Overzealous language filter?

[PhoeKun]

So, we all know that language filters aren't perfect. This one, too. Sometimes, a bad word is in the middle of another one, and the offending portion gets bleeped out. It's annoying, but you can circumvent it with a little creativity, right?

I recently found out that the filter also applies itself to the text located in hyperlinks. To use an example, Shi-to Ryu, when spelled properly without the hyphen, becomes ****o Ryu. I go to link the wiki article talking about it and... this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/****o_ryu) happens. Another example. (http://www.martialsource.com/****ohistory.htm)

Is there anything that can be done about this?

[Bookman]

So, we all know that language filters aren't perfect. This one, too. Sometimes, a bad word is in the middle of another one, and the offending portion gets bleeped out. It's annoying, but you can circumvent it with a little creativity, right?

I recently found out that the filter also applies itself to the text located in hyperlinks. To use an example, ****o Ryu, when spelled properly without the hyphen, becomes ****o Ryu. I go to link the wiki article talking about it and... this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/****o_ryu) happens. Another example. (http://www.martialsource.com/****ohistory.htm)

Is there anything that can be done about this?

You can edit them out like this

Or so I was misled.......... :tongue:

[J_Muller]

A similar thing happens when you try to link to certain areas of www.superdickery.com. It doesn't censor out the offending word in that, but the word's in the URL of the parts of the site concerned directly with superdickery. Example (http://www.superdickery.com/****/10.html). That should be this (http://tinyurl.com/2h4g2j).

[Rawhide]

There is nothing that can be done about this, sorry.

[Zherog]

http://www.majik.be/smilies/confused.gif

I thought the filters had what amounted to an exception list? So that you could, in essence, add ****o to that list, and it wouldn't filter it?

http://www.majik.be/smilies/confused.gif

[Shhalahr Windrider]

One way to get around it would be to use Tiny URL (http://www.tinyurl.com) to get an alias for the link.

[Rawhide]

http://www.majik.be/smilies/confused.gif

I thought the filters had what amounted to an exception list? So that you could, in essence, add ****o to that list, and it wouldn't filter it?

http://www.majik.be/smilies/confused.gif

The filter list does not work that way. Also, the superman site word has / on either side of the word, hence it sees it as a four letter word.

[Zherog]

So when Gorby says:


Comrade Gorby: There's been a lot of complaining about the world filter here. Let me see if I can clear up some points.

First off, with the word filter on the old forum, we were stuck in a binary situation. Either we had the word filter on and dealt with its... quirks, or we didn't have a world filter at all. The latter wasn't an option (I'll explain why next). Now, the problem then was that the old filter was coded in a way that made it very difficult to change, and it didn't allow much flexibility anyways. This new word filter - as you can see from adjustments in this very thread - can be adjusted, and our control over it is much finer. As such, the situation has changed. Rather than having to simply deal with the filter, we can look into specific situations and modify it to fit what we require. Thus, if you see what should be a benign word getting blocked, you can bring it to our attention and we can look into it. Or, vice versa - if you find a profanity or slur that should be blocked but isn't, we can add it in.

Wasn't he talking about stuff like the name ****o Ryo? It's a legit use blocked by the filters.

[Rawhide]

The filter list can be modified to an extent yes, but it doesn't have an 'exclusion' list.