URLs with encoding are altered when using Discourse link function

Support
1

I searched here and thought that this issue had been resolved.

However, we have a user on our site reporting the following:

Do this:

  • open that (working) link (no 404)

  • copy link from location bar (Ctrl-L, then Ctrl-C)

  • click the link icon in the discourse editor

  • paste URL

  • save reply

  • click the link → 404

This is the relevant link that was used:

https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Project%20and%20Community/FAQ.html#using-a-zvol-for-a-swap-device-on-linux

Apparently, even though the link has encoding, Discourse encodes it again leading to a 404?

Thanks for any help and workarounds.

2

I tried your steps and it seems to work: I could access the website just fine, and was brought to the section in the docs. Does this happen in safe mode? Is your forum updated to the most recent version?

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3

I do not believe it was tested in safe mode.

We are on 3.5.3 at the moment.

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4

Then testing on try.discourse.org might make more sense than using safe mode.

Discourse 3.5 was released in August. Lots of things have improved since then.
Since the end of January, there haven’t even been any security fixes for this version, and there have been plenty of them lately.

1 Like
5

A quick look at releases.discourse.org tells me that ended support in January. I strongly suggest you update to v2026.1.0 (latest ESR).

6

To clarify, neither of you are able to reproduce this issue?

I assume try.discourse uses the same login?

Will test and also speak to the relevant parties about updating our site.

Thanks for the help.

7

I wasn’t able to reproduce.

It’s not linked to Meta. It’s for testing and usually resets once a day, so your account and the posts you created will be gone tomorrow. You can use your Discourse ID if you have one, but otherwise, it’s independent.

1 Like
8

@Moin Thank you.

I was also not able to reproduce this over at try.discourse

Will speak to our admins about upgrading/updating the site.

Appreciate the help and support :+1:

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