Spaces*being*converted*to*asterisks*in*message*on*preview

backboiler

Hello,
I'm*responding*to*a*thread*and*when*I*click*the*"Preview*Post"*spaces*are*changed*to**.

e.g.*I*type*"Another*ten*months*on"*and*it*gets*changed*to*"Another*ten*months*on".**Every*space*character*is*getting*munged*the*same*way.

What's*going*on?

Edit:*See!?

Tom Dunne

I think the problem is on you end.

What are you using to type?

backboiler

It's*still*happening*this*morning.
Browser*is*Opera*10.60*on*Fedora*11.
Here's*a*screenshot*of*the*textbox*before*pressing*submit.

Tom Dunne

Can you try Firefox and see if you get the same result?

backboiler

This is Opera 10.60 on F13 on a different machine and it's not happening.
Now I'm mystified.

What possible setting is there in a browser that would convert spaces to asterisks on web form when it's submitted? That would surely be a contender for the least useful option in the short history of computing.

Tom Dunne

That is bizarre.

Do let us know if you find out WTF is going on.

backboiler

I think I've figured it out.
The third or fourth-level modifier key must have somehow got logically stuck active for the space bar.
On my keyboard map that makes pressing space generate a non-breakable space (HTML:  ) here's one inside the quotes: "*". When typed it looks the same as any other space except that line breaks will try to avoid them. Come to think of it, the lines were breaking in a funny way when I was typing.
I presume vBulletin converts non-printable characters to asterisk and so all spaces appeared as such when submitted.
Anyway, mystery solved, although I don't know how that specific modifier got stuck but I'll not worry about it and I'm sure no one else will either.

Tom Dunne

That's mad, Ted.

Thanks for the updated. No doubt we will see it again at some stage, so it serves as a reference.