Extension/VisualEditor/Insert links

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Links connect wiki pages with related content, external websites, and files.

Create links

To create a link, select the Insert link option in the visual editor or press Ctrl+K. A dialog opens where you can select the type of link and specify the link target.

Dialog box with a link to the page "Templates"

Linking pages

VisualEditor supports the following link types:

• Wiki link: Link to a page in the current wiki or to a page in another wiki in the BlueSpice Galaxy.
• External link: Link to a page on an external website.
• Link to file: Link to a file description page in the wiki.

Link to a wiki page

Wiki links connect pages within the current wiki or to pages in another wiki in the BlueSpice Galaxy.
Create a wiki link:

1. Select the text that should become the link.
2. Select Insert link or press Ctrl+K.
3. In the Search pages field, enter the name of the target page.
4. Select the target page from the serach results.
5. Select Done.
   

If text is selected before opening the link dialog, VisualEditor uses the selected text as the link text and suggests matching pages.
The search results show the wiki, namespace, and parent page of the target page. This information helps identify the correct page when pages with the same name exist in different wikis or namespaces.

Wiki link syntax in wikitext

When a wiki link is created in VisualEditor, it is stored in wikitext using the following syntax:

• Link to a wiki page: [[Page name|link text]]
• Link to a page in another namespace: [[Namespace name:Page name|link text]]
• Link to a category page: [[:Category name|link text]]

For a category link, the colon before Category: is required. Without the colon, the page is assigned to the category instead of creating a link to the category page.

• Link to a page in another wiki: The syntax depends on the interwiki configuration of the wiki. VisualEditor can be used to create these links without entering the wikitext syntax manually.

Link to a page section

A page section can be linked directly using an anchor.
Link to a page section:

1. Open the page containing the section.
2. In view mode, hover over the section heading and select the link icon that appears next to the heading. This copies the anchor link to the clipboard.
3. Open the Insert link dialog in the page where the link should be added.
4. Paste the anchor link into the link field using Ctrl+V.
5. Select Insert.

Mouse pointer hovering over the anchor icon next to a section heading

Anchor link

Link to an external website

Create an external link:

1. Select the text that should become the link.
2. Select Insert link or press Ctrl+K.
3. Select the External link tab.
4. Enter the web address.
5. Select Insert.

External link tab with a link to wikipedia.org

Linking to an external website

Note:Use Special:LinkSearch to find external links in the wiki. The page also provides access to the related MediaWiki help page.

Link to a file page in the wiki

Create a link to a file page:

1. Select the text that should become the link.
2. Select Insert link or press Ctrl+K.
3. Select the Link to file tab.
4. Search for and select the file.
5. Select Insert.

Insert link dialog with the Link to file tab

Insert link to a file

Note:To create a link that opens a file directly, such as a PDF, use Insert > Images and media instead of Insert link.

Permalinks

A permalink is a link to a specific revision of a page. Unlike a regular page URL, a permalink continues to point to the selected revision even if the page is edited or moved.
Copy a permalink for the current page revision:

1. Open the page revision for which the permalink is needed.
2. Select Copy URL in the More page actions toolbar.
   

Expanded Share page menu with the Copy URL option

Copy the permalink

Copy a permalink from the version history:

1. Select Past revisions of this page in the Titles action toolbar.
2. Select the date of the required revision.
3. Copy the URL from the browser address bar.

Browser address bar showing the URL of a specific page revision

Copy the permalink from the version history

The permalink contains the revision ID of the selected page version. It continues to work if the page is moved to a different name.

Internal permalinks

An internal permalink can be added to a page as a link. This allows a specific page revision to be referenced directly from another page.
Create an internal permalink:

1. Open the Special:PermanentLink special page for the required revision.
2. In VisualEditor, select Insert link or press Ctrl+K.
3. Enter or paste the permalink.
4. Select Insert.

Insert link dialog for a PermanentLink

Insert an internal permalink

Advanced configuration

Open internal links in a new browser tab

By default, external links open in a new browser tab. Internal links open in the current tab. To open selected internal links in a new browser tab, an administrator can add custom JavaScript to the MediaWiki:Common.js page.
Add the following code to MediaWiki:Common.js:

/**
 * @source https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Snippets/Open_specific_links_in_new_window
 * @version 2018-09-15
 */
$( function () {
	$( '#mw-content-text' ).on( 'click', '.newwin > a', function () {
		var otherWindow = window.open();
		otherWindow.opener = null;
		otherWindow.location = this;
		return false;
	} );
} );

To apply this behavior to a link, add the newwin class to the link in wikitext.

For example:

 [[Page name]]