Task 21: Make Links to Content

As you add more content to your site the need to make links between things will increase. You may also want to link to content on other web sites. Making links is easy to do.

The purpose of a link is to enable a visitor to go to a different place on your site or to another web site. That is different from embedding content in a Post or Page, which inserts content from somewhere else into something a visitor is reading. Links rely on URLs, which are the addresses for resources on the internet.

When making links to other web sites be aware that some types of web content are highly perishable and will go away quickly, resulting in a dead link on your site. Dead links are annoying, so avoid making links that are likely to stop working or which may may be tied to a particular user or web session. In general, links to web addresses that end in .html or .htm will tend to be the most stable because they are the most simple.

Many of your links will be to more complex URLs, sometimes called “dynamic” URLs. Dynamic URLs end in addresses such as .asp, .aspx,.cfm, .php, and similar technology-specific extensions. These extensions tell you that the page is being created on the fly by the other web site. Look carefully at all of the parameters in the URL to be sure that there is nothing in the URL that will limit the ability of others to use the same link that works for you.

To look for URL parameters, check if there is a question mark (“?“) anywhere in the URL. If so, the characters following the question mark are control codes. Sometimes these control codes contain information that is specific to a single user or single web session and will not work if someone else uses the link later.

If you are designing your site to comply with accessibility standards, you can read an article on using the HTML “title” attribute to make your links more helpful to users with diabilities and those using mobile devices.

Watch the following video on how to make links in WordPress.

To complete this task…

  1. Add at least one link to your web site that will move your visitor within your own web site. For example, you may want to refer to a Post or Page from within another one of your Posts or Pages.
  2. Add at least one link to your web site that will take your visitor to a different web site. For example, you may want to refer to an interesting article somewhere else on the net.
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