Linking Guidelines
Create links to all other relevant articles in the content of the article (in sentences (bolded) or a list (bolded) or button) in addition to adding them as related articles. Users often won’t see the Related Articles list on the right of the article content. Link to another knowledge base article by loading the page you will link to and copying the URL from the address field in the browser. Paste the URL into the X field in the Edit Link window.
Link to information instead of duplicating that information in your article.
Don't link to documents stored on personal SharePoint or OneDrive sites.
Bold links that are within a sentence. Links can be difficult to see in a line of text, so bolding helps it stands out. Bold links in a list also for consistency.
Set the link to open in a new tab or window when it is an external link or when linking to another article, but the user will need to continue to reference the initial article.
A link should make sense when read on its own, out of the context. This way, assistive technology can provide a list of links on the page, and users can choose from the list. "Click here" or "More information" as link text is NOT ADA compliant. This text does not describe the link's destination and makes no sense out of context.
The minimum requirement for Level A is that the purpose of each link can be determined from the link text itself or from the link text within the context of the surrounding text, but for Level AAA, the purpose of each link must be able to be identified from the link text alone.
To ensure web accessibility, see W3C's pages on:
Create or edit a link in a knowledge base article or service description
Create a link in an article or service description by selecting the link text and clicking the Link button. Copy the URL of the link target, paste into the URL field, and click OK.
To find the URL of a knowledge base article to link to, open the article in a browser, and copy the link.
To have the link open in a new window or tab, select the Target tab when creating a link, click the Target dropdown, and select New Window (_blank).
To edit an existing link, right-click in the linked text, and click Edit Link or double-click the link to open the Link window and edit the URL or Display Text.
Links that are set in Microsoft Word will carry over when copied and pasted using the Paste from Word button.
Using named anchors to link within the article
Named anchors are markers that can be placed within an article to link to that specific section.
To place named anchors in the article, click to place the cursor in the text where the anchor will be located. Click the Anchor button. Type a name in the Anchor Name field.
To create a named anchor link, select the link text, click the Link button, and from the Link Type dropdown, select Link to anchor in the text. From the By anchor name dropdown, select an anchor from the list of anchors that were previously placed in the article.
To link to a named anchor from a different article, open the article in a browser, click on the anchor link, and use that URL for the link.
Linking to external sites
An external link is one that links to a web page or article that is not a part of the University of Arkansas system.
External linking to documentation on the product’s company site or to a government site (for policy) or a non-profit organization’s site is encouraged instead of rewriting the information, but don't link to .com sites for information unless it is the official site of the product or service documented in the article.
When we need documentation for certain procedures with unique university policy requirements, unique documentation is expected instead of linking to a company website. If the external information does not include all the steps required to install/set up/access service through university specifically, documentation should be created that is specific to the procedure that university faculty, staff, and/or students must follow. External documentation (ex. Microsoft’s) often has very broad instructions that cover all settings that could exist for a system, and these types of instructions need to be written specifically for the university’s setup of the system. They often are written for a variety of users and we need to narrow the scope.
Set external links to open in a new window.
Don't link to other university's web pages or articles. Use these for ideas and inspiration, but do not plagiarize.
Linking to Policies
Include links to all relevant university and IT Services Policies and Guidelines.
An article might need a link to another article that gives more information or explains an action required for a different service or product. Articles commonly linked into other articles include: