shortlinks have stopped working

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    For years now, I’ve used the convenience of the shortlinks. Today, when checking out my newsletter, I’ve found that every shortlink fails, while the full links work fine.
    Site: https://bobrich18.wordpress.com
    One of the shortlinks that has worked previously, but now fails: http://wp.me/p3Xihq-17z
    Due date for release of my newsletter is Sunday 1st April. I’d be very grateful for help before then.
    Bob

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Hi Bob –

    Thanks for getting in touch. I’ll be here all weekend and will be happy to have a look.

    Please share a few more bits of information with me.

    1. Which browser and version number are you using.

    2. Have you cleared your cache/cookies recently?

    3. Are you publishing via the new editor or the classic /wp-admin version?

    Thanks.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    Thank you for responding, Liz, and during the easter period.

    I use Safari on a Mac. Version 11.0.3 (13604.5.6)

    No, I have not cleared cache/cookies. I will do so now, then check if the problem is still there.

    I have always gone back to the classic version for first publication of a blog via
    https://bobrich18.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
    in part because the shortlink is so easy to grab. With the new editor, I have sometimes found that there is no shortlink. When it is available, I need to scratch around for it under the “sharing” button.

    I have also noticed that all the old shortlinks are http. The newer ones seem to be all or mostly https. However, neither have worked during the past couple of days.

    Thank you once again,
    Bob

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    I cleared history including cookies, with the same result, and tried in Firefox. No connection there either. Same with Chrome.

    When the link is https, “no secure connection could be established” in either browser. With http, it’s the “try again later” message.

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Hi Bob –

    I suspect that http vs https is contributing here.

    When I click on http://wp.me/p3Xihq-17z it will automatically redirect to the https version of the link in my browser – so I don’t see any errors. Let me think on this and see what’s going on.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    Liz, thank you for your continued effort on my behalf. I clicked on the link in the email notification of your answer, and got the same error message.

    There are many hundreds of shortlinks in my existing posts, many of which are of enduring interest to my visitors. I hate the thought of having to trawl through them all and replacing with long links!

    :)
    Bob

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Both myself, and a team member have tried to replicate this problem and we haven’t been able to.

    This makes me believe that there’s something in your local set up causing the issue.

    All the shortlinks on the front page are working for me…

    Let’s try this:

    1. Reset your modem and router

    2. Flush your computer’s DNS cache – If you Google search “how to flush my computer dns cache” the instructions can be found for your specific operating system. If you have trouble finding them, lmk.

    Report back here and let me know if that helps.

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    Thank you, Liz.
    I reset my ‘gateway,’ which includes the modem.
    Flushed DNS with the command
    sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder;say DNS cache has been flushed
    which I found as relevant to Mac OS X High Sierra.
    A female voice said, “DNS cache has been flushed.”

    However, neither the http nor https shortlinks work.

    I have tried my wife’s computer, which is the same OS, and works off the same modem. Same problem. However, my daughter who lives elsewhere has connected using a shortlink I emailed to her.

    This implies that my visitors can use the shortlinks, which makes me feel better. All the same, I’d still like to resolve this problem.

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Bummer! I was hoping that would do the trick…

    The issue is somewhere with in your set up. What happens if you take your computer and use a different internet connection – like at work, or a neighbor’s place, a coffe shop, etc…

  • Unknown's avatar
    bobrich18 · Member ·

    Dear Liz,
    A computer savvy friend has just spent a couple of hours looking at the problem, and your judgment is right: he isolated it as being with the gateway. I am contacting the ISP.
    Thank you for all your work. I would like to send you a free copy of one of my books. If you’d like that, please email (redacted)
    :)
    Bob

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Yeah! Happy to hear that you were able to get this sorted!

    You’ll see that I took the email address out of the thread. These forums are indexed by search engines so we try to keep any private details out of them. I’ve saved the address though. Cheers!

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