Instagram "link in bio"

colak · Today 03:44:58

I have a problem with the “links in bio” we have in Instagram @nemeorg. On desktop browsers all works as intended, but when using the IG app on mobile devices (which is how most people visit the platform), I get a 403 error.

The link(s) look like https://www.neme.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZnRzaAPs8DtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafl1JK196eNmoXAFo04FyvDOSSQj-hIYXA9JWwUdkQu-ywof2jYqnrAty_soA_aem_0rzS-didWHbO7vJT-rzn_Q and I’m scrutinising our htaccess file to locate what I have done to block them, but I see no issues.

We are currently having 2 open calls with the 3rd one coming soon so I’m panicking that we will not be able to properly disseminate them in the platform,

gaekwad · Today 11:26:14

You can safely remove the fbclid=PAZnRzaAPs8DtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafl1JK196eNmoXAFo04FyvDOSSQj-hIYXA9JWwUdkQu-ywof2jYqnrAty_soA_aem_0rzS-didWHbO7vJT-rzn_Q part of the URL as that’s a Facebook-specific (and session-unique).

What happens if you just link to https://neme.org with no queries?

gaekwad · Today 11:29:05

Likewise, the utm stuff related to Google Analytics v4, and I don’t see any evidence of GA4 on neme.org on first pass…so unless you’re using another analytics app that uses utm queries, you can ditch the utm stuff, too.

phiw13 · Today 12:13:19

@gaekwad, those query strings are set by FB/IG after you insert the link in your profile (or in a post or whatever). X.com né Twitter does the same but less visibly in their t.co/ links

Yiannis, I vaguely remember you had previously problems with those FB/IG links leading to a 403, that led you to add some redirect in your htaccess. Details are fuzzy though and I couldn’t find the post where you mention this.

gaekwad · Today 12:16:19

phiw13 wrote #342454:

gaekwad, those query strings are set by FB/IG after you insert the link in your profile (or in a post or whatever). X.com né Twitter does the same but less visibly in their t.co/ links

Ah – I misread – I thought colak had set the target URL to be the lengthy one as specified in the OP. Thanks for clarifying.

Last edited by gaekwad (Today 13:04:21)

gaekwad · Today 13:09:30

What’s triggering the “Nice Try” text on your side? Is it a web application firewall or similar? I can reproduce the issue on Instagram for iOS, so I wonder if it’s the Instagram user agent that’s getting tripped up at your server end.

etc · Today 14:07:35

The only reason for ‘Nice Try’ is a too long URL. Try a greater value of max_url_len pref, maybe. It issues a 503, though, not 403.

Desktop browsers often remove tracking stuff from URLs (natively or via an extension), so the problem gets hidden. When I try to access www.neme.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZnRzaAPs8DtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafl1JK196eNmoXAFo04FyvDOSSQj-hIYXA9JWwUdkQu-ywof2jYqnrAty_soA_aem_0rzS-didWHbO7vJT-rzn_Q, FF actually takes me to www.neme.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio.

colak · Today 15:30:41

etc wrote #342457:

The only reason for ‘Nice Try’ is a too long URL. Try a greater value of max_url_len pref, maybe. It issues a 503, though, not 403.

Desktop browsers often remove tracking stuff from URLs (natively or via an extension), so the problem gets hidden. When I try to access www.neme.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZnRzaAPs8DtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAafl1JK196eNmoXAFo04FyvDOSSQj-hIYXA9JWwUdkQu-ywof2jYqnrAty_soA_aem_0rzS-didWHbO7vJT-rzn_Q, FF actually takes me to www.neme.org/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio.

Thanks so much guys. The problem was indeed the url length. In my prefs I had a max length of 200 digits which I had to increase to 260 until I come up with an htaccess rule to trim everything after ink_in_bio.

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