Links within writeups
Linking is vital to adding content on E2, and neglecting to add links to your writeups will almost guarantee a slew of downvotes. Links should always be relevant. Never add links just to have links!
A hard link is created when you put [square brackets] around a word or phrase in your writeup.
[Welcome to Everything]
becomes
Welcome to Everything
By placing these brackets around words or phrases they become a hypertext link that will take you to the node of the same name. If a node does not yet exist with the title of your hard link then E2 will automatically run a search on the word or words in your link.
Use the hard link to give the reader access to other nodes that relate to yours.
To create a pipe link you need to insert a pipe symbol, |, in between the square brackets for your hard link.
[Welcome to Everything|Hi there]
becomes
Hi there
You'll note that this reads "Hi there" but links to Welcome to Everything.
Pipe links also add title text to the text they link. Hover your mouse over Hi there and a "Welcome to Everything" tool tip will appear. You can use this technique to add an extra layer of commentary to your writeup.
After submitting your writeup, you can click "link view" link near the bottom to see a list of all the hard links and pipe links in the writeup, sorted by whether they work or not. This saves checking them all manually.
To link to a web page which is not part of E2, just hard link or pipe link to the URL:
[http://www.example.com]
[http://www.google.com|Hi there]
become
http://www.example.com
Hi there
Be sure to include the "http://" at the start.
External links should be used sparingly. A writeup should never consist of a single sentence and "For more, see this link..."
Links outside of writeups
As you travel from node to node, either by searching or by clicking links, you leave behind footprints for others to follow. These footprints are the table of "soft links" that appear on the bottom of each node. "Deeper" footprints make a node appear higher in the list. All logged-in users create soft links in this way, so softlinks arise naturally as everybody browses. Softlinks not only link to other relevant nodes, they also reflect the train of thought of all the people who viewed the node, thus providing links to other nodes which are worth viewing.
You can create soft links manually by browsing back and forth between two nodes you want to soft link together.
Adding soft links to a new writeup isn't a requirement, but it's a really good idea. It helps integrate your writeup into the database, which means it'll get more views in the long term.
A simple way to create an initial set of soft links is to hold Ctrl and click all the hard links in your writeup, opening each one in a new tab.
Sometimes, there will be permanent links displayed at the top of a node. These links can be put in place by any member of the editorial staff and will serve to connect nodes that are often confused with each other.
Firm links are used to guide a browsing user to the right place-- the node with the glut of information on the subject. Firm links should always be one way. A firm link means "you should be looking at this instead", not "see also".
To suggest a firm link, /msg a Content Editor and request one or simply add a writeup to Edit these E2 Titles.
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