of them. If I was going to be all proper: > [@Source](#): > > Blah blah\*\*[1]\*\* blah Footnote added: 1. link ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/4 "2018-10-11T17:02:35Z")
I don’t like the idea. Quotes should not be changed. For example, what happens when poster B links in a quote from Poster A, then Poster C comes along and removes that link whilst adding another? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/5 "2018-10-11T17:06:46Z")
Another vote for leaving quotes as pure as possible-add links before or add links after. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/6 "2018-10-11T18:36:10Z")
What quotes are we talking about here? If simply quoting another Doper, don’t alter the text within the quote box. If quoting a Doper who linked to and quoted something off-board, preserve the link in the default quote box and manually add a second quote box containing the relevant material. For example: > [@Quartz](#): > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21260691&postcount=1](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21260691&postcount=1) > > > [@](#): > > > > Blah blah blah If simply quoting something off-board, don’t bother putting the source in the quote tags. For example: > [@](#): > > [The Straight Dope](https://www.straightdope.com/) > > Fighting ignorance since 1973. (It’s taking longer than we thought.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/7 "2018-10-11T18:45:17Z")
NB: that’s just an example, not calling anyone “ignorant”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/8 "2018-10-11T18:48:12Z")
I’m with glee. Just don’t edit quotes. Everyone of your examples would make me think the writer of the quote had that link in their post. Not that it happens _that_ often, but I’ve never understood why people always want to know if they can modify a quote this way or that way. I’ve always liked the idea of, other than \ out a portion of the quote, there’s no modifying them allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/9 "2018-10-11T20:26:37Z")
Well, there’s also the standard journalistic practice of adding words in brackets, for instance, to provide a missing antecedent for a pronoun. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/10 "2018-10-11T21:34:34Z")
I’m struggling to even come up with a reason why adding a link would be desirable. Best I can come up with is if you were mocking someone by linking what they said to an unflattering picture. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/11 "2018-10-11T21:46:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’m struggling to even come up with a reason why adding a link would be desirable. For examples to link to an explanation of something obscure or something that has a technical meaning other than the vernacular. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/12 "2018-10-12T07:40:59Z")
Why not do that below the quote? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/13 "2018-10-12T11:50:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why not do that [below](https://www.google.com/search?q=BINGO&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=ivmn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJj9616oDeAhXO2FMKHXc9BuIQ_AUIESgB&biw=1024&bih=671#imgrc=blmFqIqZcvISmM) the quote? Link added. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adding-links-to-quotes/822804/14 "2018-10-12T13:29:24Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > For examples to link to an explanation of something obscure or something that has a technical meaning other than the vernacular. So this was a hypothetical? In general I’d say, no. Don’t do that. It can easily change the intended meaning of what you’re quoting which is bad.