University of Michigan-Flint

There are two types of hyperlinks, absolute and relative. 

An absolute hyperlink links to another website by using the full web address.  For example, to insert an absolute link to the CMS Web Guide home page you would use http://www.umflint.edu/webguide/ .  An absolute link should be used for linking to web sites not included in your TeamSite.  If you do not include the "http://" portion of the web address when creating the link, the link will not work.

A relative link, on the other hand, can only be used to link to sites within your TeamSite.  To insert a relative link to the CMS Web Guide home page I could use /webguide/, or to link to the Instructional documents page I could use, /webguide/instructional.htm .  These relative links will only work on websites within the /webguide/ area of the CMS.  Some of the benefits to using a relative link instead of an absolute link are:

• You can export your TeamSite to a disk or your computer hard drive and all of the links will still work (without needing internet access).
• There is less typing required to create a hyperlink, which will save you time when creating your TeamSite.

A relative link should be used for linking between pages within your TeamSite.

With a Links Block:

1. Insert a "Links" or "Categorized Links" block into your webpage. 
2. Enter "Link Text" and a "Link Description" (they may be the same).  Click on the "Browse" button (outlined in red in the image below) to fill in the "Link URL" section.
   
   
   
3. Navigate to the desired page within your TeamSite.
4. Enter a "Link Description" (it can be the same as your "Link Text").
5. Select a location for the link to open in the "Open In" dropdown menu (outlined in green in the image above).  "New Window" will open the link in a new browser window, leaving the original browser window on the same page.  "Same Window" will open the new link in the original browser window.

In a Text Block:

1. Insert a "Text" block into your webpage.
2. Enter the desired text.
3. Highlight the text you would like to turn into a link and click the  button.
4. A window will pop up, enter "Link Text" and a "Link Description" (they may be the same).  You must enter a "Link URL" to create a hyperlink.  Use the "Browse" button to find the desired page within your TeamSite (see image below).  The other information requested is optional.  The target feature is described below.

• Target:  This option allows you select how your hyperlink will display when selected.  For example, if Target is left as "None" the linked page will appear in the current browser window.  If you want the link to open in a new window, select "New Window (_blank)" from the Target drop down menu.

With a Links Block:

1. Insert a "Links" or "Categorized Links" block into your webpage. 
2. Enter "Link Text" and a "Link Description" (they may be the same).  In the "Link URL" box enter the full URL for the web page (for example, http://www.google.com).  The most efficient way to enter this web address is to copy/paste it from the address bar of your browser window (to ensure that you don't mistype the address, which would create a broken link).

In a Text Block:

1. Insert a "Text" block into your webpage.
2. Enter the desired text.
3. Highlight the text you would like to turn into a link and click the  button.
4. A window will pop up, enter "Link Text" and a "Link Description" (they may be the same).  You must also enter a "Link URL" to create a hyperlink.  In the "Link URL" box enter the full URL for the web page (for example, http://www.google.com).  The most efficient way to enter this web address is to copy/paste it from the address bar of your browser window (to ensure that you don't mistype the address, which would create a broken link).  The other information requested is optional.  The target feature is described below.

• Target:  This option allows you select how your hyperlink will display when selected.  For example, if Target is left as "None" the linked page will appear in the current browser window.  If you want the link to open in a new window, select "New Window (_blank)" from the Target drop down menu.

In addition to creating links to outside websites and other pages within your TeamSite, you can also create links to specific areas on a webpage.  To create this type of link you must be familiar with both creating hyperlinks and placing anchors using VisualFormat.  To create a link to an anchor follow the steps below:

1. Place an anchor at the beginning of the information you would like to show when you link (please note the information must be in a text block).  Accomplish this task by highlighting the desired word or sentence, and clicking the anchor button ().  Enter a name for the anchor in the window that appears and click OK.  Please name the bookmark using only alphanumeric characters (don't use spaces!).
2. Next, navigate to where you would like to include a link to the previously "anchored" information.
3. Include the link in one of two ways:
• Highlight the desired text in a text block, click on the hyperlink button () and enter the information as directed in step 4  or 5 (as it may apply to your situation) into the "Link URL".
• Create a links block and enter the information as directed in step 4 or 5 (as it may apply to your situation) into the "Link URL".
4. If the location of the anchor and the link is the same page:
• Enter a pound sign (#) and then the name of the bookmark (see image below for an example).  Click OK. 
  
5. If the anchor and the link are located on different pages:
• Enter the link like you usually would to link to the page, after the usual link URL add a pound sign (#) and then the name of the bookmark (see image below for an example).  Click OK.
  
6. You now have a link to the specific area marked by the anchor you created.
   
   

**Please Note:  If you create an anchor the CMS will automatically change the color of the "anchor" font to blue.  There is no way to change this color when using the text editor to create anchors.  Therefore, it is best to select a whole heading/sentence to be the anchor rather than just one word.  If you wish to avoid this color change please consider utilizing the directions for creating bookmarks with an HTML block.