disable the 'not allowing numeric URLS'

[karljeffery]

Hi I can't include numerical URLs in the newsletter because Constant Contact won't allow it, can you disable this?

I often want to include links to data files which we store on our cloud files server, they have web addresses like this one

http://83a7383a5e33475eed0e-e819cda5edf0a946af164bb0b2f2ae3c.r0.cf1.rackcdn.com/Nov16EPproblems.pdf

Constant Contact won't let me use these direct links because it says 'numerical URLs' are not allowed.

I have been using a workaround for a few years of creating bit.ly links (like http://bit.ly/FPNov16machine).

But now one of our readers tells me his company's corporate security policies block him from downloading anything via a bit.ly link.

Many thanks

Cheers Karl

[Ariana_L]

Thanks for the feedback @karljeffery.

After testing this in my account, I was able to insert this link without issue. Are you receiving a specific error message when trying to insert it? Could you please reply back with a screenshot of the error and the steps you took to insert the link into your e-mail so we can better understand what you're experiencing?

[Hannah_M]

Since we haven't heard back on what was happening when you tried to put in this link I'm going to mark this thread as closed. 

[Hannah_M]

Hi @karljeffery 

Thanks for your reply via email. I'm sorry we didn't see it before. I reopened this idea to continue to get an idea of volume.

To give you a quick explanation, a url that starts with the number is not allowed because it gets caught in some preventative code that is designed to stop URL's that contain IP addresses. This is a practice often used by spammers to scrape website information. 

These type of URLs are allowed in the newest editor (3rd generation) if that is something you want to try using. To use this editor just create a new email in your account. The alternative is to use a short URL to remove the numbers from the link.

I know this isn't ideal for you but please continue to voice your feedback for the product teams here! 

Thanks!

[LisaS88]

I am now having the same problem. I am using a url that does not start with a number but has it at the end because it is an event registration link. If this is not something that is remedied, then I'll be switching email providers. Constant Contact keeps making changes that are not friendly for those of us paying for the services.

[karljeffery]

Hi if you use the new templates, or do the entire newsletter in your own code, then you can use numeric URLs fine - I think the problem only happens if you use an old template and then copy it from week to week (which I was doing before)?