shortening link text in forum posts - /includes/class_bbcode.php

[James Cole]

File: /includes/class_bbcode.php

function handle_bbcode_url($text, $link)

Apparently this function shortens the anchor text when a long url is hyperlinked. In my opinion there is often valuable information in the url such as directory names and file names that I would like to display.

For example, this shortened link:
http://www.marineengine.com/parts/me...L015751+AND+UP

is less useful to a future reader than one that would contain some of the text, such as:
marineengine.com/parts/mercruiser-stern-drive/mercruiser-engine-parts.php?modelId=3245&model=5.0L+%282+BBL.%29+GM+ 305+V-8+1998&serialId=3246&serial=0L015751+AND+UP

I would like to increase the amount of displayed characters. But then again, I assume vB did this for a reason.

Can anyone tell me if there would be detrimental effects of showing say 100 or so characters? Do the links break if they wrap on to the next line? I'm not as concerned about appearance as I am about functionality and usefulness.

Thanks to anyone who cares to share information or opinion.