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This has happened to links we put on web pages and in emails.

We might put www.oursite.org/work/ but when I view source it shows up as webmail.ourhosting.ca/hwebmail/services/go.php?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oursite.org%2F%2work%2F

This ends up at the webmail login page for our web host. But only some of the people who click the link get the login page; others go directly to the original page we intended. We don't want it to go to the webmail login page, nobody needs to log in to our web site.

This occurs for links to pages on our site, but also to links to other sites that we put in emails or in posts. It seems to be browser independent as well as e-mail client independent as we variously have used Firefox and Chrome as well as MS Outlook and Thunderbird.

I've tried to resolve the issue with our webhost but they keep telling me they don't support our browser, or our email client (i.e., they don't understand the issue).

At the moment, our only option is to try another web host just to get rid of their login. Any ideas about what's going on?

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  • Are you using a CMS of any kind? But you say this only happens to "some of the people". This implies there is something client-side that is affecting outbound links (for some people)?!
    – MrWhite
    Jan 21, 2014 at 21:53
  • We are using WordPress on our website, but it happens with emails we create via a web e-mail client. I agree it seems to be client side, but I've created an e-mail with a good (tested) URL, sent the e-mail, and had random people come back to say they got that extended link with an embedded PHP redirect in it. Can't quite figure out how that is happening on my side, or why it won't work on their side (apart from the login issue). If they have the same ISP as we do, the link works.
    – Rebecca
    Jan 21, 2014 at 22:07
  • Solved! This can happen if the content was copied from an outside source like another email or a website and then pasted directly into the body of the email/post. Copying from an outside source can also copy any code that's associated with it behind the scenes and cause it to be pasted into the email content. For future emails, first add the content to a text editor application like Notepad to strip out background code, preventing it from being added to the email or website.
    – Rebecca
    Jan 31, 2014 at 11:43
  • Presumably the links that were copied were relative and not complete/absolute links? Not sure how Notepad would strip out "background code" in this instance, unless you were copying from a wysiwyg editor? But that is likely to have messed up more than just the links I would have thought?
    – MrWhite
    Jan 31, 2014 at 11:52

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Solved! This can happen if the content was copied from an outside source like another email or a website and then pasted directly into the body of the email/post. Copying from an outside source can also copy any code that's associated with it behind the scenes and cause it to be pasted into the email content. For future emails, first add the content to a text editor application like Notepad to strip out background code, preventing it from being added to the email or website. – Rebecca

E. Carter Young:
%3A = colon
%2F = Forward Slash

See This WikiPedia Entry on Percent Encoding

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