I'm also not quite sure of how it works yet but at least the first part is correct i think. The full link worked for you because its to the instance your account is on. When i use that link (on the desktop website) i get redirected to that site but i don't have an account there so i cant interact with it on this account. Similarly: if I link https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/c/antiquememesroadshow@lemmy.world it will work for me without problems but you should see a website where you aren't logged in (at least using the website, mobile apps might handle it differently i think).

(Although i have no idea why the exclamation mark link didn't work for you, it did work for me at least. Maybe its the app you are using? I remember that for example some old jerboa version had problems with the exclamation mark links where it would just crash when you tried to use them.)

[–] CommunityLinkFixer@lemmings.world 2 points 1 year ago

Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !antiquememesroadshow@lemmy.world

[–] JackOfNoTrades@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yep turns out you're right, the Connect app seems to work with all the http links whereas the ! links don't work. On the Jerboa app it's the opposite so the ! links work but the http links don't.