# Have links to YouTube been disabled?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958>\
**Category:** Site Feedback\
**Created:** [April 1, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958 "2023-04-01T01:35:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 10

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/183 "2023-06-07T21:16:55Z")

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But you could have successfully added the line in an edit _and_ retained the inline visible YouTube.

If, and only if, you tweaked the URL as @Dr.Strangelove suggests, and saved the revised post before the image preview of the revised url had rendered. Which is easy to do if you hide the preview display. Then there’s no hurry at all.

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**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/184 "2023-06-07T21:32:57Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> I just tried on a tablet, and it _does_ have a preview box. So I expect that to work the same as on desktop. Probably a screen width/area thing.

Some (most? all?) Android browsers have the option to request sites to present a desktop interface rather than a mobile one (Firefox, for instance). This may be useless for phones but is very useful on tablets. Regardless, Discourse allows you to force a desktop view by appending “/?mobile\_view=0” to the URL. I have that as part of my SDMB bookmark on my tablet.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/185 "2023-06-07T21:49:42Z")

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All I have is this stupid iPad. Safari doesn’t seem to have the option at all. Firefox (which is still just Safari under the covers) has the option, but it seems to have no effect. Either way, though, the preview pane is available and works like on the desktop (unlike my phone, where there’s no button at all).

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/186 "2023-06-07T23:03:30Z")

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> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> Some (most? all?) Android browsers have the option to request sites to present a desktop interface rather than a mobile one (Firefox, for instance).

Chrome on Android has this feature.

If you ever wanted the ultimate eye test, turn that on on a phone and hit any SDMB thread page. It’s amazing the pixel density of a modern phone display. The writing is completely clear, but the letters are a fraction of a millimeter tall at most. I needed a magnifying glass to be sure they were clear and easy to read, but by golly they are. No jaggies.

The 21st Century is an amazing place.

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**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/187 "2023-06-08T00:53:33Z")

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[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E-P2qL3qkzk/maxresdefault.jpg "The Flying Lizards - Money") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-P2qL3qkzk)

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**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/188 "2023-06-08T00:56:03Z")

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Hey! It worked. I hit reply quickly after pasting and it showed up. Didn’t even have to put words with it.

Sorry, for the video. I didn’t want to waste one I might want to post somewhere else.

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**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/189 "2023-06-11T04:27:04Z")

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I’ve read most of this thread and I still don’t get it. I think I see the idea behind hitting “reply” quickly when responding within a topic. But what if you’re trying to insert YouTube links in an original post when you’re starting a new topic? I’ve tried following the instructions and can’t make it work. I always get the error.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/190 "2023-06-11T08:34:21Z")

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It _shouldn’t_ matter if you’re replying to a post or creating a new topic, but admittedly I haven’t tried the method with a new topic.

Have you tried hiding the preview window? That will eliminate the need to do things quickly. Write the text-only part of your post, then click “\<\<” to hide the preview, then paste in the YouTube link. Then click the “Create Topic” button to submit the post.

If you still get the error after that, it probably means that someone, somewhere already posted the link. In that case, try the trick where you append a “&1”, etc. to the link. Maybe go with something large like “&123456” if you want to be sure you aren’t colliding with somebody. The number doesn’t matter; it just has to be distinct from any other link that’s been posted.

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**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/191 "2023-06-11T12:15:25Z")

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Test:

[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/41f8AFx1TDM/hqdefault.jpg "THE EVERLY BROTHERS I'm On My Way Home Again") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41f8AFx1TDM)

ETA: hey, it worked, also the trick with adding &1

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**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/192 "2023-06-11T15:18:10Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> It _shouldn’t_ matter if you’re replying to a post or creating a new topic, but admittedly I haven’t tried the method with a new topic.
> 
> Have you tried hiding the preview window? That will eliminate the need to do things quickly. Write the text-only part of your post, then click “\<\<” to hide the preview, then paste in the YouTube link. Then click the “Create Topic” button to submit the post.
> 
> If you still get the error after that, it probably means that someone, somewhere already posted the link. In that case, try the trick where you append a “&1”, etc. to the link. Maybe go with something large like “&123456” if you want to be sure you aren’t colliding with somebody. The number doesn’t matter; it just has to be distinct from any other link that’s been posted.

That worked, thanks. What a piece of crap system.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/193 "2023-06-11T17:22:03Z")

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Testing (again)…

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-DVmNrX8dZU/maxresdefault.jpg "Red birb is laugh then destroy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DVmNrX8dZU)

Well ?  
and can i edit it ?  
ETA: Yes !!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/194 "2023-06-11T19:24:44Z")

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> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#):
>
> What a piece of crap system.

It was a good system once, but a nasty bug was introduced and it has taken far too long to fix it.

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**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/195 "2023-06-11T19:44:08Z")

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> [@Dr.Strangelove](#):
>
> I’ve seen a few links to this thread from other threads, but the information is a bit scattershot, so I think it’s worth summarizing.

I humbly admit that I was skeptical about your theory when you first brought it up, but it seems you were spot-on and your suggestions definitely work. For those looking for a quick summary, see the post I’m replying to here, post #170.

> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#):
>
> What a piece of crap system.

That’s not really fair. Discourse is (mostly) a very good message board implementation, except for a few of its idiotic nanny functions, especially the ones like “your post is similar to …” which don’t even remotely work. But mostly it’s a very good design that I find far superior to our old vBulletin.

The real problem is that the Discourse design assumptions and the SDMB use case are sometimes so different that the customizations have twisted Discourse into a sort of software pretzel, creating a configuration that was never envisioned or well tested. That said, Discourse is probably the best available platform for our needs. The YouTube bug seems to be the result of our prohibition on directly uploading content, which Discourse assumes you can do.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/196 "2023-06-12T01:29:44Z")

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> [@wolfpup](#):
>
> I humbly admit that I was skeptical about your theory when you first brought it up, but it seems you were spot-on and your suggestions definitely work.

Heh, no problem. The issue here is while there is a single unified theory behind the bug, the events that actually trigger it are wide-ranging and kinda random-seeming. Did the user click in time? Was the preview window open? Mobile or desktop? Did another user post the video already in some other place? Etc. It’s not always obvious what went wrong, and can make it seem like a given workaround wasn’t effective (or wasn’t necessary).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/197 "2023-06-14T17:58:07Z")

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Test.

> **[Wow. Disney+ changed the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by-14R0C0yE%2F)**
>
> Created by Jesse McLaren

OK, so I put a slash on the end and got a box with a thumbnail.

How are you people who are embedding the actual videos, embedding the actual videos?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/198 "2023-06-14T18:22:55Z")

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I use the “Share” button and copy the link it contains, then insert the link in my post as the last thing I do (doesn’t have to be at the end of the post), with my mouse pointer poised over the “Reply” button. If it’s a popular clip, you might want to add &4 at the end (quickly) before hitting Reply.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/199 "2023-06-14T18:26:33Z")

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> [@peccavi](#):
>
> I use the “Share” button and copy the link it contains

I clicked Share, then copied the link for Embed. I makes a blank post. I’m copying the embed here, but you won’t see it.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/200 "2023-06-14T18:26:39Z")

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> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> How are you people who are embedding the actual videos, embedding the actual videos?

I write youtu.be then a / then the video ID.

That’s how I post:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SIaFtAKnqBU/maxresdefault.jpg "The Screaming Sheep (Original Upload)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIaFtAKnqBU)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/201 "2023-06-14T18:27:29Z")

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Yeah, can’t see that video.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-links-to-youtube-been-disabled/981958/202 "2023-06-14T18:30:51Z")

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> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> I write youtu.be then a / then the video ID.

youtu.be/14R0C0yE

youtu.be/v=by-14R0C0yE

youtu.be/watch?v=by-14R0C0yE

Nope.

```auto
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/by-14R0C0yE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
```

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