Experiment with adding/updating Scrimba links

[chrisdavidmills]

Description

This PR updates several Learn web development pages to add and/or modify the position of Scrimba learning partner affiliate links. The aim here is to make them more effective, more useful for our readers, and not feel too overwhelming or spammy.

Motivation

Additional details

Related issues and pull requests

[github-actions]

Preview URLs (14 pages)

• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/CSS_layout/Flexbox
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Arrays
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Variables
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/What_is_JavaScript
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content/Basic_HTML_syntax
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Styling_basics/What_is_CSS
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Text_styling/Fundamentals
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Adding_interactivity
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Creating_the_content
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Publishing_your_website
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Styling_the_content
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development

Flaws (25)

Note! 7 documents with no flaws that don't need to be listed. 🎉

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development
Title: Learn web development
Flaw count: 1

• unknown:
  • No generic content config found

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Creating_the_content
Title: HTML: Creating the content
Flaw count: 8

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/element is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/tag is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/void_element is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/keyword is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/element which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/tag which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/void_element which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/keyword which is a redirect

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Adding_interactivity
Title: JavaScript: Adding interactivity
Flaw count: 2

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/operator is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/operator which is a redirect

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Arrays
Title: Arrays
Flaw count: 2

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/statements/for...of is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/statements/for...of which is a redirect

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Variables
Title: Storing the information you need — Variables
Flaw count: 2

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/camel_case is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/camel_case which is a redirect

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content/Basic_HTML_syntax
Title: Basic HTML syntax
Flaw count: 6

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/void_element is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/character_reference is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/character_reference is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/void_element which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/character_reference which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/character_reference which is a redirect

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Styling_basics/What_is_CSS
Title: What is CSS?
Flaw count: 4

• broken_links:
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/browser is ill cased
  • /en-US/docs/Glossary/property/CSS is ill cased
• macros:
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/browser which is a redirect
  • Macro produces link /en-US/docs/Glossary/property/CSS which is a redirect

External URLs (22)

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development
Title: Learn web development

• https://scrimba.com?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j?via=mdn (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started
Title: Getting started modules

• https://scrimba.com?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Creating_the_content
Title: HTML: Creating the content

• https://scrimba.com?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j/~0xid?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Styling_the_content
Title: CSS: Styling the content

• https://scrimba.com?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j/~015?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Adding_interactivity
Title: JavaScript: Adding interactivity

• https://scrimba.com/learn-javascript-c0v/~0c?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://scrimba.com?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://v2.scrimba.com/learn-javascript-c0v?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Your_first_website/Publishing_your_website
Title: Publishing your website

• https://scrimba.com/new?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Text_styling/Fundamentals
Title: Fundamental text and font styling

• https://scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p/~01r?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Arrays
Title: Arrays

• https://v2.scrimba.com/the-frontend-developer-career-path-c0j/~06e?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/What_is_JavaScript
Title: What is JavaScript?

• https://scrimba.com/learn-javascript-c0v/~0n?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Scripting/Variables
Title: Storing the information you need — Variables

• https://scrimba.com/learn-javascript-c0v/~059?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content
Title: Structuring content with HTML

• https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-html (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Structuring_content/Basic_HTML_syntax
Title: Basic HTML syntax

• https://scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p/~02?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/CSS_layout/Flexbox
Title: Flexbox

• https://scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p/~017?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Styling_basics/What_is_CSS
Title: What is CSS?

• https://scrimba.com/learn-html-and-css-c0p/~0j?via=mdn (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

(comment last updated: 2025-03-11 09:45:29)

[hamishwillee]

@chrisdavidmills I'm not going to properly review this until it gets out of draft. The links seem to be a reasonable integration in the right places. They are definitely not overwhelming.

This is the first time we've had preferential addition of links based on some kind of commercial affiliation rather than technical merit. That makes me uncomfortable, in part because what do we do when someone else comes along and PRs in their link in the same places but doesn't want to pay - according to MDN rules we then we have this whole argument about maintenance lists etc.

Anyway, assuming their content is good, this is reasonable. Alternative is something like a clearly differentiated section for affiliate links.

[github-actions]

This pull request has merge conflicts that must be resolved before it can be merged.

[chrisdavidmills]

@chrisdavidmills I'm not going to properly review this until it gets out of draft. The links seem to be a reasonable integration in the right places. They are definitely not overwhelming.

Cool, that's good to hear. The priority for these links is that they are useful, provide an alternative way of consuming some of the information we provide on learn, and are not spammy or annoying.

This is the first time we've had preferential addition of links based on some kind of commercial affiliation rather than technical merit. That makes me uncomfortable, in part because what do we do when someone else comes along and PRs in their link in the same places but doesn't want to pay - according to MDN rules we then we have this whole argument about maintenance lists etc.

We deliberately published new guidelines to try to tackle this issue — https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/MDN/Writing_guidelines/Learning_content#external_links_and_embeds

I'd be interested in your thoughts on whether these adequately address the problem, or if we need to make updates. I suspect some of my changes here have not followed the ""See also" link order" section guidance, which is my fault.

Anyway, assuming their content is good, this is reasonable. Alternative is something like a clearly differentiated section for affiliate links.

[hamishwillee]

Thanks for the comments.

1. I'll review this again in the context of https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/MDN/Writing_guidelines/Learning_content#external_links_and_embeds once you move it out of draft. There are a few cases where there is no alternative to the Scrimba link.
2. I think that <sup>_MDN learning partner_</sup> should be a link to either these guidelines or (probably better) a section on affiliate partners that then links to these guidelines. That will pre-empt the questions and also make it clear why and how this has been done.

EDIT PS - I do like the updates to the guildelines above - they make it pretty clear that we're aware of the sensitivities.