Proxy Prefix needed for links

Stephen Pilon

In December I put up an Idea to add Proxy Prefixes as an option when adding links to Bulletin Boards, Topics, and elsewhere. I'd love to get some votes on this to bring it more attention for the developers.

If you do not know what they are, Proxy Prefixes allow a link to be run through a school's authentication Proxy server (we use EZ Proxy). This forces the link to redirect for authentication so users can access subscription databases and the like. Without the proxy prefix, anyone trying to access a link from off-campus would have no way to show they have rights to use the resource.

Here is an excerpt from my Idea request, showing a typical use of a proxy prefix:

For example, when a professor is adding an article from JSTOR to a Topic page, the link setup should have a checkbox labeled Use Proxy? to let the professor indicate that the proxy address is needed for this link.

I hope you will look at the Idea and vote for it.