Last modified: 2011-04-30 01:20:28 UTC
When a skype user edits a page, in the edit box, phone numbers are getting surrounded by the strings "begin_of_the_skype_highlighting" and "end_of_the_skype_highlighting". Yes, these strings are being inserted into the edit box somehow, like this: begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +61 4 19 18 67 51 end_of_the_skype_highlighting This seems to be happening on many mediawiki sites. From a Google search for "mediawiki begin_of_the_skype_highlighting": http://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/w/index.php?title=Petition_Distribution_Central_African_Republic&oldid=9853 http://www.migrawatch.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page&printable=yes http://www.loungeguide.net/wiki2/index.php5?title=Frankfurt_%28FRA%29_American_Airlines_Admirals_Club&printable=yes This problem is not happening to me personally (I don't use skype) -- I'm just reporting it.
It's all over wikipedia too. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&search=begin_of_the_skype_highlighting&button=
The german wikipedia use a abuse filter to block these edits: [[de:Special:Abusefilter/43]]. It seems to be a problem of the FireFox-Extension, not MediaWiki.
As the author of said abuse filter, I have to agree: It's not a mediawiki fault at all. The mozilla skype addon just cannot keep its "fingers" from input fields, causing the stuff to appear on save. The enWP has implemented a similar abuse filter: [[Special:AbuseFilter/313]] Just for laughs: It does also hit on company-websites: http://www.integralmarketing.com.au/cms/aboutintegral/contactus/tabid/498/Default.aspx (I'd call that an epic fail....)
Only on the new editor or also on the good old one? Seems something to add to the editToken. What would be the smallest number to hit it?
*** Bug 23749 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
The same issue causes 8 digit numbers to turn into Skype phone call buttons on certain localizations (such as Hungarian - example: http://hu.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikip%C3%A9dia-vita:Sablonm%C5%B1hely&oldid=7764599#Sz.C3.A1m_az_infoboxokban ). Both problems could be fixed by simply adding the following header to every page: <meta name="SKYPE_TOOLBAR" content="SKYPE_TOOLBAR_PARSER_COMPATIBLE" /> This does not work in Skype 4.2 due to a bug which has been fixed in trunk, according to discussion here: http://forum.skype.com/topic/67510-unwanted-skype-content-on-my-site/page__p__2629661&#entry2629661 See also Skype release notes (search for "meta"): https://developer.skype.com/WindowsSkype/ReleaseNotes I still suggest the meta tag should be added. Not everyone uses 4.2 (in fact, majority of users don't update and Skype update is not fully automatic), and the bug will eventually get fixed.
Skype has confirmed the problem and will fix this in the next version of Skype (toolbar). Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to fix the issues with the corruption of the textarea submits in the meantime, other than continuing to use our abuse editfilters. <pre> 1: Does this bug still exist ? 2: In which versions does it exist ? 3: Will it be fixed soon. 4: Can we prevent it from occuring </pre> <pre> hi TheDJ, I apologize for the trouble we have caused to Wikipedia (I am a great fan, btw) and for the delay in getting back to you. To answer your questions: 1. It will be fixed very shortly in the next release of Skype. 2. All versions from 4.1 to 4.2 have it 3. Yes, shortly 4. No, I don't think there is a way for you to fix it on your end. Again, my apologies! </pre>
In fact, we can. We can give the users a "skype number" (thus the request for the shorter "telephone number" recognised by skype) and block the save if it was corrupted. We could even tell them "Update or disable your skype toolbar".
Once Skype 5.0 is released, we can advice users to update to that version from the editfilter.
(In reply to comment #7) > Skype has confirmed the problem and will fix this in the next version of Skype > (toolbar). Not a bug in MediaWiki -> INVALID > Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to fix the issues with the > corruption of the textarea submits in the meantime, other than continuing to > use our abuse editfilters. You guys do know that not all wikis have abusefilter, right?
