TDX Knowledge: Create a Link in an Article

This article covers creating links to other pages external to the article. You can also Make a Table of Contents or Other In-Page Links that are internal to an article.

You can make your articles more accessible by improving how you use links. 

Link text should be the title of the linked page. 

• Example: Find more information on creating accessible links on the Accessible U Hyperlinks page.
• Do not use: Click here, More info, Read more.

This article includes:

• Setting links
• Targeting links to open in a new tab (or window)

Setting links

Assuming you are in edit mode:

1. Highlight text you want to link.
2. Select the Link icon.
   
   The Link window opens. It has 3 tabs and defaults to the Link Info tab.
   • Displayed Text field shows your selected text; you can change it and the text in the article Body will update. 
   • Link Type defaults to URL.
     • If your selected text is an email address, select Email from the dropdown menu.
   • Protocol defaults to http://. Leave as is.
   • Paste the URL into the field. The Protocol menu automatically updates.
     
3. Click OK.

Targeting links to open in a new tab (or window)

For accessibility and usability reasons most links should not open a new browser window or tab.

Only under the following circumstances should you set a target on a link to open in a new window or tab:

• If opening a link in the same window will disrupt the flow of a form or other process.
• If opening a link will log you out of a system.

If a link does open a new tab or window you must inform the user by adding the new window icon .

Adding a target to a link

Note: Whether the target="_blank" attribute opens in a new browser tab versus in a new browser window depends on the settings of the reader's browser.

Assuming you are in edit mode:

1. Insert the new window icon  at the end of the text you want to link.
   1. Add the following Alternative Text to the image: Opens new window.
   2. Set the height and width to 20 pixels by 20 pixels
   3. In the Advance tab for the image settings add this text to the Style field: display: inline;
2. Highlight text you want to link and the new window icon.
3. Select the Link icon.
   
   The Link window opens. It has 3 tabs and defaults to the Link Info tab.
   • Displayed Text field shows your selected text; you can change it and the text in the article Body will update. 
   • Link Type defaults to URL.
     • If your selected text is an email address, select Email from the dropdown menu.
   • Protocol defaults to http://. Leave as is.
   • Paste the URL into the field. The Protocol menu automatically updates.
     
4. Go to the Target tab.
5. Select New Window (_blank).
   
6. Click OK.