com_content - Key Reference and External Reference ?

[londoh]

when creat[edit]ing an article,
under 'Publishing' tab there are 2 fields:
Key Reference
which has tooltip:
Used to store information referring to an external resource
and is stored in the content table, as part of the json metadata params

External Reference
which has tooltip:
An optional reference used to link to external data sources
and is stored in the content table, 50char xreference field

obviously they appear to be remarkably similar
I tried searching for info but find little, except some confused stuff on a training site

does anyone know exactly what is the intended purpose of these fields?
does anything else update them? or can I use them freely for some site specific purpose?

[dhuelsmann]

Key Reference

This is the reference that is used to pull the correct help information either from help files saved locally or on an online site like help.joomla.org

External Reference

Use this field to add a reference to an external resource that is relevant to this specific article. There is no global value for this field as it must be specific to each particular article.

[londoh]

thanks for reply
I kind of moved on from where I was but I still have some questions about those fields. maybe you can help a little more...

Key Reference

This is the reference that is used to pull the correct help information either from help files saved locally or on an online site like help.joomla.org

in what way? where/how is it output? can you give an example please

External Reference

Use this field to add a reference to an external resource that is relevant to this specific article. There is no global value for this field as it must be specific to each particular article.

yep a bit more testing showed xreference shows up as a meta tag.
but as far as I can see an "xreference" meta tag has no validity - and if it doesnt whats the point of it?
And so why would I want to use an xreference tag in head as opposed to a direct link in the body to refer to an external source?

thanks again

l.

[davidascher]

This is the reference that is used to pull the correct help information either from help files saved locally or on an online site like help.joomla.org

How might one actually use this field to indicate that the 'correct help information' should be pulled from help.joomla.org or from some local file??

Use this field to add a reference to an external resource that is relevant to this specific article. There is no global value for this field as it must be specific to each particular article.

"relevant"?? somebody must have had a real use for this field to have made it this far. I just cannot imagine what that use might be.

Specific examples of the usage of "key reference" and "external reference" would be much more useful than vague, circular "definitions".

Does anybody actually know why these fields are there? What is the danger of using them for other purposes? Will somebody eventually realize that they are completely gratuitous and remove them?

[DaveOzric]

This is baffling to me. Is this some geeked out late night idea that is just here to mystify us all? What is this for?

[dhuelsmann]

This might help with Key Reference.
https://docs.joomla.org/Joomla_help_system

[DaveOzric]

The Joomla help is all circular answers. None of which explain these fields well.

I am looking for a way to add the meta tag for rel=canonical anyway when I saw this.

[sozzled]

I am looking for a way to add the meta tag for rel=canonical ...

This discussion is continued in viewtopic.php?f=712&t=959300