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  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 8, 2007, 8:57 PM:
 

This is the For Dummies version, because it is written by a Dummy!

This pulls together what others have contributed on these topics–that I have found so far scattered around, mainly in How To's and FAQ's Groups and Think Tank Dictionary Board–plus some Wikipedia research. I have added a ton of detail, and organized the info for real Newbies like myself. This is what I would have needed to know in order to make sense of many of the other postings on these subjects.

Required prior understandings:
URL/address, site, page, homepage, toolbar, textbox, icon, dialog box, field, text, scroll.

Required prior skills:
copy/paste, highlight/select, click on, type in.

First of all, if you don't know what hypertext  is, click on that blue and underlined word “hypertext” you just read, which itself is hypertext, and you will be taken to a place of learning! Maybe you are just used to calling those words “links” and not using their technical names of hypertext or hyperlinks. All those blue underlined words you have clicked on in your web experiences? Those were hypertext links, or
hyperlinks, or just called “links.” They're kinda like footnotes on steroids. They don't call it “HYPER” text for nothin'!

In Gaia-space, you–even you, just like the pros–can turn some of the words you write into hypertext links, instead of plain bland old ordinary text. If readers click on the hypertext words, they will end up at other places on the web or within the Gaia website.

Some places you are writing in the Gaai site there is a toolbar at the top of the textbox, (area you are writing in)–such as email, blogs, updating your Profile, and other places. If that toolbar has a picture (icon) of a chain link, you have the ability to turn any of what you are writing there, into hypertext.

Of course, you don't have to go through the elaborate steps below to create  a link. In Gaia-land as well as on many other sites, any typed URL or website or webpage address, if you include all the address including the http:// and leave a couple of spaces before and after the address, automatically becomes a link to that page/site. Magic.

What we are talking about below is using words as the “front man” hiding the actual address. Using the words as the bow launching the arrow of the address. Creating a hypertext link is no more or less effective than, just a bit more elegant than, simply typing or copying and pasting the actual URL address into your text. This is what Sharon was describing in her post below.

Her process does not involve creating hypertext or using the Link To icon and function. Her process relies entirely on the fact that the web automatically turns any typing of an URL (web-page address) into a link which when clicked on takes the clicker to the page with that address. You could in fact just stick to this process and never learn any of what I am about to describe.

STEP ONE:

Decide where you want people to end up when they click on the link you are going to create in whatever you are writing (a blog post, a profile description, an email, whatever.) For example, do you mention a cool website? Your words about it can be a link to take people there. For example, is there a Gaia quote about what you are talking about? You can pick a word or phrase or whole sentence you are writing, which will, if they click on it, take them directly to the place the quote is.

You will want the exact address of the exact page in that site where you want people to land. It might not be the “home page” of the site. So naturally you will have done some research and written the exact URL of the exact page down CAREFULLY AND ACCURATELY ahead of time. Or you can go there to that page just before beginning your Gaia writing process, and “copy” the address. (See sidenote just below about copying and pasting.) Be sure not to copy anything else until you have completed the process of creating your hyperlink.

OR you can do the Gaia-site Permalink magic trick, which I am gonna explain right now.

This is the WAYCOOL part. Each post/item in a thread in a Gaia discussion has an icon and a little blue underlined word at the end–Permalink–which can be found in the 'More' tab at the bottom of the post. So do Quotes and other items.

Anywhere on the Gaia site you see that icon and little blue underlined word Permalink, there is a unique URL for JUST THAT ONE PARTICULAR ITEM. So you can send people to that particular item, not the whole page which might have a lot of items on it!!!! That is the advantage of permalinks. With permalinks, you can target in on items that in an ordinary website do NOT have unique URLs, so a person would end up on the page, but not at the specific item of interest on that page. And pages can be many scrolls long!

So with Gaia permalinks, what you can insert a link to is any piece of material on the site that has its own permalink icon!

So, at the START of your process of creating a hypertext link, go to the Gaia site item you want people to end up at. Click on that little blue Permalink word (again, it's found in the 'More' tab at the bottom of most content) for that item, and look at the URL at the top of the page. It will have some numbers it didn't have before. Highlight the entire new specific URL. Copy it. Be sure not to copy anything else until you have completed the process of creating your hyperlink. Or, if you would rather, just write it all down. All of it.

Sidenote about copying and pasting. Very often when you are online you won't have a menu at the top of your screen display which includes Edit (within which you can Copy and Paste,) nor will you have icons for copying and pasting visible. You will need to use keystrokes, which work on PCs and Macs. On a PC, tap Control and then within half a second, tap the letter c. On a Mac, it's Command then the letter c. That copies. For paste it's Control then the letter v. or Command then v. Slick trick.

STEP TWO:

So, write what you write. Then highlight the text word or words (even a whole sentence) you want to become a hypertext link that readers can click on to get where you want them to go.

Then click the Link To icon on the toolbar of the textbox (area you are writing in.) It looks like a whole chain link. If that icon is not in your toolbar, you don't have the option of creating hypertext in what you are writing.

When you do that, a little box with blank spaces will open up on your screen. (That's a “dialog box.”) Make sure your cursor is blinking at the far left side of the top blank space, in the Link URL “field” (empty line) then type or paste the URL/address of the website page (or Permalink item) you are linking to, where you want people to end up. (Remember, you wrote or copied it, earlier.) Don't forget the http:// at the beginning.

As near as I can tell from researching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertext and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlink and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_Style_Sheets us average folks can safely ignore the Target, Title, and Class fields in the dialog box. The process works just fine for us without messing with them at all.

Then click the Insert button at the bottom of the dialog box, and voila, your text has become a link–if your word(s) are blue and underlined. If not, you gotta trouble-shoot all the steps you just did.

Way cool, huh? Gaia makes networking and expanding so easy for members.

STEP THREE: TEST.

Go away to another page. Come back as if you were a reader accessing what you wrote, click on the link words, see if you end up at the right place. [In email, you will have to access what you sent in your Sent Mail section.] A link that does not work is frustrating, you might have noticed. If it doesn't work, go over these directions again, figure out where you goofed–or I goofed. The most common problem will be a typo in the URL you have typed into the URL box in the Link To dialog box.

SUMMARY

This summary will not be understandable until you have read all of the above. Don't try to skip right to here!

1. Copy or write down the web address where you want people to end up. This
can be a website page URL or a Permalink URL.

2. Write what you want to write.

3. Select/Highlight the words you want to become hypertext/link.

4. Click on the chain-link icon in your tool bar.

5. In the little dialog box, in the URL field, Paste or type in the web address (URL) you copied earlier.

6. Click on the 'okay' or 'insert' button.
 
7. Finish your typing.

8. Go away, come back as if you were a reader, and test the link.

If you would like some audio-visual guidance for this whole process, check
Matthew's July 2 post. 

Matthew's FAQ about creating hyperlinks is pretty short and sweet. The only reason I created the present monster is that I was totally lost with respect to permalinks.

Here are some clarifications about previous posts in this thread which started here:

Joshua April 4, 2006:

This was a good initial orientation to what the topic was about.

Actually I still don't understand what he means by “shared in other blogs,”  as blog entries don't seem to have Permalink functionality.

I think what he means by “just clicked on for the base page of the content” is that the Permalink URL–given the proper treatments described above–can  end up as a link, and if that link is clicked on it will take you to the  page of the item with that Permalink address.

“The links can be copied into emails….” Strictly speaking, from my understanding what is copied is an URL, not a “link.” When the URL address is pasted in somewhere, that address becomes a link (a direct link, not a hypertext link.)

Flex22 April 17:

This was helpful in teaching me that Permalinks were alternatives to URLs
for whole pages.

Brian August 12:

This post was my first clue that copy and paste is involved.


1Vector3 May 27:

“I click on Permalink and then what? Does the info automatically end up somewhere?” No. ”Do I then highlight something?” Yes, the resulting URL. “Copy it?” Yes. ”Where do I paste it?” Paste it in the URL field of the Link To dialog box. [By now you should know that some steps of the whole process are not described here. See Summary above.]

Sharon, June 5:

This is not just “when you post a comment,” this Permalink function can be used anyplace on Gaia where an item has the word and icon for Permalink associated with it. And not just for putting into emails, but putting into anything you are writing.

When she says you can highlight “that information in the URL” she means the entire new URL, not just the number added to the end of the URL after you have clicked on the Permalink icon.

And you don't hit Control+V just anywhere on what you are writing, but where your cursor is, where you want the address to appear.

And, finally, the process she describes can be used with any URL, not just a permalink URL. The process she describes is generic. You can copy any URL from any web page. It's just that–to repeat what I said above–permalinks in Gaia take people to exact items on a page, not just the whole page.


1Vector3 June 14:

To answer my own question: No, clicking on the permalink icon does not cause anything to happen except that the URL for the item changes to make it specific to that specific item. To get back to the item requires the process described above. There is no section on my pages called Permalinks You Have, unless I create the kind of blog entry described here.

Paste where? is answered by my lengthy instructions above. No, there is no automatic porting into my pages, Yes, there is always copy and paste involved.

Matthew June 14 in a thread, about permalinks, didn't answer all my questions.

1Vector3 June 14 11:09 PM:

I hope ”What is hypertext?” is now as clear to my readers as it is to me. Ditto “What does hypertext have to do with links?” (Recap: Hypertext is words that are links.)

“How does the system know where to put the highlighted material within the
entire website whose address you are entering?” The highlighted text you are writing is not “put” anywhere. It is what becomes hypertext after you use the Link To icon/function/dialog box by typing or pasting in the URL of your “destination” into the URL field of the dialog box and then clicking “Insert.”

“Whatever you highlight ends up somewhere as blue text and when that is clicked on, the entire page your highlighted material was on will show up on the clicker's screen.” This is not correct. Whatever you highlight, of your own words, doesn't end up somewhere , no, it stays where you typed it. But it does become blue text after you have used the Link To process, and when that blue text is clicked on, the entire page or individual item whose URL you put into the dialog box (depending on whether you used a page or permalink URL) is what shows up on the clicker's screen.

1Vector3 June 14:

The sequence described under Guesses is way wrong, as I hope you recognize
by now! And that by now you can see what was unclear to me when I wrote
this.

The idea of using permalinks within Gaia as like bookmarks for myself is described below; I have not actually done it, I confess, but I can't see why it wouldn't work fine. If you find a problem, please post!!!



——————–

Does it matter at all whether your hypertext is one word, several, or a
whole sentence? Not in the least. Not one teensy tinsy little bit. Whatever
you think would be most easy and understandable for your readers.

Here's a clever use of permalinks: You can create your own Favorite ITEMS bookmarks within the Gaia site. I recommend creating a Blog entry that you
designate as Private, with an appropriate title. Sometimes you find an item that you want to be able to get right back to immediately. IF it has a permalink option, then type a description of that item into your blog entry, and turn that description into hypertext linked to the item itself, using the above procedures. So this blog entry accumulates your list of special items, over time. (You can also use the 'heart' icon on discussion posts to save your favorites–these will be archived in the 'I liked' area in your Group sidebar.)

Please post any feedback about what could be clearer in the above instructions.     Blessings in your Gaia experiences, OM Bastet
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 9, 2007, 5:44 AM:
 

First correction:

the link that looks like the following ought to BE the following. The one I gave doesn’t go to the proper place:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_Style_Sheets

Letters matter. Capitals matter. If that doesn’t work, search wikipedia for “CSS (disambiguation)” If you’re not a geek, don’t even bother with this link!!!!!!!!!! It’s pretty technical (mostly beyond me.)

Also, for those who are “in the know,” sorry I thought I cleaned up the redirects in those three wikipedia links, but they are still there. Matthew, can you go in and delete the unnecessary first parts that redirect? I don’t have the technological capability nor does the edit icon show up on my post.

Blessings to all, OM Bastet

  ~Matthew : Youthful Maturity

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

~Matthew said Aug 9, 2007, 7:25 AM:
 

OK, all cleaned up Vector.

~M
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 10, 2007, 9:45 AM:
 

Thanks, Matthew. I hold you in total awe and admiration. Your devotion to Gaia and its Purpose is beautiful. I send you appreciation from all of us who benefit from all you do on the site but who don't get around to acknowledging you!!! Blessings, OM Bastet
  ~Matthew : Youthful Maturity

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

~Matthew said Aug 10, 2007, 9:55 AM:
 

:)  Awwwwww…
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 11, 2007, 9:48 PM:
 

:)) I knew you'd say that. Or “(blush.)” And thanks for your acknowledgment of my contributions. Acknowledgment is nourishment, for everyone. My goal is that Gaia have a really comprehensive Beginner's Manual, eventually pulled together in one place, not scattered. Someday.

In the notification of your post to my regular email, the last 3 w's in your Awwwww are blue. Computers are so literal. It's hilarious.

And, request: there are 3 questions at the end of my long post, and the first didn't get bolded. Would you be so kind, since my Limited Time Offer of editing ability has expired? Here is the sentence: Does it matter at all whether your hypertext is one word, several, or a whole sentence? Thanks and Blessings, OM Bastet
  ~Matthew : Youthful Maturity

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

~Matthew said Aug 12, 2007, 8:29 AM:
 

OK, done :)
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 11, 2007, 10:05 PM:
 

SECOND CORRECTION:

Several times in my long post above I said or implied that hypertext or hyperlinks are blue AND UNDERLINED, and the part about “underlined” is just not true. Now I realize that sometimes I’ve seen them underlined, and most of the time they are only blue and NOT underlined, and I don’t know why the underlining shows up when it does. Perhaps someone In The Know could contribute that info to this thread.

Blessings, OM Bastet

  ~Matthew : Youthful Maturity

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

~Matthew said Aug 12, 2007, 8:26 AM:
 

They SHOULD be underlined.  That they're not sometimes is just something the developers haven't been able to fix yet.  And the base color is always blue UNLESS you're on someone's site who's a zPro.  In that case the specific zPro chooses what color she/he wants the links to be.

~M
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Aug 12, 2007, 8:10 PM:
 

Aha!! So that explains that. Many thanks. And I wondered about some places seeing links in red and other fancy colors. 

OM Bastet
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Sep 27, 2007, 4:13 AM:
 

Here's a refinement based on further experience:

I have had no problems with creating hypertext links, but entering a link as an actual address in the textbox area often (not always) has two little problems: time and space(s.)

First, it sometimes takes a few seconds for the system to recognize the stuff as a link, and do the blue underlining thing. So if you get frustrated because you enter an address and it doesn't immediately turn blue and underlined, just take a few breaths and wait.

Second, if that doesn't work, then you can try putting 2-3 spaces before and after the address. Especially avoid punctuation marks just before or just after the address. I dunno why, and some of this might even be “superstition” as I don't really know the rules, but adding spaces often works.

If that still doesn't work, try putting the address on its own separate line. And if that doesn't work, THEN add spaces at the beginning of that line.

I've never had to go through more contortions than that to get an address to register as a link, that is to suddenly appear blue and underlined, through the magic of Zaadz programming.

Also just a reminder that www.websitename.com while it might LOOK like a valid link, often isn't. Always, in creating hypertext links and address links, add the proper stuff before that. It usually is http://www.websitename.com but there are other formats, so you need to really know the address. Best to single-left-click on the actual address in the address field in your browser which highlights or selects it, copy it, then later paste it where you want it to be in your text.
 
Also be aware if you are copying an address from someplace other than an address field, it might have extraneous and fatal other punctuation marks in it, like in our Shout Outs, there are quote marks that get mixed in. So if your link doesn't work or doesn't register by getting blue or underlined, always check for superfluous characters or letters or spaces. Be aware that underlined spaces, often part of an address, show up in a blue underlined address link as just spaces, unless your eyes are reeeaaally keen.

And of course do not assume that your address is VALID just because it gets blue and underlined by the system—as you can see from the examples I just wrote!!!!!!
ALWAYS TEST YOUR ADDRESS LINKS AND HYPERTEXT LINKS by clicking on them yourself and making sure you end up at the intended place. That's just common courtesy to your readers, besides making sure they receive the “value promised” and intended by you.

As usual, I invite anyone to contribute additions or corrections or clarifications to the information above.

Blessings to all,
OM Bastet
  1Vector3 : "Relentless Wisdom"

Re: WHAT ARE and HOW TO: PERMALINKS, HYPERLINKS, HYPERTEXT

1Vector3 said Jan 10, 2008, 4:00 AM:
 

A couple of other details about creating links and hyperlinks it has taken me all these 5 months to master. These clarify some of the points I made on September 27th post. Some things I said there are incorrect, such as adding spaces BEFORE an URL or hypertext.

FIRST: Sometimes when you type in or paste in an URL itself, it doesn't immediately (or within a few seconds) show up as a blue underlined thingy in your textbox. Then it won't show up in your post, either, as a link. After 50 trials and errors, with many superstitions, incantations, and rituals re various moves I thought were causing it to turn into a link, I finally discovered the simple truth:

 If it doesn't immediately show up as a blue underlined thingy, HIT THE SPACEBAR ONE TIME AT THE END OF THE URL. That will turn it on. It will turn blue before your very eyes.

I can't believe how long it took me to discover that simple truth!!!! 

SECOND  if you find an actual hyperlink bleeding into later text,  so what you start typing after you finish doing the hyperlink turns into blue underlined words, which you didn't intend or didn't even highlight to be part of your hyperlink,  please realize that little spacebar hit at the end of the real hyperlink text will be a separator. Might require two spaces, not sure. Just delete the stuff you didn't want to show up blue and underlined, hit the spacebar once or twice, and then start your retyping, and it should show up normal. Should, I say……

Links or hypertext you create in adjacent lines, one on top of another, often bleed. Best to create plenty of space around each one, and delete the spaces (down to single-space when done. Also, you must place cursor next to beginning letter of the lower line hypertext, space using left-right arrow over to beginning of line, and then hit delete to remove the space above it. Otherwise you will erase the linkage of the link above. Lesson learned recently and the hard way. Hope this is clear.
 
THIRD I still haven't figured out whether a period or comma included in the blue underlining at the end of the link URL or hyperlinked text invalidates the process….. Some days it seems to, and other days not. Please add your experiences on that…… Someone who knows? Just be cautious about any punctuation mark that gets into blue underlined stuff. Some of it definitely invalidates the process. I spoke earlier, in above post, about punctuation marks, and this is what I now know about them.

Blessings, Rev. O.M. Bastet