# Why am I suddenly unable to post URLs?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883
**Category:** Site Feedback
**Created:** [July 23, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883 "2026-07-23T21:59:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/1 "2026-07-23T21:59:11Z")
For at least a couple of days now, when I try to incorporate a URL into a sentence, the software changes it to the title of the linked article or phrase.
Attempted example:
Let’s say I want to [url=" [Can trackers be attached to a device?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503) "]link to this thread[/url], without showing the title of the thread. But I can’t.
What’s going on?
---
### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/2 "2026-07-23T22:01:30Z")
[Like this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503)
Seems to work OK.
Whatever format you’re using isn’t what Discourse prefers. Looks like some BBCode abomination learned someplace (or sometime) else.
Here’s what the “link” button in the editor inserts:
`[Like this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503)`
That said, there’s nothing wrong with just pasting the URL directly in: [Can trackers be attached to a device?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503)
If you post the url on its own line, it gets a nice preview, which is always appreciated here.
> [@Can trackers be attached to a device?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503):
>
> I have a problem. My, wife, whose memory is failing, repeatedly lays her e-reader down in some random place, piles papers on top and then cannot find it. Sometimes it takes me an hour to locate it. So I thought of attaching a tracker. Amazon has some very attractive looking ones less than 1/4" thick, but they don’t say anything about how it attaches. From their pictures, it appears that they are made to attach via a chain. I need something that can essentially glued on to the back of her e-rea…
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/3 "2026-07-23T22:06:51Z")
Without knowing your specific workflow, device, browser, and whether you’re using the Discourse post editor in traditional Markdown mode or the newish WYSIWYG mode, not much can be said.
Also, are you specifically interested in links to other SDMB threads / posts, or is this a more general issue / question?
The bottom line is you can still achieve whatever result you want for a URL. Just a matter of knowing how to do it given whatever raw materials you have.
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/4 "2026-07-23T22:25:54Z")
The weird thing is that for years on the Dope, posting [url=“the actual URL”]I want a phrase to show up without it being the link title[/url] has worked just fine. Now it doesn’t.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/5 "2026-07-23T22:30:33Z")
Ah. I thought you were complaining that the URL turned into a title even in your post. I’ll check and see if your exact syntax (sans spaces ofc) causes me a problem.
[link to this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503)
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/6 "2026-07-23T22:36:02Z")
Trying again with [url=“[Trump is dying](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-dying/1022520)”]another thread[/url].
Nope.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/7 "2026-07-23T22:37:26Z")
Ah, okay. Let’s see what happens if I’m using the rich text editor.
url="https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-trackers-be-attached-to-a-device/1031503"\]like this\[/url
Yeah, that was garbage.
Still, make sure you’re using the Markdown editor, not the “new rich text” one if you’re going to be pasting in URLs. The Rich text editor handles URL pasting weirdly.
Or use the link button on top, of course. Then you can paste the URL and the text you want it to change to.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2026, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/8 "2026-07-24T00:08:54Z")
It looks like that post was probably typed in WYSIWYG mode. If you’re the sort of old fogey (like me) who prefers to type in the tags manually, you want to turn that off. It’s the switch in the upper-left corner of the input box.
There are also extra spaces in between the URL and the quote marks, but I don’t know if that was your doing or the WYSIWYG editor’s.
---
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/9 "2026-07-24T02:22:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> If you’re the sort of old fogey (like me) who prefers to type in the tags manually, you want to turn that off. It’s the switch in the upper-left corner of the input box
What switch? What’s an “input box”?
And how does one change to Markdown text editor on the SDMB?
---
### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2026, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/10 "2026-07-24T07:59:54Z")
The input box is the area where you type your reply, with the line of “buttons”
at the top.
The switch in question is the first one that looks a bit like this M+| A
That one functions like a slider switch; click it to toggle between “rich text
editor” and “standard markdown editor”.
---
### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-suddenly-unable-to-post-urls/1031883/11 "2026-07-24T12:44:19Z")
Okay, let’s test this. [Does this link work?](https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ)
ETA: Yes, it seems to. I made the link the same way I’d have done it back in the old VBulletin days:
```auto
[url=https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ]Does this link work?[/url]
```