use of the LJ cut

[low_delta]

Here's how I feel the LJ cut should be used.

• Out of consideration for those with dialup, please use the cut whenever showing more than one or two pictures.
  
• Place adult photos and other non-worksafe material behind the cut. Breaking this rule is the one sure way to get yourself removed from firends lists.
  
• Please use the cut for extremely long entries.
  
• Feel free to use the cut whenever you have something to say that you don't care if anyone reads.
  
• It may be polite to use the cut if you have something to say that you think the majority of people don't care to read.
  
• Enough people care not to read quiz results that it is polite to cut them. And they're pictures, so it's also a bandwidth thing.

These are my opinions, but I think they're the most widely acccepted techniques. Other people have made recommendations for other things to be cut, but personally, I don't have a problem scrolling by things I don't want to read.

Keep in mind also, that when LJ is behaving badly, there is a good chance that people won't or won't be able to read what's behind your cut.

The code for the cut is <lj-cut>. The cut text will say, "read more." If you wish to change the text, use, <lj-cut text="your text">

There is a tag for ending the cut. This is </lj-cut>. This is for when you want to have only the middle part of your post not displayed on people's friends pages, rather than just the end.

Comments

Re: Shooty Darn

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Only works on posts as they're displayed on a main journal or friends page.

[sunshine-two.livejournal.com]

It may be polite to use the cut if you have something to say that you think the majority of people don't care to read.


I'd always being using the cut then!!!

;)

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

If they didn't want to read any of your posts, they wouldn't friend you in the first place. ;-þ

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

Vicious circle...the LJ cut is used in consideration of people with dial-ups BUT if I'm on your dial-up computer, I'm less likely to click on an LJ cut link because it takes too long to load the rest of the post. If I'm on your dial-up, I want the whole post to be showing so I can read my Friends page quicker.

If I put a cut on a post, it's almost guaranteed I'll get very few responses if any at all. The only exception to that is if I mention that there's a pic behind the cut. Then people will take the time to click there to see it.

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't use lj-cut on an entry just because it was long (unless it was also long and rambling and I didn't care if anyone else read it). Text loads fairly quickly on dial-up, and though it takes up room on a friends' page, it doesn't take long to scroll if you don't have time to read.

Images, though, I almost always put behind an lj-cut. If the site that hosts the image isn't responding, it can make the entire page load slowly.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

When I said, "Please use the cut for extremely long entries," I really did mean extremely long entries. :-) I once saw a post (of song lyrics) that was about half as long as the entire rest of my friends page.

..

[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

Just to play devil's advocate :)

I completely understand why a lot of people feel the way you do, but personally, I refuse to use the lj cut, and there's a very specific reason why: the font size inside the entry is much smaller than the font size in my actual journal. I can hardly read my own posts if they're in the cut, and also, it takes an extra click, which is extra time I don't necessarily feel like spending on my own journal.

As for work safe, isn't it kind of pushing ethics to begin with to waste an employer's time by spending one's time playing online? Anyway, given that the person who owns the computer can always find out what sites have been visited on that computer, I have this feeling that work safe isn't really work safe at all.

Re: ..

[melonaise.livejournal.com]

On work-safe: where I used to work, we were allowed to use the internet for recreational purposes (supposedly during our breaks or after our 8 hours was done). So it was completely commonplace to go to someone's cubical and see them buying plane tickets online, or looking up recipes, or reading the news. But to see a naked body, or a hardcore fetish image, or anything that would be considered an inappropriate image to display at work-- that would not be good.

Re: ..

[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you and I both know that most people surfing the net do so without express permission, and that many of the people surfing are naive about the fact that everything they do, every single click in some cases, can be traced. "Work safe," in practice, means put something behind the cut so we can look at it when no one's leaning over our shoulders.

Re: ..

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Is that some kind of setting? The text is actually smaller on the main pages than the comment pages.

The only non-worksafe things I worry about are when the site has an incriminating sounding name. The sysadmin sometimes prints out a list of every address that everyone has been to. Unless something on that list sounds like a porn site, or sounds suspicious enough to investigate, I don't think there is any danger. In fact, unless someone is looking for an excuse to get rid of me, I don't think there is any danger anyway. Someone once told me he saw the list, and there were lots of porn sites on it - and during work hours.

I've made my default view public, and communities aren't in it. I did that when I watched the photography community. The filter I use for communities is not visible to anyone who is not logged in as me. Come to think of it, I think I should put Ana in that one.

Re: ..

[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

For my current settings, the text is much smaller on the comment pages; it drives me crazy, but I wonder if the new default setting will change that? I'll have to check that out.

I'm sure it depends where a person works. I think, though, that a lot of people think they're safer than they really are.

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

i have friends who primarily post pics
but i don't have a problem with that-
only rarely, when i suspect lj is experiencing
difficulty, does a piece of arty work
delay loading tremendously~

i use dial-up myself
but there are some things
(a few pics in particular)
that i want on my actual journal page
so, to avoid promising myself to go
and edit those pages at a later date,
which i will likely forget to do,
i just post the pic~

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I put single pictures out on my main page. Only when I have lots do I cut them.

The only time lots of pictures really bugs me is when I'm trying to read below them on my friends page, and they come in one at a time, and they cause what I was reading to get bumped downwards half a screen. The cure for that is to use the size attributes on the image tag.

[sirreal13.livejournal.com]

I like to keep Ana on my friends page, but she violates at least 3 of your bullet points on a regular basis ;) (especially during Anacam anniversary weeks)

Thanks for posting that...