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Changes in the online doc URLs
Posted By Yair Altman On October 10, 2012 | 6 Comments
Along with the extensive facelift done to Matlab’s documentation system in R2012b, one important aspect has gone largely unnoticed. Apparently, in the interest of making the doc pages more SEO [1]-friendly, MathWorks have modified the online documentation URLs from something that looks like http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html to http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating_guis/writing-code-for-callbacks.html [2].
This change in itself is actually a good idea, but what is absolutely disastrous (IMHO) is the fact that MathWorks have not bothered to link all the old URLs to the new ones. Most serious websites that have tons of links floating around for a decade or two, as in this case, take the trouble to automatically redirect old URLs to the new ones in the server side. This was the case, for example, when Oracle took over Sun a couple of years ago and redirected the Java links. So did Microsoft in their online MSDN. Neither Oracle nor Microsoft redirected all the URLs perfectly, but they made a pretty good effort. Not in Matlab’s case, unfortunately.
It seems that only the basic function reference pages have been redirected, not any of the other doc pages. Tons of links, many of them in MathWorks webpages themselves, are now broken and lead to a generic “page not found” webpage. This includes many thousands of links referenced by loyal community users in response to queries in the Matlab CSSM newsgroup (in the past ~15 years) and MathWork’s own Answers forum (past 1.5 years), not to mention numerous references in books, reports, websites and other resources. These links are now broken. Users who use them will end up in page-not-found. How user-friendly would this be for them? How likely do you think they would use the newsgroup/forum again, as opposed to flooding MathWorks customer support with simple questions that have already been answered online, only to be rendered unusable by an SEO fix that should have been fully transparent?! How likely do you think that loyal CSSM/Answers contributors would post MathWorks links again?! This is about as self-defeating a release as I have seen in a very long time.
In the past, I have highlighted changes to the online documentation center that I found useful. These included the addition of historical documentation archives [3], and the plot gallery [4]. But today I must say that IMHO the latest change to the doc center should never have gone live, and I fail to understand how it could ever have passed internal QA. Furthermore, I cannot understand why this is still not fixed, a month after the official release.
I don’t believe that I have ever used such strong language in the 3.5 years that this blog has been live, and I do this very reluctantly now. Hopefully my call for action will be heeded (soon!).
MathWorks can and should correct this problem by adding the server-side redirects, which is typically accompanied by an HTTP 301 Moved Permanently [5] response to the requesting browser. In fact, doing this is also good for SEO, since all the tons of old links will be counted by search engines as directing to the new pages, thereby adding incoming page-rank “juice” to them. Here’s Google’s advise [6] on this matter.
Doing these redirects does not require a Matlab release and can be done immediately and incrementally. Granted it’s not a simple task, given the huge number of URLs involved, but the sooner MathWorks start, the faster they’ll finish. Frankly, they should have thought about it in advance… I have a hunch that the servers’ HTTP 404 (Page Not Found) list has exploded since the latest release. I would suggest going through this list, sorted down by number of occurrences, so that the most frequently-accessed webpages are fixed first.
Until the URLs are restored or redirected, we can try the following workaround:
Vociferous complaints over the new documentation system in R2012a have been heard loud and clear at MathWorks. Wendy Fullam, Matlab’s documentation product manager, has made a point to make it clear [13] that MathWorks is not ignoring these out-of-the-ordinary complaints and will indeed improve the documentation accordingly. Wendy also responded [14] to my SEO complaint, saying that they will indeed try to fix the URL redirects:
However some pages have not been redirected for various reasons. Given feedback like this, we are looking into creating more redirects as soon as possible.
I’m holding my fingers that they will indeed fix this issue, not just for some URLs (as the quote above seems to indicate) but for all of them. MathWorks’ quick and serious response to the complaints on R2012b make me optimistic that there is indeed a good chance that this will be resolved soon. I’ll be following up on this issue in the upcoming months, and will be most happy to post an update here if and when this issue is fully resolved as it should be, on the MathWorks server side.
Addendum Oct 14, 2012 (that was quick!): Wendy Fullam has posted [15] the following comment on the relevant CSSM thread (snipped for brevity):
In response to customer feedback, MathWorks is deploying an additional 700 redirects for documentation URLs.
When combined with the redirects already deployed (for reference pages, landing pages, installation sections, and release notes), we will be redirecting roughly 70% of R2012a documentation URLs to updated page locations.
We will also continue to monitor “page not found” reports, and establish additional redirects as needed.
Additionally, I’d like to note that the discussion has been incredibly insightful in helping the documentation team establish future direction. Customers noted that the doc appears to have undergone a change in organization and have speculated on the motivation. While SEO [1] was part of our motivation (we think it’s a big step in having URLs provide an indication of page focus), we are also working towards serving up information to support common customer workflows. … I want to encourage you all to continue to share experiences and requests for missing information, so our documentation team can continue to expand and improve our content.
Addendum Nov 19, 2012: Looks like the http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html [7] link is alive again, or rather redirected to the new location which is great. I hope this means that the redirection effort mentioned by Wendy above has finally occured. Thanks Wendy (and all the nameless others behind the scenes)!
Categories: Low risk of breaking in future versions, Stock Matlab function, Undocumented feature
Article printed from Undocumented Matlab: https://undocumentedmatlab.com
URL to article: https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/changes-in-the-online-doc-urls
URLs in this post:
[1] SEO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
[2] http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating_guis/writing-code-for-callbacks.html: http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating_guis/writing-code-for-callbacks.html
[3] historical documentation archives: http://undocumentedmatlab.com/blog/docs-of-old-matlab-releases/
[4] plot gallery: http://undocumentedmatlab.com/blog/specialized-matlab-plots/
[5] HTTP 301 Moved Permanently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_301
[6] Google’s advise: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=93633
[7] http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html: http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html
[8] http://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2012a/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html: http://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2012a/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html
[9] step #4 below: http://undocumentedmatlab.com/blog/changes-in-the-online-doc-urls/#read
[10] http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html: http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/creating_guis/f16-999606.html
[11] site:mathworks.com “A callback is a function that you write and associate with a specific component in the GUI”: https://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=site:mathworks.com+%22A+callback+is+a+function+that+you+write+and+associate+with+a+specific+component+in+the+GUI%22
[12] title query: https://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=site:mathworks.com+%22Writing Code for Callbacks%22
[13] make it clear: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/323532#888866
[14] responded: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/48070-experiences-with-release-2012b#answer_60136
[15] posted: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/323532#889541
[16] Online (web-based) Matlab : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/online-web-based-matlab
[17] Advanced Matlab online webinars : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/advanced-matlab-online-webinars
[18] Customizing help popup contents : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/customizing-help-popup-contents
[19] Docs of old Matlab releases : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/docs-of-old-matlab-releases
[20] Using linkaxes vs. linkprop : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/using-linkaxes-vs-linkprop
[21] Removing user preferences from deployed apps : https://undocumentedmatlab.com/articles/removing-user-preferences-from-deployed-apps
[22] : http://blogs.mathworks.com/steve/2009/08/18/moving-toolbox-functions-into-matlab/
[23] : http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/contributors/me
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6 Comments To "Changes in the online doc URLs"
#1 Comment By Zain Mecklai On October 10, 2012 @ 18:06
There were server side redirects in place. It may temporarily be out of commission. Perhaps a call into support? Or, since you know the product manager, an email might get you a quicker answer.
There was plenty of effort put in to avoid this exact issue, I’m surprised that it isn’t working but I’m sure it is just a glitch.
#2 Comment By Yair Altman On October 11, 2012 @ 00:51
@Zain – I do not believe that this is a temporary glitch. It has been this way for the past month, ever since the release. Moreover, it’s not a single isolated webpage but a whole bunch that I tested. Moreover, the [14] from product manager Wendy Fullam explicitly admits that server-side redirects were only placed for “a majority of reference pages, the release notes, and the installation guides“, and that “some pages have not been redirected for various reasons“. So this is not a bug but a deliberate product management decision, which makes my case all the more stronger.
(and BTW Zain, good luck in your new position!)
#3 Comment By Zain Mecklai On October 11, 2012 @ 05:11
Ah, you looked up my previous life 🙂
Well, I just wanted to say that I took the comment on internal QA a little personal 🙂
We do work tirelessly on testing the software. Everything from the generation, file names, JavaScript to the compatibility with OS and platforms. I can’t speak to the current experience you are having though.
I am saddened that you are having a poor experience though.
#4 Comment By Yair Altman On October 11, 2012 @ 05:41
@Zain – I’m sorry you took my comment personally. It was certainly not my intention to point personal fingers. MathWorks has great engineers, and is a great product. I’m not just saying this to be nice, I really mean it. But in as large and complex a system as Matlab (with all its associated products, website and what-not), even the best abilities and intentions sometimes end up getting screwed-up. We are all human after all. At some point in time we are all bound to make mistakes (even Einstein made some; I certainly did).
In this particular case I think there was a series of errors: (1) the deliberate judgement call not to create server-side redirects for many webpages; (2) the fact that MathWorks did not post the information (plus workaround) in the release notes; (3) the fact that QA did not raise a release showstopper (or worse: maybe they did and were overruled); (4) the fact that over a month after the release this issue is still unfixed.
Luckily, MathWorks has a community of people (me, for instance), who love Matlab and are willing to go out of their normal way to point out such errors in a common interest to make a better product. And luckily again, MathWorks seems to be willing to listen to user feedback.
So the bottom line is that I still think this was a screw up, but it does not diminish my love for Matlab nor the respect that I feel for its engineers.
#5 Comment By Jim Hokanson On November 8, 2012 @ 22:31
Hopefully my comment isn’t too late to join the party …
Was looking into an m-lint warning telling me to:
Consider moving the toolbox function ‘VideoReader’ out of the loop for better performance.
Out of all the m-lint warnings I’ve seen, this one seemed a little silly to me. So I googled:
“consider moving toolbox function out of loop matlab”
At this point I came across the result:
[22]
Steve starts off by discussing padarray which in my sleepiness I read as pddarray. Wondering what in the world this function is I click on the link to find out the link no longer functions. Seems a bit strange to me that Matlab is leaving these links broken. Or is the end result of this mess that they are fixing them, just slowly?
P.S. Regarding your travel into the future, by October 14 2013 has Matlab finally updated GUIs to the point where half of your blog is irrelevant? 🙂 That and some OO love/fixes might make be happier than documentation updates and an editor overhaul.
#6 Comment By Jewell T. Tillman On February 11, 2013 @ 21:23
You can see the available privileges and which ones you’ve earned by visiting your MATLAB Answers profile page. Here’s a shortcut (you’ll need to be logged in to your MathWorks Account): [23] .