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What does "R*o*bot c*heck" get triggered by

Discussion in 'Forum Operations Center' started by JandS, Dec 4, 2019 at 8:30 PM.

  1. Dec 4, 2019 at 8:30 PM #1 of 4
    JandS

    JandS Well-Known Member TCF Club

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    East of Seattle
    Obfuscating the words in title in case this doesn't get through.

    I haven't figured out what triggers this description in place of descriptive title text when I post some links, whatever it is I'd like to avoid it if possible. It started a couple of weeks ago, I think. i'm using Firefox 71.0

    I do "edit" looong Amazon links that include the referrer junk prior to the item text when posting them, maybe that's what causes it?

    Here's a link to a thread where I see this happening:

    https://www.tivocommunity.com/commu...onday-2019-deals.574092/page-30#post-11919173

    upload_2019-12-4_17-30-28.png
     

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  2. Dec 5, 2019 at 7:33 AM #2 of 4
    stevel

    stevel Dumb Blond TCF Club

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    In general, this gets triggered on various sites when a lot of requests come in from the same or similar origin. When you include a URL in a post, the forum software tries to fetch the page title so it can fill it in automatically. This happens from the forum server, so the site puts up a page called “Robot Check” to have you solve a CAPTCHA *usually).

    I had not seen this on Amazon until recently. I have gotten in the habit of previewing posts with links as for some sites the auto-title doesn’t work.
     
    JandS likes this.
  3. Dec 5, 2019 at 9:59 AM #3 of 4
    JandS

    JandS Well-Known Member TCF Club

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    Oct 1, 2010
    East of Seattle
    Ah, thanks for the explanation, @stevel.

    I see now that previewing the post and using the BB code button reveals the "check" title so it can be adjusted, but dang, that removes the true auto-title so then one has to either make up a fictionalized title or go back to the page to grab the real title in case folks want to search for the link themselves rather than follow the one in the posting. Sigh, one step forward, two back.
     
  4. Dec 5, 2019 at 10:03 AM #4 of 4
    eddyj

    eddyj Señor Member TCF Club

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    I usually only go back if I really need the text to be meaningful. Many times, even the generic text is enough, if the post makes it clear what the link is for.
     

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