Allowing IDs and Discord Links into newer Condensed Markdown
With the character limit imposed on messages, elements in chat such as mentions for channels, users and roles use a lot of characters (18 consumed for the ID; tbh, don't know if more are consumed in the enclosing tags or if Discord interprets it differently) – and up to 85 characters to link a message in the following format:
https://discord.com/channels/000000000000000000/000000000000000000/000000000000000000
When making help resources in a message which links elsewhere, it doesn't make much sense why this cannot be interpreted in a different numbering system such as Base36 to make these messages more compact. Furthermore, the link also includes the string https://discord.com/channels/, which consumes 29 characters alone just to indicate to discord that it's a valid link.
As an example, converting the following link (using entirely randomized 18-digit values for the server, channel and message IDs):
https://discord.com/channels/726582390802903333/665414433936733940/362672156542399551
=85 characters
Then convert it into Base36 with a hypothetical markdown, like we already have with unix time stamp tags.
(dml = "Discord Message Link"):
<dml:5IQ7YMCIN9D1/51ZXQAW2DGJ8/2R70JSNBR41R>
=44 characters
This new format saves ≈ 48.235% of the characters, a significant reduction.
Moreover, this opens up the possibility to add flavor text to links (It looks prettier this way rather than a huge link of abstract numbers and letters):
(Username @PopCat24 is assumed to be fictitious)
<dml:5IQ7YMCIN9D1/51ZXQAW2DGJ8/2R70JSNBR41R:PopCat24's Recommended Playlists>
Maybe even tooltips and emoji buttons?:
Some cool tunes: <dml:5IQ7YMCIN9D1/51ZXQAW2DGJ8/2R70JSNBR41R:📻:PopCat24's Recommended Playlists>
So what about links where the destination is mysterious? You don't know where the links will take you. If there's a user-given tooltip, it'll show where the link will go underneath the tooltip; if not, it'll replace the tooltip. Some examples:
Message within the same channel as the link:
Message by @PopCat24Message within a different channel on the same server:
Message in #channel by @PopCat24Message within a different server:
Message in [server icon] Server Name, in #channel by @PopCat24
If the channel is an NSFW channel, or a private channel, it'll show the warning symbol or padlock symbol over the # like it does in the channel tray.If the channel is inaccessible to the member (or the message if the user doesn't have Read Message History in the channel in question), it'll just show something like:
🚫 Message UnavailableAnd if someone gets the format wrong or the link leads to some invalid server or message, it should probably display Wumpus saying something goofy like:
Oops, looks like you took a wrong turn! This message doesn't appear to exist!
This is a feature that seems long overdue, especially given that we already have this functionality as a part of richembeds. And with Discord adding so many neat features to spruce up one's message, the link display capability just feels like it's lagging behind.
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