Page Source Question

Why does one need to log in to TV Tropes to see page source? Technically I supposed they don't have to, but why is an account needed to use the built in site feature? You certainly don't need one to look at history, or cross wicks, or even the discussion.

No idea why they did that here. TLP drafts (not TLP itself) and Image List were restricted to logged-in users as well (though I guess it was done for the former for a reason, as the point of TLP is preparing tropes so they can go live for the wiki, and regular users knowing what they would be kinda misses the point, as it allows them to access drafts of tropes you're supposed to help with and non-users can't really do that), so this may just be part of an update.

You can at least access the HTML code by right-clicking and selecting "Show source" (I think that's what it's called in English?).

Edited by Piterpicher on Feb 15th 2020 at 12:52:37 PM

The default source isn't as useful for someone wanting to check out how something was done by a user on this site rather than, say, someone developing the site, but thank you for the advice anyway.

It just seems bizarre to me, the people who don't have accounts would seem to be those who would most benefit from the in site source feature.

What's that benefit, exactly? I use it just because it makes crosswicking easier, or if I need to edit a locked page; it doesn't seem to serve a purpose otherwise.

I personally use it when I need to copy a page's text to Notepad++ to check a line's/page's markup character count as well or if I want to copy a page to NP++ for drafting purposes (I'd say I'm fluent in intermediate TVT syntax, so I hardly use my sandbox unless it's for images or how markup would look like exactly). So I think the Page Source option can be useful.

Edited by Piterpicher on Feb 15th 2020 at 7:33:49 PM

I meant, how does it benefit non-tropers like OP is claiming?

Hard to say when it comes to non-editors. Maybe they want to learn the markup before joining (though the Text-Formatting Rules page also exists), or just out of curiosity? I mean, I like seeing how Leisure Suit Larry games that run on the SCI engine are coded by using a viewer even though I don't plan to program in said engine, or the many videos on Youtube that explain how certain games/security measures are programmed which are watched by many non-programmers? Still, these uses are curiosity-satisfying, but often aren't for practical purposes. I personally didn't use the Page Source button before registering.

Edited by Piterpicher on Feb 15th 2020 at 1:32:06 PM

I could be off here, but I believe the reason for login-walling the source is caching. We use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to reduce load on the site. The CDN delivers cached copies of articles for anyone who is logged out. It only updates in real-time for people who are currently logged in. If the page source is not part of this mechanism, then it can only be displayed if you are logged in.

I do wonder why anyone would care, though. It's not like it's a necessary feature.