FAQ #15: What’s the deal with hyperlinks in forum posts?

There are three different ways that hyperlinks can appear in a post, depending on what you want to achieve. All three are functionally identical—clicking any link will take you to the destination page.

  • Inline hyperlinks: Use inline hyperlinks made with the Hyperlink button in the toolbar when you want to put a link under some text.
  • URLs or page titles: Paste a URL anywhere in the text to display the URL itself—or the title of the URL’s page in some cases. The only caveat is that the URL can’t be at the start of a line; if you want it on a line by itself, prefix it with a single space character.
  • Link preview boxes: Put a URL on a line by itself to show a preview of the linked page. This doesn’t always work—some sites don’t offer previews.

If you want a plain URL—instead of a too-generic page title or preview box—enclose it in <angle brackets>.