email notification links broken

Koda94 · December 7, 2014, 03:53 PM

the links contained in the email notification to thread replies are no longer "hot"

technically not broken they work if you copy/paste... an inconvenience if your using smaller devices such as phone or tablet.

**Mal H** · December 8, 2014, 02:08 AM

The problem could be in your email system. I checked some emails I have received within the past day and they are links as opposed to text only. Has anything changed in your email system recently?

Koda94 · December 8, 2014, 02:17 AM

been using the same email since I joined, but its possible gmail could have upgraded something they recently upgraded their drive service.

I just now went back to my mail archive and checked an random old TFL notification from early November and that link is "hot" and works...

**tyme** · December 8, 2014, 05:04 AM

Compare "show original" for a newer email and an older email. See if there's any difference in the link markup.

If not the same, please let me know, because as far as I'm aware, nothing has (or should have) changed on TFL.

If it is the same, then obviously google is rendering the emails differently. Maybe they decided TFL's server is less trustworthy so they don't hotlink links in a mistaken attempt to prevent phishing.

Koda94 · December 9, 2014, 11:22 PM

I dont know how to "show original" but I right clicked and selected "show page info"

Not totally certain what to look for but a page info comparison shows that the an older email (with a working link) says the "connection partially encrypted" while the current email says "connection encrypted: high-grade encryption"

I dont know if that helps or solves anything. I've made no setting changes in regards to encryption. Other forums I use their hotlinks are hot and working.

I dont think there will be a solution found and it looks like its specific to myself. Thanks for the help, I will write this one off as Murphy's law

**tyme** · December 10, 2014, 08:09 AM

When you've opened an email, the down arrow (triangle) to the right of the reply button opens a menu. One of those menu items is "show original", and it shows the email in plain text format, more or less as it was received by google.

That's really the only way to tell if there are differences. When you view source on the webpage, that'll include any extra processing google does, which might be different for different emails, and invalidate the comparison.

NavyVet1959 · December 10, 2014, 04:13 PM

I am encountering the same thing. I use the same email for other forums that run the same forum software, but they are still working.

NavyVet1959 · December 10, 2014, 04:19 PM

Seems that the problem exists when I use gmail.com, but if I use the mail app on an iPad, the link is there. Used to work under gmail.com though. Other forums still work under gmail.com.

**tyme** · December 10, 2014, 05:10 PM

I've checked and the emails that get sent just have the link as plain text, with no markup.

I don't know why google isn't rendering the subscribed thread notification links for you. It is for me. Have you marked TFL email as spam? If a webmail provider thinks an email is untrustworthy, it won't render links. Other than that, no idea, but it's not gmail globally that's the problem.

**Mal H** · December 10, 2014, 06:00 PM

I just had a new email sent to my gmail account and it worked as expected - the thread URL's are hot linked.

Maybe the problem is specific to one particular type of message. Koda and Navy, which type of email that you have received is not working? All of them; only subscriptions; only emails from other users; etc.

What is the platform you use to receive the emails? Smartphone; older phone; laptop; desktop computer; etc.

NavyVet1959 · December 10, 2014, 06:31 PM

Well, the emails are coming to my inbox instead of my spam folder, so I don't think that I accidentally marked one of them as spam.

I'm using Firefox, so I also tried it under the Chrome browser and got the same result.

Under the Android gmail app, they are clickable.

Interesting problem...

NavyVet1959 · December 10, 2014, 07:28 PM

I'm wondering if it is because the link has mixed case in it for the domain or because it does not have a "www." in front of it.

http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555450&goto=newpost

**Mal H** · December 10, 2014, 08:35 PM

Nope, the mixed case and lack of www aren't conditions that would make a URL "non-hot". The URL's go out to everyone like that.

However, I find it interesting that the URL you added to your post is not a hot link - it should be. I did a straight copy of that line from your post and it is a hot link in my post here. I checked the internals of your post and there is nothing unusual that would cause that to happen, or rather not happen. Curiouser and curiouser!

http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/show...0&goto=newpost

NavyVet1959 · December 10, 2014, 08:47 PM

I intentionally told it not to parse the link when I posted it in my previous post so that the entire link would show up in text, so that is not something to be concerned over.

**Mal H** · December 10, 2014, 08:51 PM

Ah! Ok, then nevermind!

Koda94 · December 12, 2014, 05:58 PM

thought I would follow up with this.

Quote:

When you've opened an email, the down arrow (triangle) to the right of the reply button opens a menu. One of those menu items is "show original", and it shows the email in plain text format, more or less as it was received by google.

Quote:

Compare "show original" for a newer email and an older email. See if there's any difference in the link markup.

If not the same, please let me know, because as far as I'm aware, nothing has (or should have) changed on TFL.

I found a difference in the link markup, assuming "markup" means the text of the link. (here is a copy/paste http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=554402&goto=newpost it is from an older email where the hotlink works and here is a copy/past http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555450&goto=newpost to the link in the email I get for this thread which is not hot. The number series is different) (disabled hotlink parse intentionally)

with all that said..... an interesting twist. My links appear to be hot now. I got an email notification today for a different TFL thread and the link is hot. Something went back to normal. However I have not recieved any notifications for this thread in two days despite all these new replies. I checked... none of my TFL email notifications are going to my spam folder they all go to my inbox properly.

FWIW: I use Firefox and Chrome and my Android phone and tablet and the issue is/was the same accross 2 computers and 2 devices.

**Mal H** · December 13, 2014, 12:07 AM

Quote:

The number series is different ...

The numbers in those URL's are simply the thread numbers so they would most likely be different. If nothing surrounding the URL's is different, then there is no identifiable reason that the link status (hot or not) should be different.

NavyVet1959 · December 13, 2014, 01:35 AM

The link is showing up in my email now. Don't know what changed, but I'm glad.

I delete my old emails, so I did not have an old working version to compare to the new non-working version.

But I do have the previous non-working emails and the current working one and when I look back t the previous non-working versions, they are still non-working. This is really strange. I can't see anything when I compare the raw versions that I get when I click on the "Show original" link in the dropdown.

**Mal H** · December 13, 2014, 02:33 AM

Gremlins!

December 7, 2014, 03:53 PM	#1
Koda94 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2012 Location: Cascadia Posts: 1,362	email notification links broken the links contained in the email notification to thread replies are no longer "hot" technically not broken they work if you copy/paste... an inconvenience if your using smaller devices such as phone or tablet. __________________ lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

December 8, 2014, 02:17 AM	#3
Koda94 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2012 Location: Cascadia Posts: 1,362	been using the same email since I joined, but its possible gmail could have upgraded something they recently upgraded their drive service. I just now went back to my mail archive and checked an random old TFL notification from early November and that link is "hot" and works... __________________ lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

December 8, 2014, 05:04 AM	#4
tyme Staff Join Date: October 13, 2001 Posts: 3,365	Compare "show original" for a newer email and an older email. See if there's any difference in the link markup. If not the same, please let me know, because as far as I'm aware, nothing has (or should have) changed on TFL. If it is the same, then obviously google is rendering the emails differently. Maybe they decided TFL's server is less trustworthy so they don't hotlink links in a mistaken attempt to prevent phishing. __________________ “The egg hatched...” “...the egg hatched... and a hundred baby spiders came out...” (blade runner) “Who are you?” “A friend. I'm here to prevent you from making a mistake.” “You have no idea what I'm doing here, friend.” “In specific terms, no, but I swore an oath to protect the world...” (continuum) “It's a goal you won't understand until later. Your job is to make sure he doesn't achieve the goal.” (bsg)

December 9, 2014, 11:22 PM	#5
Koda94 Senior Member Join Date: November 25, 2012 Location: Cascadia Posts: 1,362	I dont know how to "show original" but I right clicked and selected "show page info" Not totally certain what to look for but a page info comparison shows that the an older email (with a working link) says the "connection partially encrypted" while the current email says "connection encrypted: high-grade encryption" I dont know if that helps or solves anything. I've made no setting changes in regards to encryption. Other forums I use their hotlinks are hot and working. I dont think there will be a solution found and it looks like its specific to myself. Thanks for the help, I will write this one off as Murphy's law __________________ lightweight, cheap, strong... pick 2

December 10, 2014, 08:09 AM	#6
tyme Staff Join Date: October 13, 2001 Posts: 3,365	When you've opened an email, the down arrow (triangle) to the right of the reply button opens a menu. One of those menu items is "show original", and it shows the email in plain text format, more or less as it was received by google. That's really the only way to tell if there are differences. When you view source on the webpage, that'll include any extra processing google does, which might be different for different emails, and invalidate the comparison. __________________ “The egg hatched...” “...the egg hatched... and a hundred baby spiders came out...” (blade runner) “Who are you?” “A friend. I'm here to prevent you from making a mistake.” “You have no idea what I'm doing here, friend.” “In specific terms, no, but I swore an oath to protect the world...” (continuum) “It's a goal you won't understand until later. Your job is to make sure he doesn't achieve the goal.” (bsg)

December 8, 2014, 02:08 AM	#2
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,067	The problem could be in your email system. I checked some emails I have received within the past day and they are links as opposed to text only. Has anything changed in your email system recently?

December 10, 2014, 04:13 PM	#7
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	I am encountering the same thing. I use the same email for other forums that run the same forum software, but they are still working.

December 10, 2014, 04:19 PM	#8
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	Seems that the problem exists when I use gmail.com, but if I use the mail app on an iPad, the link is there. Used to work under gmail.com though. Other forums still work under gmail.com.

December 10, 2014, 05:10 PM	#9
tyme Staff Join Date: October 13, 2001 Posts: 3,365	I've checked and the emails that get sent just have the link as plain text, with no markup. I don't know why google isn't rendering the subscribed thread notification links for you. It is for me. Have you marked TFL email as spam? If a webmail provider thinks an email is untrustworthy, it won't render links. Other than that, no idea, but it's not gmail globally that's the problem. __________________ “The egg hatched...” “...the egg hatched... and a hundred baby spiders came out...” (blade runner) “Who are you?” “A friend. I'm here to prevent you from making a mistake.” “You have no idea what I'm doing here, friend.” “In specific terms, no, but I swore an oath to protect the world...” (continuum) “It's a goal you won't understand until later. Your job is to make sure he doesn't achieve the goal.” (bsg)

December 10, 2014, 06:00 PM	#10
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,067	I just had a new email sent to my gmail account and it worked as expected - the thread URL's are hot linked. Maybe the problem is specific to one particular type of message. Koda and Navy, which type of email that you have received is not working? All of them; only subscriptions; only emails from other users; etc. What is the platform you use to receive the emails? Smartphone; older phone; laptop; desktop computer; etc.

December 10, 2014, 06:31 PM	#11
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	Well, the emails are coming to my inbox instead of my spam folder, so I don't think that I accidentally marked one of them as spam. I'm using Firefox, so I also tried it under the Chrome browser and got the same result. Under the Android gmail app, they are clickable. Interesting problem...

December 10, 2014, 07:28 PM	#12
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	I'm wondering if it is because the link has mixed case in it for the domain or because it does not have a "www." in front of it. http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555450&goto=newpost

December 10, 2014, 08:35 PM	#13
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,067	Nope, the mixed case and lack of www aren't conditions that would make a URL "non-hot". The URL's go out to everyone like that. However, I find it interesting that the URL you added to your post is not a hot link - it should be. I did a straight copy of that line from your post and it is a hot link in my post here. I checked the internals of your post and there is nothing unusual that would cause that to happen, or rather not happen. Curiouser and curiouser! http://TheFiringLine.com/forums/show...0&goto=newpost

December 10, 2014, 08:47 PM	#14
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	I intentionally told it not to parse the link when I posted it in my previous post so that the entire link would show up in text, so that is not something to be concerned over.

December 10, 2014, 08:51 PM	#15
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,067	Ah! Ok, then nevermind!

December 13, 2014, 01:35 AM	#18
NavyVet1959 Senior Member Join Date: April 27, 2014 Location: Texas, ya'll Posts: 166	The link is showing up in my email now. Don't know what changed, but I'm glad. I delete my old emails, so I did not have an old working version to compare to the new non-working version. But I do have the previous non-working emails and the current working one and when I look back t the previous non-working versions, they are still non-working. This is really strange. I can't see anything when I compare the raw versions that I get when I click on the "Show original" link in the dropdown. Last edited by NavyVet1959; December 13, 2014 at 02:29 AM.

December 13, 2014, 02:33 AM	#19
Mal H Staff Join Date: March 20, 1999 Location: Somewhere in the woods of Northern Virginia Posts: 17,067	Gremlins!