• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
0

Working with Hyperlinks http vs https

Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have created some hyperlinks in my Indesign document but when I export it they no longer work. It seems like they only work if the URL is http:// and not https:// is there a way to export it so the https: links will work? 

TOPICS
EPUB , Import and export

Views

859

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

What (precisely) are you exporting the doc to?

 

And (precisely) how do they not work as intended?

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I export it to an interactive PDF and have also tried saving it as a PDF includnig the links. Both options have the same result. I have images in my indesign document that are hyperlinked to go to a website, they work when I try them in Indeisn but not on the PDF. I get an error for the webpage. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Is it an error, or a security warning? That's what I got when I did a little test (using Google dot com). Such security checks are more and more common in both web-enabled apps and browsers. If you click Allow it should go through. In any case, the link sounds as if it is working correctly, at the InDesign/embedded level.

 

It that's not it, describe the error in more detail. Also, what PDF viewer are you using? Anything but Acrobat Reader or DC can have problems — they are not all the same.

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

What version are you using?

Mike Witherell

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

2023

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Can you share a problematic PDF or link?

If a site is not secure with ssl, and the link to unsecure site is entered with https://, then the link will not work.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Well, it's more complicated than that, depending on a number of server factors, but the bottom line is to test the URLs in a browser to see if the behavior is any different from that in the PDF.

 

But true, you can't always just add 's' to a URL designator and have it work. Mostly. But not always.

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

here is the example. the top image works because I changed it to http instead of https. However the https links indesign work when i test them in InDesign or if I copy them to a browser. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Both image-clicks work for me, and both URLs work whether entered as http or https. In fact, both convert to the latter (as is common these days) if entered without the security s.

 

There is no reason any properly formed URL should not work in a PDF export. ID does not judge or proof or validate them; they can be complete nonsense strings as far as the app and export are concerned. However, the reader/browser you are viewing the PDF in, your system and app settings, and some other outside details could cause interference. Again, use Acrobat Reader or DC as your baseline test. If you're using another PDF reader, it may be doing "special" things (or just stupid things) on its own. And if you are opening the PDFs in a browser, you are at the mercy of the browser's PDF reading implementation, which can be very weak and nonstandard. (Most are optimized for speed, app file size and "blending" PDFs into the web experience, not full compliance with PDF standards.)

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Well now I'm more confused. You're right when I click the link to the example I uploaded both work fine. When I open the PDf in Reader or Acrobat Pro the bottom link doesn't work. I get a webapge with the message below. 

 

beckyp80056184_0-1678902365357.png

 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Okay, that error has nothing to do with ID or your PDF. It means that the server on the other end can't process the link you're sending, for some reason. It's usually a temporary thing, overload or maintenance or a configuration error.

 

Given that you're pointing at an ecommerce site, any of several things could be happening. It's hard to say whether they are temporary, caused by some small detail you could fix, or would persist for all downstream users.

 

But as long as you can put any simple URL — say, Google or Amazon or Wikipedia — in those slots and have them work all the way to your end materials and readers, and as long as the URLs you want to use work in a browser... I'd say any problem is outside your scope and may be something quite ephemeral.

 

It would take fairly sophisticated web error checking to determine exactly what's going on with that 500 error, though. I suspect it's a glitch in the way the site handles security exceptions — if they want only https links, they should force conversion to that mode (as many sites do) or reject the link. A 500 error is not the correct way to reject it, especially in that the direct (cut and pasted) link works fine, without conversion. Bottom line: it's on them, but some small bit in your link setup is causing an additional layer of trouble. I can't see what.

 

Are you on a completely independent network and connection, or are you connecting across a corporate network, VPN, or the like?

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The link in the "doesn't work image" has http. You just need to set https in the link.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

That's kind of the point of the discussion. Either should work — most sites recast the call to https if necessary — but in this case, clicking the PDF generates the 500 error for some users, while entering the http:// address directly converts and goes through.


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The error message shown happens because the link is defined with http instead of https. This can be discussed ad nauseam, but it really is the solution to the OP's issue.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 15, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

LATEST

If the link with http:// is clicked, the server responds with a 500 error, which is poor setup and request processing.

 

If the link is copied and entered manually with http://, the server recasts it as https:// and handles it fine.

 

While this can be solved by simply using the s in the link, it doesn't really explain any of the problems being encountered, which is what the majority of the thread is about. It's a set of problems that should not have to be "fixed" in the first place. A solution is always preferable to a workaround.

 


╟ Word & InDesign to Kindle & EPUB: a Guide to Pro Results (Amazon) ╢

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines