"questionmark"ref= being stripped from urls in forum posts

[DevilDoc]

I don't know if this is on purpose or by accident. I noticed that the forum is stripping the sequence "?"ref= (sans quotes) from posted urls.

For instance, the url:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php"?"ref=7480-wusf-3601 - sans quotes.

is truncated to

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php7480-wusf-3601

The forum has something against "?"ref= ? Is it blacklisted? Does this make sense?

 

[GoldenTiger]

I don't know if this is on purpose or by accident. I noticed that the forum is stripping the sequence "?"ref= (sans quotes) from posted urls.

For instance, the url:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php"?"ref=7480-wusf-3601 - sans quotes.

is truncated to

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php7480-wusf-3601

The forum has something against "?"ref= ? Is it blacklisted? Does this make sense?

Makes sense to me if so.

 

[jeremyshaw]

probably to break referal URLs.

 

[DevilDoc]

probably to break referal URLs.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Bummer that it breaks an url to a legit site like steam support forums.

 

[Lethal]

probably to break referal URLs.

Ding, ding, ding!

 

[Zinn]

It's like casting a net for tuna and killing a few dolphins.

 

[DevilDoc]

@ Zinn: decent analogy.

I don't blame the administration for doing so, I was just pointing out something that looked broken. Not everything that's broken needs to be fixed.

 

[CommanderFrank]

There are definitely downsides to some of the restrictions we have to place on links, IP addresses, et al, but it all helps the greater good to make this a better web site.