Auto-link Breaks URL

[Lauren]

Hi, the auto-link feature, that makes a URL entered in a post automatically clickable, breaks some links like the one below:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614
See: waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614

Is there a way to get it not to do this? Thanks!

[Stinky666]

Aug 23, 2013 8:03:57 GMT -8 Lauren said:

Hi, the auto-link feature, that makes a URL entered in a post automatically clickable, breaks some links like the one below:

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614
See: waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614

Is there a way to get it not to do this? Thanks!

One thing you could do is 2 types of hyperlinks...

1) waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614
or
2) Click this link


Edit, what the.. the first way worked perfectly in preview mode but not in the real post

[moonbeam]

Is there a character limit?

[Michael]

Aug 23, 2013 8:16:14 GMT -8 moonbeam said:

Is there a character limit?

Nope, for some reason it looks like it hits a comma and assumes thats the end of the link. Thats a bug.

[CheatAreZee]

A couple of workarounds you can use in the meantime, If you use

%2C

In place of a comma in the URL then the link should work fine. So something like:

waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065%2C00060%2C62614

---

Optionally, you can use a word link with the commas by default so you don't have to remember to replace the commas:

[url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614]USGS Current Conditions[/url]

^ Would result with: USGS Current Conditions

[VS Admin]

Commas are not valid in URLs, they need to be listed as %2C.

"Reserved characters"
Why: URLs use some characters for special use in defining their syntax. When these characters are not used in their special role inside a URL, they need to be encoded."

www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm

[Stinky666]

Aug 23, 2013 10:17:57 GMT -8 VS Admin said:

Commas are not valid in URLs, they need to be listed as %2C.

"Reserved characters"
Why: URLs use some characters for special use in defining their syntax. When these characters are not used in their special role inside a URL, they need to be encoded."

www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm

Is there any way for you guys to make it so when used in an URL, it automatically changes to %2C ?

[VS Admin]

That's not for us to decide, the person who puts the URL should put a valid URL. I might want to say something like" You can visit us at www.proboards.com, or go to www.blah.com" and our system treats it properly. There is no way for us to know if you intend the comma to be part of the URL.

[Lauren]

Aug 23, 2013 8:08:36 GMT -8 Stinky666 said:

One thing you could do is 2 types of hyperlinks...

1) waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614
or
2) Click this link

Edit, what the.. the first way worked perfectly in preview mode but not in the real post

Thanks Stinky666, I did try linking the url with code this way:

[a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614"]http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614[/a]
but it had the same result. I also know I can link the text & that works. I know html & BBCode, but the problem is my users do not, that's why I was hoping for a fix for this bug on ProBoards end. I wasn't the one posting that link, it was one of my users & they contacted me when they saw it did not link correctly. I explained to them that they can just link the text & they now understand & will in the future, but the problem is I would have to explain this to everyone when this issue comes up (or put an FAQ, which people may or may not read).

Aug 23, 2013 9:21:58 GMT -8 CheatAreZee said:

A couple of workarounds you can use in the meantime, If you use

%2C
In place of a comma in the URL then the link should work fine. So something like:

waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065%2C00060%2C62614

---

Optionally, you can use a word link with the commas by default so you don't have to remember to replace the commas:

[url=http://waterdata.usgs.gov/wv/nwis/uv/?site_no=03185400&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,62614]USGS Current Conditions[/url]

^ Would result with: USGS Current Conditions

Thanks CheatAreZee, as I mentioned to Stinky666, I know how to link text, but unfortunately not all of my users do & I would have to explain this each time. Same thing with substituting the comma with %2C, but that's very neat to know & I may use it myself in the future, as well as mention it to others if they ask.

Aug 23, 2013 9:21:29 GMT -8 Michael said:

Aug 23, 2013 8:16:14 GMT -8 moonbeam said:

Is there a character limit?

Nope, for some reason it looks like it hits a comma and assumes thats the end of the link. Thats a bug.

I've filed this in our bug tracker to be fixed.

Thanks Michael, I hope there's a way to fix this on ProBoards end so that my users who don't know coding will not run into this issue.

Aug 23, 2013 10:17:57 GMT -8 VS Admin said:

Commas are not valid in URLs, they need to be listed as %2C.

"Reserved characters"
Why: URLs use some characters for special use in defining their syntax. When these characters are not used in their special role inside a URL, they need to be encoded."

www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm

Does this mean that the bug can't be fixed VS Admin? And unfortunately the url does need to have the commas, whether as linked text or substituting the %2C as it changes what is displayed on the page. Try going to the URL if you stop before before the first comma & then with the whole link, you will see that one of the charts is missing if you don't have the whole thing with the commas.

[VS Admin]

Lauren it's not a bug. Links with commas in them are not proper links.

[Michael]

Lauren

I made a mistake when I identified that as a bug, we are correctly handling the link. The problem lies with the source of the link for not providing you with the correct (and web standard) format as Patrick posted above.

Sorry about the misunderstanding, I learned something new today myself!

[kitchin]

There is still a subtle bug. Say you post a link with a comma, such as to a NuDisqus article
www.avclub.com/articles/this-week-were-barely-putting-up-with-carrie,104243/ and then post and realize the link is broken. You cannot edit your post in the obvious way: click edit, highlight the full URL, then in the popover dialog, paste in the correct URL. Something in the select/edit logic still parses at the comma, even if you use %2C or BBCode.

However you can just erase the text and start over.

[Michael]

You're right, even if you do edit the original it still uses the old logic. Re-inserting the link with the correct %2C seems to fix matters, but only when the old link is cleared. I'll double check that this is a bug with one of the developers and then make a ticket for it if its confirmed.

[kitchin]

Did it become a ticket?

[Michael]

Nov 13, 2013 18:16:01 GMT -8 kitchin said:

Did it become a ticket?

Yes, this will be fixed sometime in the future. Since you're working with an improper link in the first place, its at the bottom of the priority list as a fix.