I tried to link to a post using the permalink it provided: http://forums.asp.net/post/4306447.aspx. However, when I use the editor to insert a link (I'm using Firefox), the actual link gets mangled to point somewhere else. I even tried adjusting the HTML
source of the post, but something in the site's gubbins seems to think it knows better. Why?
All of the issue's i've seen of broken urls seem to point to the urls being converted into relative urls when they are pasted into the editor. i think the odd urls reults from the folder depth being different from when your are editing to when you are viewing
the posts. so the relative urls work only when you are editing and then become "off" by one folder level once you drop out of edit mode.
Some time back, adding absolute on-site links would result in a post that contained an absolute link. On or about the last major redesign (if i recall correctly), these links started appearing as relative links after being pasted into the tinymce editor.
So i wonder if during that update, either a tinymce setting used here changed - or if the default behavior of tinymce itself changed.
from what i can tell, tinymce has a couple of different settings that affect urls:
The tinymce default value for convert_urls is True and the default value for relative_urls is True. So it looks like tinymce's default behavior is to try to convert urls to a relative form.
I tested with the tinymce demo page for these settings (using ie9) here:
I did find a few of editors on that demo page that would give me absolute urls even when i pasted something that could have been converted to a relative url. The first editor on that page configured with relative_urls:false gave me root relative links which
seems like it might be a sufficient tweak. The second editor on that page added in a setting remove_script_host:false and the resulting url was the full and absolute http://domain url.
I peeked at the post.js script that the site delivers which appears to contain the setup script for the editor and i did not see anything for the two settings mentioned above, so i think the editor here is running with the tinymce defaults. Changing one
or both of those two settings to False may produce more predictable (absolute) urls when linking to onsite content.
However ... when trying to duplicate this behavior in the above test thread, i need to do one extra thing to create the broken link (a link with a /p/t/ in it). I needed to edit the post with the link in
it.
So in that test thread, the 3rd post was edited. The links in all 3 posts work when accessing the thread from a /t/ style url. that 3rd (edited) post's link is the only one that does not work and only when accessed via the /p/ style url.
Note that i think this effect on links introduced after an edit may also be what has affected some of the emoticons that sometimes do not show.
Mike, I've had similar problems; i use win7/ie8 ... i think [and hope] this horrifically frustrating issue is likely in the group of issues Terri has said that Neudesic will attempt to fix in December.
I get the problem (a) just typing in the composition window; (b) using the [HTML] button that lets me tweak the link; and (c) using the [Insert/edit link] and [unlink] buttons.
It's somewhat random but when it's broken it seems unfixable ... like your experience, it untweaks my tweaks.
When my frustration threshold is exceeded, i simply add extra words to advise the reader that if the link fails, then she/he should just type it by hand.
imho, this should be fixed yesterday FWIW.
regards,
Gerry
B-) Please help me by completing my school survey about computer programmers on my website. Thank you!!! Gerry Lowry +1 705-429-7550 wasaga beach, ontario, canada
All of the issue's i've seen of broken urls seem to point to the urls being converted into relative urls when they are pasted into the editor.
Thanks for spending the time you have in investigating this Mike. The scenario that I reported at the start of the thread actually resulted in the link to a specific post being altered to point to the thread starter, rather than show just the post I linked
to. After that, I edited the post, and then the resulting link failed despite any gymnastics with the editor on my part.
resulted in the link to a specific post being altered to point to the thread starter
I ran into this while testing too and it's another side effect of the relative urls.
I've added a test post #4 to my same test thread. Instread of dropping in a "/t/" style link, i pasted in a link such as you would get from a post's permalink.
If you visit that thread via the "/p/" style url, then (due to it being a relative link) that link picks up the thread number of the current thread. You end up with /currentthread#/otherpost#/ combination which is a combination of thread/post that doesn't
really exist. so clicking it simply brings you to the current thread. If you visit the thread from a "/t/" style url, you end up with a /t/ link that contains a post number (not a thread number) so the link doesn't work. Any attempt to edit the link to correct
it will result in a link that i think only works when visiting the thread via a /t/ url (and only if you avoid the permalink and use a full thread link).
So far i've seen these 3 url styles:
/t/
/p/
/post/
The issue with the first 2 might be resolved by addressing the issue as an edit issue and leaving the link (and emoticon) urls as relative. but that doesnt seem to correct the 3rd. encouraging the editor to retain all urls as absolute urls looks like it
might address all 3 scenarios.
Thanks for the report and continued analysis on this problem. Now that we have completed our site update we will be doing some rounds of bug fixes in the coming weeks which should address this high priority problem.
Mikesdotnett...
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Site messes around with links
Nov 10, 2011 08:16 PM|LINK
I tried to link to a post using the permalink it provided: http://forums.asp.net/post/4306447.aspx. However, when I use the editor to insert a link (I'm using Firefox), the actual link gets mangled to point somewhere else. I even tried adjusting the HTML source of the post, but something in the site's gubbins seems to think it knows better. Why?
Beginning ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix | My Site | Twitter
mbanavige
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Re: Site messes around with links
Nov 11, 2011 01:08 AM|LINK
All of the issue's i've seen of broken urls seem to point to the urls being converted into relative urls when they are pasted into the editor. i think the odd urls reults from the folder depth being different from when your are editing to when you are viewing the posts. so the relative urls work only when you are editing and then become "off" by one folder level once you drop out of edit mode.
Some time back, adding absolute on-site links would result in a post that contained an absolute link. On or about the last major redesign (if i recall correctly), these links started appearing as relative links after being pasted into the tinymce editor. So i wonder if during that update, either a tinymce setting used here changed - or if the default behavior of tinymce itself changed.
from what i can tell, tinymce has a couple of different settings that affect urls:
http://www.tinymce.com/wiki.php/Configuration:convert_urls
http://www.tinymce.com/wiki.php/Configuration:relative_urls
The tinymce default value for convert_urls is True and the default value for relative_urls is True. So it looks like tinymce's default behavior is to try to convert urls to a relative form.
I tested with the tinymce demo page for these settings (using ie9) here:
http://www.tinymce.com/tryit/url_conversion.php
I did find a few of editors on that demo page that would give me absolute urls even when i pasted something that could have been converted to a relative url. The first editor on that page configured with relative_urls:false gave me root relative links which seems like it might be a sufficient tweak. The second editor on that page added in a setting remove_script_host:false and the resulting url was the full and absolute http://domain url.
I peeked at the post.js script that the site delivers which appears to contain the setup script for the editor and i did not see anything for the two settings mentioned above, so i think the editor here is running with the tinymce defaults. Changing one or both of those two settings to False may produce more predictable (absolute) urls when linking to onsite content.
mbanavige
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Re: Site messes around with links
Nov 12, 2011 12:24 PM|LINK
One additional aspect of this that i noticed this am is that i bumped into a broken link when accessing a thread from a site generated email.
The url in the email was a "/p/" style such as this:
http://forums.asp.net/p/1739055/4679992.aspx/1?Re+test
If i switched back to the regular thread style url, then the link worked:
http://forums.asp.net/t/1739055.aspx/1?test
However ... when trying to duplicate this behavior in the above test thread, i need to do one extra thing to create the broken link (a link with a /p/t/ in it). I needed to edit the post with the link in it.
So in that test thread, the 3rd post was edited. The links in all 3 posts work when accessing the thread from a /t/ style url. that 3rd (edited) post's link is the only one that does not work and only when accessed via the /p/ style url.
Note that i think this effect on links introduced after an edit may also be what has affected some of the emoticons that sometimes do not show.
gerrylowry
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Re: Site messes around with links
Nov 13, 2011 07:49 AM|LINK
@ Mikesdotnetting
Mike, I've had similar problems; i use win7/ie8 ... i think [and hope] this horrifically frustrating issue is likely in the group of issues Terri has said that Neudesic will attempt to fix in December.
I get the problem (a) just typing in the composition window; (b) using the [HTML] button that lets me tweak the link; and (c) using the [Insert/edit link] and [unlink] buttons.
It's somewhat random but when it's broken it seems unfixable ... like your experience, it untweaks my tweaks.
When my frustration threshold is exceeded, i simply add extra words to advise the reader that if the link fails, then she/he should just type it by hand.
imho, this should be fixed yesterday FWIW.
regards,
Gerry
Mikesdotnett...
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Re: Site messes around with links
Nov 13, 2011 08:23 AM|LINK
Thanks for spending the time you have in investigating this Mike. The scenario that I reported at the start of the thread actually resulted in the link to a specific post being altered to point to the thread starter, rather than show just the post I linked to. After that, I edited the post, and then the resulting link failed despite any gymnastics with the editor on my part.
Beginning ASP.NET Web Pages with WebMatrix | My Site | Twitter
mbanavige
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Re: Site messes around with links
Nov 13, 2011 01:53 PM|LINK
I ran into this while testing too and it's another side effect of the relative urls.
I've added a test post #4 to my same test thread. Instread of dropping in a "/t/" style link, i pasted in a link such as you would get from a post's permalink.
If you visit that thread via the "/p/" style url, then (due to it being a relative link) that link picks up the thread number of the current thread. You end up with /currentthread#/otherpost#/ combination which is a combination of thread/post that doesn't really exist. so clicking it simply brings you to the current thread. If you visit the thread from a "/t/" style url, you end up with a /t/ link that contains a post number (not a thread number) so the link doesn't work. Any attempt to edit the link to correct it will result in a link that i think only works when visiting the thread via a /t/ url (and only if you avoid the permalink and use a full thread link).
So far i've seen these 3 url styles:
The issue with the first 2 might be resolved by addressing the issue as an edit issue and leaving the link (and emoticon) urls as relative. but that doesnt seem to correct the 3rd. encouraging the editor to retain all urls as absolute urls looks like it might address all 3 scenarios.
tmorton
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Re: Site messes around with links
Dec 02, 2011 01:33 AM|LINK
Thanks for the report and continued analysis on this problem. Now that we have completed our site update we will be doing some rounds of bug fixes in the coming weeks which should address this high priority problem.
ASP.NET/IIS.NET Website Manager, Neudesic