Types of Links

Owned by Sherral Trotter, created
Last updated: Sept 27, 2023 by Melissa Chavira
3 min read

This article explains the difference between Internal and External links.

Table of Contents

 Instructions

Internal links are used to connect pages and resources within your website, including but not limited to files such as PDFs, images and interior pages.

  1. Select the desired page in the Site Directory.

  2. In Edit mode, scroll to the desired section of your page where you would like to insert a hyperlink.

  3. Select the text you would like linked and click Insert/Edit Link.

  4. In the Insert/Edit link window, select Internal as the Link Type.

  5. Click Link Source and browse for the file, page or link.

  6. Anchor is optional. An anchor is a specific location within a page that the link directs a user to. This field should only be used if the link directs to an internal page and there is a specific anchor tag within that page.

  7. Text to display auto populates from the selected text, however you can edit the text. The text should be descriptive and relevant to the linked page.

  8. Title is an optional field that provides additional information about the link when a user hovers over it.

  9. Target determines whether the link will open in the same browser window or in a new window.

    • None opens the link in the same window.

    • New Window opens the link in a new browser window or tab. (New browser window only appears for external links.)

  10. Click Ok.

  11. Click Preview Draft to show results.

To remove the link, place your cursor in the linked text and click the Remove Link icon.

External links are used to connect pages and resources outside your website, including but not limited to files such as PDFs, images and interior pages.

Linking to a URL

  1. Select the text you would like linked and click the Insert/Edit Link icon.

  2. In the Insert link window, select External as the Link Type.

  3. Type in or paste a URL in the Link Source field.

  4. Anchor is optional. An anchor is a specific location within a page that the link directs a user to. This field should only be used if the link directs to an internal page and there is a specific anchor tag within that page.

  5. Text to display auto populates from the selected text.

  6. Title is an optional field that provides additional information about the link when a user hovers over it.

  7. Target determines whether the link will open in the same browser window or in a new window.

    • None opens the link in the same window.

    • New Window opens the link in a new browser window or tab. (New browser window only appears for external links.)

  8. Click Ok.

  9. Click Preview Draft to show results.

Linking Email Addresses

  1. Select the address or text you would like linked and click the Insert/Edit Link icon.

  2. In the Insert link window, select External as the Link Type.

  3. Instead of inserting a URL in the Link Source field, type “mailto:” followed by the appropriate email address. There should be no spacing between the text, e.g., mailto:webmaster@nmsu.edu.

  4. Click Ok.

  5. Click Preview Draft to show results.