Posting URLs in TOTV curiosity
 

I seem to be have issues putting a URL in a post, the URL looks OK, but when I click on the link I come back to the post, I do not go to the link. I have tried with both Firefox and IE 7.

http://www.golfthevillages.com/
http://comcast.net
http://google.com

Actually, as I sit and play with the URLs above in preview post, I see the issue may be just trying to get to golfthevillages.com (which happened to be a link I tried in a post yesterday). I can get to the site when putting the URL in the browser, but cannot get there by clicking on the link in TOTV post.

I am wondering if it is isolated to my environment or if others also have an issue clicking on the golfthevillages link above.

That always happens with me and many Villages official websites.
 

Except for the square webcams almost every other Villages official site does this. You just get sent right back to TOTV.

I think it has been suggested that thevillages.net (which hosts The Villages sites) has performed some mumbo jumbo so that Villages sites can't be accessed from the TOTV site? Too bad they feel that way.

I see now. On the surface, it looks like those servers, e.g., golfthevillages.com are evaluating the http referrer header and redirecting the browser back to that. As a test I disabled sending referrer headers and all URLs work.

I understand wanting to track where folks come from, but I find that policy odd to block TOTV, but not my web servers :)

Thanks.

I thought that TH figured out the problem a couple of months ago.

But - cut and paste of the urls into the browser usually works.

How do you disable the referring header????

The only way that I know of is by using the trusted sited and privacy settings in the internet options of IE. Problem with that is you have to do it for every url that is blocked.

Disable Referrer for Internet Explorer
This can be done from the computer's Control Panel > Internet Options, or from within the browser Tools > Internet Options.

Click Security.
Click Trusted Sites then Sites.
Add your website address in the box provided and click Add.
Uncheck the box that requires https verification.
Click the Privacy tab (Medium is an acceptable setting on the slider, but click Sites and again enter your website address)/
Now click Allow.
Click Apply.

Be warned, disabling referrer header can cause some sites to fail. As an example after I did this I could not get to the GOLF tab in thevillages.net to access tee times.

I am using Firefox 3.5.5 and the procedure is:

Type about:config into the address bar
Acknowledge the frightening warning
Scroll down and find network.http.sendRefererHeader
Note the original value for future refernce
Double click on network.http.sendRefererHeader and set it to 0

Disabling the referrer header does not really solve the issue as new users coming to TOTV will not and should not have done that and links will still be confusing.

Looking around there are a few sites that do this on your behalf. As an example check out:

Hide Referrer | link to other sites anonymously! - Anonym surfing - Anonymous Redirector - Hide Refer Link - Easy Redirect

Here is an example of a link we have issues with:

Spanish Springs Town Square, The Villages

Using hiderefer.com, I can create the following link:

http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/cam_ss.asp

Here is the source for the URL.

HTML Code:

---

http://hiderefer.com/?http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/cam_ss.asp]http://www.thevillages.com/lifestyle/cam_ss.asp

---

I will look into it a bit for fun, i.e., how it works, security implications, etc.

Access *villages.* links directly from TOTV
 

Referer site has been changed to blankrefer.com after folks discovered that referer.us was taking folks to a porn site and not the intended page.
After 30 minutes of comparing sites (caveat user) ;), I like this site best for creating (NON referrer) links in a TOTV post that reference a villages web site. These 'referrer links' will allow the user reading the post to click on the link in the post instead of having to copy and paste it to access the site. This issue appears limited to Villages web sites. The referrer site I like is:

URL Redirection

If you find it useful I am glad, if not, at least I am one post closer to my golden eagle platinum status ;).

Here are a three examples. Each example shows the HTML code that you type into the post, and what the corresponding link looks like in the post.

http://www.golfthevillages.com/championship-golf

http://thevillages.com/lifestyle/cam_lsl.asp

Spanish Springs Camera

It’s not just TOTV that’s being affected by this policy. Lyle Gant, an independent real estate agent with a very informative web site is also being blocked from linking to TV web pages http://www.lylesellsfla.com/index.shtml

This seems to be consistent with TV Management’s policy of “You’ll know what we want you to know, when we want you to know it”.

It’s unfortunate, but true.

Thanks, ajbrown... appreciate it. :thumbup:

Seems like a lot of work when you can just put these URLs in your favorites. How many times do you actually link to them from the TOTV forum?

Z

Check out post #10.
 

Read post #10? I cannot change the text in Z's "quoted message", but you should not use referrer.us for the reasons described in post #10.

I mean, you can, but you may raise a few ...... ummm............ eyebrows....:shocked:

Really? Can you post that link for us?