2

I'm trying to edit an answer I wrote a while back to correct an important item.

When I select "Save Edits", it gives me an error with the following:
"Oops! Your edit couldn't be submitted because:

Your post contains a link to the invalid host '192.168.1.254'.
Please correct it by specifying a non numeric domain or wrapping it in a code block."

What in the world is it asking for? What the heck is a "code block"?

The original question and answers deal with how to set up a router and there will always be multiple references to private IPs like 192.168.x.x and 10.x.x.x. It didn't complain when I originally posted. Why does it complain now?

Any article dealing with network devices will need to contain private IPs. How do I turn off this type of "error" checking so I can correct the original answer?

Why are you making it so hard when I'm just trying to help by answering someone's question? Now I have to post my own question about this nonsense and wait for an answer before I can finish the correction.

Please tell me how to disable this "error" checking.

Thanks

2 Answers 2

7

A code block is what you used to quote the error message above.

I am a code block. My text contents are printed *verbatim* in a typewriter font.
New lines are printed just like in the source text.
To create me, indent every like with 4 leading spaces, or select some text and
click the button labeled "{}"

I am a quote. I support highlighting and use a regular font. Simple line breaks are ignored just like in regular text. To create me, select some text and click the button labeled with a quotation mark.


The offending part of your answer on the main site is this:

You get to the hard core 2Wire 1800HG/2701HG Gateway configuration pages by using this URL: (url I cannot post for obvious reasons)

Just wrap the URL in backticks (used for inlining code in regular text), like this: http://192.168.1.254/mdc.


You can view what I typed in this post here, by clicking on source.

6
  • Actually, I copied and pasted the whole "error" message so I had no idea how it got the gray background. Is the backtick the left single quote thing?
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:05
  • @Plan9FOS You copied the leading spaces as well, which make a paragraph into a code block.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:06
  • OK, thanks to both of you. I highlighted the http one and selected the braces thing to get the backticks (I've never heard it called that). It saved the edit after that. So, it was only the http+IP reference that it didn't like. The error message only referred to the IP which made it seem that it wasn't going to take any IPs.
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:21
  • 1
    @Plan9FOS Basically, it's to prevent broken links. The http:// makes it try to translate it into a link. There's a blanket ban on IP addresses, apparently. Here's a couple of related questions on Meta StackOverflow: Your post contains a link to the invalid host '192.168.1.1' The link validator is overzealous and should allow posting so-called 'invalid' links Are any IP address links valid in posts?
    – Bob
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:43
  • I find the word "broken" evokes a certain irony and the famous line: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". For me (and endolith and Kevin) it wasn't broken. It worked fine for us simple writers without the invalidator lurking, ready to strike at any moment. :)
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 12:08
  • I'd just like to point out that SE now supports fenced code blocks, finally! (i.e. ```) Perhaps this could be added to the answer?
    – SilverWolf
    Apr 25, 2019 at 1:20
1

It appears to be trying to parse the IP address into a hyperlink and suggesting you should put it in a code block to stop it trying to parse the invalid address.

You can do code blocks by highlighting your text and clicking the {} button or pushing "CTRL+K"

A single line indent with text between two of these grave accent character is the single line version `

A code block is similar to a quote except it has formatting for code readability, it also prevents tags from being parsed so the code can be viewed instead of the affect, it's used a lot more on stacks like StackOverflow than SuperUser.

6
  • So since the whole article is full of private IPs, do I need to put the whole thing inside the braces? Why is it doing this now? When I wrote the original, it didn't complain?
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:09
  • 1
    @Plan9FOS It's likely the filter/warning was only added in the almost-a-year since the original answer. The Stack Exchange engine is being constantly updated!
    – Bob
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:13
  • Thanks for the answers. Maybe they can give a writer the option to turn that type of check off since it isn't needed for this type of article.
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 11:24
  • 1
    @Plan9FOS: If the author could turn it off, it would be pointless. Aug 14, 2012 at 11:44
  • Oliver: Not for certain types of writing such as those dealing with network hardware that may have many references to internal device URLs. The links aren't "broken" anyway. People reading this type of article will know it isn't a general link to the internet, but a device address accessed though a browser interface. Anyway, for me, the system wasn't broken before. I almost gave up on fixing my post, even though it had a major error which would frustrate anyone following it.
    – user104237
    Aug 14, 2012 at 12:20
  • No one should need to know your internal addresses anyway. (If you're typoing them in wrong you should be proof checking your work before posting a SU question)
    – Amicable
    Aug 14, 2012 at 12:53

You must log in to answer this question.