Forum Post Likes Issue

[FloatingFatMan]

I've just noticed that I'm getting a visual issue on any thread post I happen to click LIKE on. I seems to happen no matter which of the like icons I use...

Looks like someone did a typo in a recent edit...  

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I've just done a test by liking this post, but I'm not seeing the same thing.

What browser are you using?

Does that "ximes;" appear everywhere for you?

I'm on Firefox, for what it is worth.

Also, have you tried clearing the browser cache?

EDIT: I've just realised from the screenshots that the x is probably to remove a like response?

[FloatingFatMan]

On 12/01/2026 at 20:04, Nick H. said:

I've just done a test by liking this post, but I'm not seeing the same thing.

What browser are you using?

Does that "ximes;" appear everywhere for you?

I'm on Firefox, for what it is worth.

Also, have you tried clearing the browser cache?

EDIT: I've just realised from the screenshots that the x is probably to remove a like response?

I does it in Chrome, Edge and Brave so far, and clearing the cache didn't help.

And yes, it's the "remove like" option that's broken.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I'm logged in with Brave now, and I don't see the same issue?

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

works fine here in Edge / Firefox / Chrome on my PC

[+primortal Subscriber²]

No issues for me either on Edge DEV on Windows 11.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Look fine here too in Chrome.

[FloatingFatMan]

On 12/01/2026 at 23:33, Steven P. said:

Look fine here too in Chrome.

Weird...  I went into the dev tools and grabbed the offending element, from your post in fact...

<a href="https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1462728-forum-post-likes-issue/?do=unreactComment&amp;comment=599036403&amp;csrfKey=0d075d357e2482492552644ffc086241" class="ipsReact_unreact ipsHide" data-action="unreact" data-ipstooltip="" automate_uuid="42b46711-2599-4d98-b353-ea52937ff195" style="display: inline;" _title="Remove your reaction">×imes;</a>

The "xtimes;"  is definitely at the end there...

 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

I don't get that either, rather on FireFox or Floorp.

Did this happen recently? I know DavidLegg did fix something yesterday,

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 13/01/2026 at 07:27, FloatingFatMan said:

Weird...  I went into the dev tools and grabbed the offending element, from your post in fact...

<a href="https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1462728-forum-post-likes-issue/?do=unreactComment&amp;comment=599036403&amp;csrfKey=0d075d357e2482492552644ffc086241" class="ipsReact_unreact ipsHide" data-action="unreact" data-ipstooltip="" automate_uuid="42b46711-2599-4d98-b353-ea52937ff195" style="display: inline;" _title="Remove your reaction">×imes;</a>

The "xtimes;"  is definitely at the end there...

 

Please go into Incognito mode and login to Neowin and see if you can reproduce it.

Extensions can also modify a page's HTML. Others are not seeing the same thing, so it makes me think it is an extension. 

Also check if you have any programs running that plug into web pages such as an adblocker.

[cork1958]

Not seeing that either using Edge or Firefox or the Helium browser on MX Linux.

[FloatingFatMan]

On 13/01/2026 at 09:26, Steven P. said:

Please go into Incognito mode and login to Neowin and see if you can reproduce it.

Extensions can also modify a page's HTML. Others are not seeing the same thing, so it makes me think it is an extension. 

Also check if you have any programs running that plug into web pages such as an adblocker.

No luck. Tried it in all 3 browsers, disabled all extensions, shut off NordVPN, even reinstalled Chrome. Still does it. It does NOT doing from another machine though, just this one.

So, that's bloody weird!

Oh well, it has to be something local so I'll just have to live with it I guess. Appreciate you guys checking though.

 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

On 13/01/2026 at 09:07, FloatingFatMan said:

No luck. Tried it in all 3 browsers, disabled all extensions, shut off NordVPN, even reinstalled Chrome. Still does it. It does NOT doing from another machine though, just this one.

So, that's bloody weird!

Oh well, it has to be something local so I'll just have to live with it I guess. Appreciate you guys checking though.

 

Try turning the computer off and back on?  

[FloatingFatMan]

On 13/01/2026 at 18:45, Mindovermaster said:

Try turning the computer off and back on?  

I have! I've installed some pending updates, I've updated my GPU drivers, I've done all I can think of!

Any you know what? It's getting worse.....

Look at the yellow highlighted bits.. WTF?! It's all over the place now, and it's ONLY Neowin, on three browsers, so I can only conclude it's some kind of issue with the rendering engine as they're all Chromium based so they all use Blink...

I've tried searching for problems to do with Blink, but nada... :S

 

[FloatingFatMan]

OK, after a LOT of digging around, involving wiping font caches, resetting browsers and all sorts of buggering about, I identified it as the Tracker Blocker in NordVPN getting confused with the & character in the page DOM, so I guess Nord changed something in their tracker lists or something. 

92 trackers from the site, guys... Really? That's... kind of a lot...  I don't mind ads, but trackers are a no way in hell, sorry.  I'll put up with the annoyance.