viglink.com is breaking external links

[Pigeon]

PH pages have acquired a tracker script which records people clicking on external links.

{{{
<script type="text/javascript" xmlns=""><!--

var vglnk_api_key = "e142dee5ab0712e9087fe3a79674ccd8";
var vglnk_domain = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://" : "http://") + "api.viglink.com";
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + vglnk_domain + "/api/vglnk.js?key=" + vglnk_api_key + "' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));

--></script><script type="text/javascript" xmlns=""><!--

try { vglnk(vglnk_domain, vglnk_api_key); }
catch(err) {}

--></script>
}}}

This is breaking the links - not all the time, but sometimes it does.

Instead of the link opening as normal I get a blank tab with the URL of the forum page in the URL bar, and a dialog box asking me what application I want to use to open the link... I select Opera, and the result is another blank tab in which nothing is loaded.

So I have used Opera's "block content" feature to prevent the script from loading, and this fixes the problem.

An example of a broken link can be found in Landlord's post at 14:05 on this page: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Plotloss]

That Landlord link works perfectly here.

[Pigeon]

Doesn't for me (Opera), which is why I started investigating

[Mr Will]

Pigeon said:

Doesn't for me (Opera), which is why I started investigating

Not working on certain links in Opera (9.61) here either. So I tried updating to the latest version, but Opera is currently refusing to download it. I hate Opera.

What version are you currently using? Is it doing it for some links or all?

[Pigeon]

Latest version here - Opera/9.80 (X11; Linux i686; U; en) Presto/2.2.15 Version/10.10

It's not doing it now since I blocked the script but I don't recall it doing it on all of them... seemed to depend on the extension. Didn't like .php or .stm, certainly. However I didn't carry out an exhaustive survey I'm afraid.

[Mattt]

Peerblock blocks their IP anyway, so generally no links work for me unless I edit the URL.

[Mr Will]

Mattt said:

Peerblock blocks their IP anyway, so generally no links work for me unless I edit the URL.

Sounds rather over-zealous to me! when did it start blocking them?

[Gaffer]

I have started getting the same this week - bleeding annoying now.

Latest IE on Vista home premium (I think).

Any ideas on how to fix it..? can't see anything in the settings and CCleaner hasnt picked anything up.

Claire

[Mattt]

Claire - does your country block/restrict internet traffic? Sometimes I have issues due to state restrictions with certain sites.

[SimonV8ster]

I'm losing the link all the time ? Is there anything I can do ?

(other than go back and copy the link and then paste it into a new window which has got bloody annoying !!)

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

Started with me on IE8 (64 bit W7) the last day or so at work.

[Gaffer]

Mattt said:

Claire - does your country block/restrict internet traffic? Sometimes I have issues due to state restrictions with certain sites.

YouTube at the mo, everything else is fine. Only started this week.

[Mr Will]

We are monitoring this at the moment, so all your posts are valuable information. If anything changes or anyone else is having problems then please let us know.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

A current example for you :-

Webpage error details

User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/4.0; GTB0.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0)
Timestamp: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:05:36 UTC


Message: Expected ']'
Line: 1
Char: 137
Code: 0
URI: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... @ Silverstone? [30th April - 2nd May]


Message: Object expected
Line: 1
Char: 1
Code: 0
URI: http://api.viglink.com/api/click?key=e142dee5ab071...

[vlRick]

Hey, guys. I'm from VigLink. Thanks for speaking up about the bug you're seeing. I know it's frustrating. We're trying to track down the problem, but need your help. The Opera bug that initially started the thread was easy enough to find and fix. The about:blank bug has been harder to locate.

For those of you who have seen the about:blank bug, if you could take a minute and answer any or all of these questions, it would be hugely helpful in finding the fix: (Some of you have already provided some of this info. Thanks!)

1. Approximately how many days/weeks ago did you first see it?
2. Do you see the blank page every time you click an external link, or only some of the time?
3. Are you using any ad-blocking software? (maybe a browser plugin or an ad-blocking firewall)
4. If you know how, please provide your User Agent, (like ThatPhilBrettGuy did above).
5. If you're not sure where to get the User Agent, please provide your OS (Windows 7, Mac OS 10.6, Ubuntu, etc.) and browser (IE 8.0, Firefox 3.5, Chrome 4.0 etc.).

Next time you see a blank page after clicking a link:

1. Wait up to 10 seconds before closing the blank window or tab. Did it eventually redirect you to the right page?
2. If it never redirected, was there a javascript error?

Feel free to provide any other information you think may be relevant.

Thanks very much for your help.

Rick
VigLink

Edited by vlRick on Thursday 22 April 19:31

[silverthorn2151]

Not sure I understood all the words but I came here because links in posts have stopped working for me.

No error message in the new window that opens but at the bottom left of the new windowit says Done, but with errors. I cut and paste the links and it works fine that way.

[vlRick]

silverthorn2151 said:

No error message in the new window that opens but at the bottom left of the new windowit says Done, but with errors. I cut and paste the links and it works fine that way.

If you double click on "Done, but with errors" it should open a small error window. Could you copy the error info from that window and paste it here?

[speed8]

Same problem here for me, getting the about:blank page

Using IE8 on Vista Home. I can probably try upstairs on Windows7 if you want but thats using IE8 too.

I can get round it by using CTRL + click to open it in a new tab but it's a PITA

ETA, I don't get a 'Done but with errors' it just says 'Done'

Edited by speed8 on Friday 23 April 09:51

[speed8]

Anything?

[Mr Will]

speed8 said:

Anything?

We will be switching viglink off later today.