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As bad as this might sound, if that's the problem, I suggest that we leave out the links entirely...if you want it, then get the name from the page and search for it...
Give me cute or give me...something?
There is nothing wrong with providing a link as long as it isn't the whole of the example. If it is, then there is a problem. An external link can supplement information on this wiki, but not replace it.
This is a growing problem with webcomic examples too. Too often it's "trope name":"here (insert external link)". Which means if you want to see the example you have to go off wiki (and tvtropes risks losing a reader as they embark their Archive Binge instead of their Wiki Walk. It also means that if/when the comic goes off line (or changes their archiving system) the link goes dead and you've no idea how it fits the trope. I know that it is something I've been guilty of myself in the past, but it's gonna change now that I see the growing problem that is being created.
Either "Information+Link" or "Just Information", but not "just link". The description in the wiki surely must carry the weight of explaining the examples.
Well, when it comes to adding Awesome Music examples, people will always at least state the title of the song, or when exactly the song plays, rather than just "This song", but really, when it comes down to it, you have to listen to the music to understand the gist of the awesomeness that places it in the list.
So it's not providing information on the wiki itself that's the problem, it's just all the broken links. If worse comes to worst, we could do as onyhow says and omit external links and let people just find things for themselves. But I'd rather not resort to that.
Edited by DeathToSquishies
Rather than not using the link (although if you find a dead one, just remove it) it should be an explanation of why the music is awesome and the context it appears in.
- At The Climax of Beyond the Star-Empire of the Otters of Doom a 10 minute Punk Rock version of "pop goes the weasel" plays while the vast hordes of the Marten and Stoat warships explode all around around Badger VII leaving the former Big Bad Captain Mustelid-Polecat crying in his pit as his empire falls apart. You can see the version here: Link
.
I clicked that link. It is glorious.
Also, thanks for the answer, I know I'll be keeping it in mind for future references. :)
Remember to visit the works page for Beyond The Star Empire Of The Otters Of Doom for more information too. :o)
Okay, so, the Awesome Music section. Just about every example provides a link to the song in question on Youtube. Simple enough, right?
The problem is, and it's an increasingly obvious problem, that because Youtube is very trigger-happy with suspending accounts and/or removing videos due to Terms of Service schmuckery, a frighteningly large number of these links become null and void in an instant. I don't know how badly the other sections and subpages are affected by it, but I can't tell you how many Video Game subpages I browsed through, for instance, where at least half of the song links were broken.
So I guess there's two things I've gotta ask here. 1) Are there any people who regularly keep tabs on the Awesome Music subpages and could potentially fix broken links as they pop up? And if not, then 2) What are we gonna do about linking to songs? Just not do it at all, if we can't be bothered to keep replacing links all the time?