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An edit suggestion like this pretty often appears in the review queue.

These edits are generally fixing http://%20https:// to https://. (%20 means an escaped space in URLs.)

Does anyone know why such broken links appear so often? Shouldn’t they be corrected automatically?

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
8

I reckon this happens sometimes while adding a link using the "insert hyperlink" tool (either by clicking the button or pressing Ctrl+L) instead of using Markdown.

The input box contains https:// (which is selected) by default
enter image description here
(and I believe it used to have http:// by default previously). So usually while pasting the link, it overwrites the https:// with the copied link. But it seems sometimes the default text (inadvertently) gets deselected and a space is added, and then the copied link gets appended.

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  • I’d guess something like this but the question I mentioned was asked in January 2019. I am pretty sure the SE’s transition to HTTPS had happened before… See meta.stackexchange.com/a/296276/217657, for example.
    – Melebius
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 7:47
  • That's strange! Any chance that's a (at least partially) copy-pasted (from an older post) question?
    – pomsky
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 7:53
  • 2
    @Melebius Also the Meta Stack Exchange answer you linked in your previous comment is about the "sharing links" for posts, I don't think this applies to the current issue. I think in this case, switch to https took place with the editor improvements (last October-November). Although the point you raised is still valid as the question in question was asked last January.
    – pomsky
    Commented Sep 12, 2019 at 8:48
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The problem seems to be caused by copying a link with a preceding space into the Insert Hyperlink dialog. The software adds http:// in front of it and a broken link starting with http://%20https:// is born.

See What causes “http://%20https://” links to be made? on Meta.SE for details.

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