LibriVox Forum

There's a problem with the way the youtube profile link is set up.

Whatever you put in the field is appended to https://youtube.com/user

In my case, since I have a channel, my actual direct youtube link is https://youtube.com/dsbaudio

I have sought out my user ID via advanced setting on youtube, however this does not work for two reasons:

firstly, youtube must have changed or deleted their linking system for user IDs, since appending my user ID to https://youtube.com.user/<<USER ID>> in a web browser does not work

secondly, the profile field will not accept my user ID anyway because it does not start with an alphabetical character.

I would suggest making the youtube link field an open field in which to paste the complete channel or user account address to cover different scenarios and also to future-proof against any changes youtube may make to their web structure.

Are you speaking of the link in the forum profile?

There may be an update to the forum software (phpBB® Forum Software) we use, which hasn't been updated yet. Otherwise, it's out of our control.

I think this could be changed, so that it appends whatever you enter to https://youtube.com/ instead of http://youtube/user/. However, I hesitate to try it in case it will break the existing links that are correctly configured with https://youtube.com/user/username. If we change it to an open field at this point, I would think that would likely break the links that are already in member's profiles.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6180214?hl=en&ref_topic=9257109

According to google support, the /user addresses are supposed to automatically redirect to /channel - this is true of the example they give on the page: youtube.com/user/partnersupport

However, it doesn't work with my channel, no matter whether I use my user ID or channel name.

Seems it's all a bit of a mess with youtube changing things around and I can't seem to find any consistency. For example, the only way to get to my channel is either youtube.com/c/dsbaudio or youtube.com/dsbaudio. (YT)/channel/dsbaudio doesn't work. On the other hand, on another account I have, (YT)/channel/<<channel ID>> does work, but (YT)/<<channel ID>> doesn't work, neither does (YT)/c/<<channel ID>>

I appreciate it's not easy to find a solution that fits all situations!

It's really not our problem . We do our best to keep the links used in the forum valid - especially text links - it is why we ask people to use the main text link at PG rather that the ones for various formats that may change or be discontinued - but the links people choose to use in the profiles are often broken because personal pages are abandoned or change and there is nothing we can do about it. Seems to me it doesn't belong in the LV error reports - you might get a response in the need help if you ensure your heading attracts another person with the same problem who has fixed it

Anne

Thanks Anne, no worries - I see how it's not a LV problem... and indeed not a big deal in any sense. Just something I noticed so thought I'd mention it.