Help:Create an external link

Quick Reference:


 * The blue globe/earth icon [[Image:Globe (internal linking).jpg|28x23px]] with the two chain links looped together on the toolbar is used for external linking.
 * Watch a video demonstration of how to create links.

What is an external link?
An external link is a link in a FamilySearch Wiki article that sends users to another website outside of the FamilySearch Research Wiki. In other words, if users click on an external link, the link will send them to a different website, rather than to an article in the FamilySearch Research Wiki website. Links that send users to other articles in the FamilySearch Research Wiki website are known as internal links.

How to create an external link
To create external links using the "Standard Editor", see How to create an external link using Wikitext.


 * 1) Log in to the FamilySearch Research Wiki.
 * 2) Navigate to the page where you want to add the external link. Click Edit in the navigation bar page options. This will open the editing window.
 * 3) In the editing window, type the text you want to create the link with. Remember, this should help the users understand what they will find by clicking on the link.
 * 4) Using your mouse, position your cursor in front of the text you just typed. While holding down the left mouse button, drag the cursor across the text until it is highlighted. [[Image:HighlightTextEditor.png|border|center|350px]]
 * 5) On the editing toolbar, click the hyperlink icon. It looks like a tiny globe/earth with two chain links in front of it.[[Image:HighlightTextEditorhyperlink.png|border|center|350px]]
 * 6) After clicking the hyperlink icon, the "Link" window will open.[[Image:LinkLinkWindow.png|border|center|300px]]
 * 7) At the top of the "Link" window, locate the "Link" box. Here you will type or paste the url or website to which you want to link. The website must begin with "http://" or "https://" for the link to work correctly.
 * 8) Once the correct url or website appears in the "Link" box, click OK to save the link in the editing window.
 * 9) The text that you highlighted in step 4 will now appear blue in the editing window.
 * 10) Save your changes by scrolling down using the outside scroll-bar until you locate the Save page button located below the editing window.
 * 11) After clicking Save page, you will be able to click on the newly created link to another website.

Creating links using templates

 * 1) Open the editor and place your cursor where you want to add the template link.
 * 2) Click on the  {T}  icon in the editor's toolbar. This will open the Template editor window. [[Image:RichEditorTemplateText.jpg]]
 * 3) Type two left curly braces  .
 * 4) Click OK to finish setting up the template. [[Image:Template Properties Text.png]]
 * This example uses the Wikipedia Template Wpd and adds optional link text parameter. The result for this template entry is "See also " In the rich editor, templates appear as [[Image:TemplateSymbolInRichEditor.png]].

For a list of some external link templates see Advanced Linking.