A request.. when you post a link….

[gordon2]

It seems that most everyone simply copies the URL from a web site and pastes it in a post when they want to include a link. But those URLs often contain a lot of unneeded information, and who knows what data collection and tracking is going on. But worse, my browser will not open these links when I click on them. My request is that you strip out the part of the URL that is not needed. It might take a little trial and error to figure that out but I hope you do. Please use the shortest URL possible that will will link to your target.

For one of many examples..The first one opens for me when I click on it, the second one does not unless I open a new browser window and paste it.

This is the simple URL to see a particular item on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/GiareBeam-Fla.../dp/B06XGDKC4X

And this is the link that was pasted in a post on this forum:

https://www.amazon.com/GiareBeam-Flashlight-15000Lm-Waterproof-Activities/dp/B06XGDKC4X/ref=pd_sim_468_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06XGDKC4X &pd_rd_r=f66dc4e7-7709-11e8-a3b3-55739bf65a5f&pd_rd_w=Bu1Ui&pd_rd_wg=RbG1d&pf_rd_i= desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=796729851716162 1930&pf_rd_r=5BTTMWVXTT0M8EJARNHW&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=5BTTMWVXTT0M8EJARN HW&dpID=41rP2%252B4C10L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=d etail"]15,000 Lumen flashlight

Looks like some sort of spy code, doesn't it?

Does anyone else see this issue? I would guess there is a security setting I could change but I hesitate to do anything that might lessen by Internet safety.
---------

[Tom 72]

The long link contains a lot of tracking & some browser infomation that is not needed.

At the end of the top line you will find, ....ref=pd_sim_468_2?

You can reliably delete everything after the question mark. It has worked hundreds of times, and I've never found more than one question mark, and never not found a question mark in a long link.

Just look for the "?" and delete after it.

Then try the link both ways. Enjoy.

PS, if you are really crafty, you may be able to shorten past the question mark, but I don't know a rule of thumb. Try the link below.

https://www.amazon.com/GiareBeam-Fla...=pd_sim_468_2?

[Glenn Baglo]

I don't understand.
When I post a link, I simply copy and paste the address from the header.
It appears as "subject" in blue. I don't see any of the coding.
When I click on a link that's been posted, I expect it to take me to the subject under discussion. I get irked if it leads me to some home page that I have to search through to find the information.
Who cares how many characters there are in the link address and why?
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post703241

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Tom 72

...
PS, if you are really crafty, you may be able to shorten past the question mark, but I don't know a rule of thumb. Try the link below.

https://www.amazon.com/GiareBeam-Fla...=pd_sim_468_2?

That Link no workie... (unless I cut and paste it)... this is what it showed (minus the brackets) .. note the new domain (go.redirectat dot com)….

[http://] go.redirectingat.com/?id=21873X801418&xs=1&isjs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww .amazon.com%2FGiareBeam-Flashlight-15000Lm-Waterproof-Activities%2Fdp%2FB06XGDKC4X%2Fref%3Dpd_sim_468_2% 3F&xguid=11e3d0223d186bae5ae2da1cb740213a&xuuid=7d c40bab9e0c9d023452d1bea620d2bb&xsessid=&xcreo=0&xe d=0&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fiberglassrv.com%2Fforum s%2Ff65%2Fa-request-when-you-post-a-link-85642.html%23post703241&pref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fibe rglassrv.com%2Fforums%2F&xtz=240&jv=13.6.3&bv=2.5. 1

It appears to be a marketing tool. I’m starting to get curious enough to figure out what is going on, but don’t have the time at present. Perhaps it is some magic preformed by this web site’s owner (Social Knowledge, LLC) when you post a link to get referral points.
.

[Jon Vermilye]

Originally Posted by gordon2

That Link no workie... (unless I cut and paste it)... this is what it showed (minus the brackets) .. note the new domain (go.redirectat dot com)….

[http://] go.redirectingat.com/?id=21873X801418&xs=1&isjs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww .amazon.com%2FGiareBeam-Flashlight-15000Lm-Waterproof-Activities%2Fdp%2FB06XGDKC4X%2Fref%3Dpd_sim_468_2% 3F&xguid=11e3d0223d186bae5ae2da1cb740213a&xuuid=7d c40bab9e0c9d023452d1bea620d2bb&xsessid=&xcreo=0&xe d=0&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fiberglassrv.com%2Fforum s%2Ff65%2Fa-request-when-you-post-a-link-85642.html%23post703241&pref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fibe rglassrv.com%2Fforums%2F&xtz=240&jv=13.6.3&bv=2.5. 1

It appears to be a marketing tool. I’m starting to get curious enough to figure out what is going on, but don’t have the time at present. Perhaps it is some magic preformed by this web site’s owner (Social Knowledge, LLC) when you post a link to get referral points.
.

I'm the guilty party that made the post so I can explain how it happened. I did a search at Amazon for a 10,000 lumen flashlight, and noticed that on an ad below the description was a link to a 15,000 lumen flashlight. Since I was making point of overblown lumen outputs, I went to the link & copied it.

Evidently, the added junk has something to identify internal Amazon links that are ads. The link window in Safari is small enough that it only shows the first 20 characters or so, so I didn't see the rest of the link.

No idea of how the fiberglassrv.com part of the link and the redirect got there...

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Jon Vermilye

I'm the guilty party...

More precisely, you are one of about 1,000 "guilty" parties (including myself before I figured out the issue). And guilt is not a fair word either.

By the way, for some reason I could not remember how to spell precisely, so I jumped over to Google to look the word up (since it is a much better spell checker than the one on this site). Typing ONLY the misspelled word in the search box, the URL ended up as:

"http"... //www.google.com/search?q=percsisly&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS773US773&oq=per csisly&aqs=chrome..69i57.138j0j7&sourceid=chrome&i e=UTF-8

Now most of that I recognize as identifying the browser that was used (Chrome) and the character encoding (UTF-8). According the the makers of the browser, the "rlz=..." parameter gives us the ability to accurately measure the success of marketing promotions and distribution partnerships in order to meet our contractual and financial obligations.

So even a simple one word search on Google is passing more information than just the search. By the way, the URL still works if you delete everything after the misspelled word. In this case its easy to determine that it is not anything nefarious, but I have no idea about the long URL posted about the flashlight (and many others like it).

But the main reason that I shorten the links I post, and hope that other will also, it that the long ones do not open. Perhaps it is a redirection security block, or some other security setting. It just rather annoying to not be able to click the link.

[Glenn Baglo]

Try this one that I just posted.


Princess Auto Trailer Catalogue - Mar 20 to Feb 28

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Try this one that I just posted.


Princess Auto Trailer Catalogue - Mar 20 to Feb 28

Well that took me to a Russian porn site.. a bad one too.

LOL just kidding. That link does open when I click on it. No redirects seen in the URL.

[Glenn Baglo]

The top two or three sites in a Google search are generally ads. I scroll down from there until I get to the home site. I never click on the ad links. No reason. Just do.

[Tom 72]

Two quick points. In some cases posted links can contain private information such as account numbers. I didn't post this initially because cookies residing on your machine are usually required. But it is something you don't want.

Example: The investing website, Seeking Alpha was notorious for allowing others to see your account information from forwarded links. I think they recently corrected it.

A second point is that the text editor this site uses (fiberglass RV) appears to shorten link's visual appearance yet it stores the longer form. So before you copy the link is a good time to shorten it to the question mark. See post #2.

Ok, a final point. I have seen links grow sequentially to the point they are too long too function. Again, something you don't want.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by gordon2

Well that took me to a Russian porn site.. a bad one too.

LOL just kidding. That link does open when I click on it. No redirects seen in the URL.

Sounds like you have a computer problem. The Princess Auto link worked good for me.

[Brian G.]

I didn't realize posting links could cause problems. There's a lot to know apparently. Since I don't enjoy computing techniques, I might choose simply to avoid posting links. I don't mean any offense or criticism toward anyone.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Brian G.

I didn't realize posting links could cause problems. There's a lot to know apparently. Since I don't enjoy computing techniques, I might choose simply to avoid posting links. I don't mean any offense or criticism toward anyone.

Posting links is very easy to do.

First pick a word link.

then highlight that word.
click on the world icon above with a chain link at the bottom.
Past or type the url you wish to link to as was done above.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Sounds like you have a computer problem. The Princess Auto link worked good for me.

It works for me also. That is what I meant when I wrote, "LOL just kidding. That link does open when I click on it. No redirects seen in the URL."

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by Brian G.

I didn't realize posting links could cause problems. There's a lot to know apparently. Since I don't enjoy computing techniques, I might choose simply to avoid posting links. I don't mean any offense or criticism toward anyone.

The only problem I was talking about was the link not opening unless I copied it, opened a new browser, and pasted the link. It is not a big problem - just an annoyance.

There is always a risk with with links. For one example, one can unknowing be redirected to site that appears legit but is not, and instead is a site set up to steal credit card numbers, personal ID, etc. But in my years at this site I have never seen that happen. With a good Anti-virus the risk is minimal. Kind of like going to the the State Fair where one person out of 25,000 attending has the flu. Your chance of getting the flu from that person is slight, and even less if you had the vaccine.

So feel free to post links. I have taken the precautions needed so that I don't get infected, or to recover from a computer virus infection if I do. And I can live with the slight inconvenience of have to take three steps instead of one to go to a link in a post.

[John in Santa Cruz]

speccific to Amazon, you can delete from the ref= on, so the link ends with the product ID, which is a string of capital letters and digits, like in this URL...

https: //www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006GF5SK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(I put a space in there so its not a link) the product code is B0006GF5SK, so delete everything after that...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006GF5SK/

[kootenaigirl]

The really irritating part with Amazon.com links when you are in Canada is they automatically redirect you to Amazon.ca which often translates into a large price increase and is not the site I want.

[gordon2]

So I noticed another, completely unrelated issue.

Normally with my email client and a few web browser windows open, my CPU is limping along at around 5% or less utilization. But when using this forum, my CPU usage climbs to over 80%, sometimes even over 90%. This occurs with Edge or Chrome browsers and does not occur with the other web sites that I routinely use, such as Facebook. Stopping my anti-virus makes no difference. I am pretty sure this is a new thing because it now causes my fan to run almost continuously, and I don’t recall that happening before. This is modern, up to day system and so far this seems to be specific to this forum. This has got to be fixed.

In this chart, When I had this forum open corresponds to the two time periods when CPU use was near the top of the chart.

Anyone else seeing this?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by gordon2

So I noticed another, completely unrelated issue.

Normally with my email client and a few web browser windows open, my CPU is limping along at around 5% or less utilization. But when using this forum, my CPU usage climbs to over 80%, sometimes even over 90%. This occurs with Edge or Chrome browsers and does not occur with the other web sites that I routinely use, such as Facebook. Stopping my anti-virus makes no difference. I am pretty sure this is a new thing because it now causes my fan to run almost continuously, and I don’t recall that happening before. This is modern, up to day system and so far this seems to be specific to this forum. This has got to be fixed.

In this chart, When I had this forum open corresponds to the two time periods when CPU use was near the top of the chart.

Anyone else seeing this?

I've noticed the same thing. This site seems to be processor hungry. I shut it down most of the time.

[Mary F]

I've also noticed it.