# Linking problems. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 6, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893 "2002-12-06T11:20:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/1 "2002-12-06T11:20:21Z")
In [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?&threadid=148106) thread, I attempted to link to [this](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel) page, but the link didn’t work and I can’t quite see why. Is it the apostrophe/single quote in _Hilbert’s_? [This link won’t work](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilberts_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/2 "2002-12-06T11:21:31Z")
Apparently so, how about: [this](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel)? (which does not enclose the URL parameter in double quotes). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/3 "2002-12-06T11:22:35Z")
Well, I’ll be jiggered. Is there a way to post a link to a URL that contains an apostrophe? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/4 "2002-12-06T11:37:25Z")
Why yes there is. URLs recognize, for any character, a hexadecimal escape sequence, which is % followed by the hex ASCII value, which for an apostrophe is 27 (of course). So, replace ’ with %27 and that should do the trick: > **[Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel)** > > Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel (colloquial: Infinite Hotel Paradox or Hilbert's Hotel) is a thought experiment which illustrates a counterintuitive property of infinite sets. It is demonstrated that a fully occupied hotel with infinitely many rooms may still accommodate additional guests, even infinitely many of them, and this process may be repeated infinitely often. The idea was introduced by David Hilbert in a 1924 lecture "Über das Unendliche", reprinted in (Hilbert 2013, p.730), and w... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/5 "2002-12-06T11:55:11Z")
Thanks **Achernar**! Now, I know that modding the board software is out of the question, but I think I’m right in saying that there are built-in features to replace X with Y under given circumstances; does this have sufficient flexibility to convert ’ to %27 when it occurs within the parameter of a URL tag? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/6 "2002-12-06T11:58:41Z")
[Maybe this](http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert's_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/7 "2002-12-06T15:48:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > there are built-in features to replace X with Y under given circumstances; does this have sufficient flexibility to convert ’ to %27 when it occurs within the parameter of a URL tag? No. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linking-problems/140893/8 "2002-12-07T00:16:34Z")
Ah well; I suppose it’s not going to crop up all that much.