Absintheuse
Posts: 348
11/14/2016
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Based on player feedback and tech observations from our last change to the Profile URL structure, we’ve made some additional improvements, which have gone live today.
Previously, we changed and added new symbols into Profile URLs. For example, tilde (~) was being used to replace spaces in character profiles, which caused issues for players with actual tildes in their name. This was also generally unsafe to use, so we replaced it with ‘TILDESYMBOL,’ and carried this through for other symbols as well.
This change caused a few people to be surprised when copying and pasting Profile URLs didn't work for the 2% of Fallen London players who had these symbols in their URL. After watching people's reactions and looking into the issue more from a functionality perspective, we decided this was not the best implementation of character encoding.
And so, we've added proper URL encoding and decoding, as well as adding more symbols to the ban list for creating and changing the name of characters. The banlist previously included < > ' | . , & and we will be adding * / ? : " % \ +
These changes will add improved security, will allow users to more easily copy and past Profiles, and also add more uniformity with web standards.
Important Things to Note
- Due to previous iterations, some people may think their profile URL’s are fine, but this is not the case due to the new changes. Please check the above list of symbols that are now on the ban list, to make sure that you will still be able to view your profile properly.
- Players with symbols in their profile URL can email support@failbettergames.com and we will fix the URL for them.
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PSGarak
Posts: 834
11/14/2016
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Robin Alexander wrote:
Absintheuse wrote:
Spaces are indeed fine and will not cause any problems. As Nigel mentioned, you could put either of these into your browser for the profile to show up (most modern browsers should accept both).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine Raymond
I'm still a little confused?
If the % gets added to the banlist, does this mean only the spaced url will work in future? :-S
edited by Robin Alexander on 11/14/2016
That's got to do with URL-encoding works. When a string is encoded as a URL, certain "special" characters are replaced with %XY, where XY are hex digits (i.e. 0-9 or A-F). Space becomes %20, the equal sign becomes %3D, and so forth.
The % character itself is one of the "special" characters (%25), which is what makes this scheme works. In an encoded string, the % symbol *always* means "there was a special character here, read the next two numbers to find out which one."
So the URL with the space is the "unencoded" URL, and the one with %20 is the "encoded" URL. Your browser should automatically encode the URL if it detects a special character--both URLs should always work, because the one is converted to the other before it's even sent to FBG's servers. If there is a special character, the encoded URL will always contain a % symbol.
FBG is banning % from appearing in the *un*encoded URL. This is good, because it prevents ambiguity. If you could name your character "Bob%3D," it wouldn't be possible to tell whether that was the unencoded name, or the encoded version of the name "Bob=."
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http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/PSGarak
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An Individual
Posts: 589
11/14/2016
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For those who are curious, here is a basic web tool you can use to experiment with URL encoding.
Basically, they added additional characters to the list of those not allowed to appear in character names. You will still see the % symbol appear in actual URLs though because it's one of the characters used by URL encoding to encode otherwise invalid characters. In the case of %20, it's used to replace the actual space symbol.
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An Individual's Profile
The RNG giveth and the RNG taketh away.
Goat Farming or Cider Brewing? This browser extension may help.
Want a Cider sip? Please refer to this guide before requesting.
Scholaring the Correspondence? A Brief Guide to Courier's Footprint.
Contemplating Oblivion? First Steps on the Seeking Road.
Gone NORTH? Opened the gate? Throw your character in a well.
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Nigel Overstreet
Posts: 1220
11/14/2016
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I've found while editing the Overgoat list that rendering the name as "Nigel Overstreet" works fine.
However, it appears the actual URL coding is %20 as in "Nigel%20Overstreet" or
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Nigel%20Overstreet
Unless I'm very much mistaken, which has been known to happen on numerous occasions.
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edited by Nigel Overstreet on 11/14/2016
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The Romantic Egotist: Most Hedonistic Man in All of Fallen London
Are you or someone you know Overgoated? Please, let me know!
Cider Club
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Absintheuse
Posts: 348
11/14/2016
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Spaces are indeed fine and will not cause any problems. As Nigel mentioned, you could put either of these into your browser for the profile to show up (most modern browsers should accept both).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine Raymond
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Catherine Raymond
Posts: 2518
11/14/2016
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Vavakx Nonexus wrote:
Catherine Raymond wrote:
Absintheuse wrote:
Spaces are indeed fine and will not cause any problems. As Nigel mentioned, you could put either of these into your browser for the profile to show up (most modern browsers should accept both).
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond
http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Catherine Raymond
Thanks! I'll try that
I'd suggest that you use %20 instead of ' ', as people cannot go to your profile directly if they click the link, but to another profile just named Catherine.
You are indeed correct, Vavakx, as I just found out; with the space, my URL pulls up "Catherine"'s profile, not my alt's. Thanks.
EDIT: Fixed; my alt's Profile URL now works correctly. Thanks again.
edited by cathyr19355 on 11/14/2016
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Cathy Raymond
http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/cathyr19355
Catherine Raymond aka Mrs. Rykar Malkus http://fallenlondon.com/Profile/Catherine%20Raymond (Gone NORTH)
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Diptych
Administrator
Posts: 3493
11/14/2016
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Worth nothing: the code you can create by highlighting text and hitting the "hyperlink" button in the usual post interface can be copied-and-pasted into your signature, and that will work even if your link has a space in it.
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Sir Frederick, the Libertarian Esotericist. Lord Hubris, the Bloody Baron.
Juniper Brown, the Ill-Fated Orphan. Esther Ellis-Hall, the Fashionable Fabian.
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