Links connect your content to the rest of the web.

This guide covers how link fields work across the site, the different types of links you can use, and a few common mistakes to avoid.

How link fields work

Most link fields on the site work the same way. When you click into a link field, you can:

  • Start typing the title of a page on the site and select it from the suggestions that appear. This is the easiest way to link to internal content -- the site will find the page and keep the link accurate even if the URL changes later.
  • Enter an internal path such as /about or /node/1234 to link to a specific page by its path or node ID.
  • Enter an external URL such as https://example.com to link to a page on another site. Always include https://.
  • Enter <front> to link to the site's homepage.
  • Enter <nolink> to display the link label as plain text with no clickable destination. This is useful when a component requires a link field but you do not have a destination to send visitors to yet.

A note on <nolink> and empty link text

On some components, such as Hero: Primary, leaving the link field empty or using <nolink> will result in no button appearing on the page at all. If you expect a button to show and it is missing, check whether the link field has a destination and whether the button label field has text in it. Both are usually required for the button to render.

Hyperlinks in the text editor

When writing body content in a rich text field, you can add hyperlinks to any selected text. Highlight the text you want to link, then click the link icon in the toolbar.

For full details on adding and formatting hyperlinks in the text editor, see the Text component.

Opening links in a new window

When adding a hyperlink in the text editor, you have the option to open it in a new browser tab. After inserting or clicking on a hyperlink, click the settings icon that appears in the link toolbar, then toggle "Open in a new window."

We recommend enabling this for links to external sites. When a visitor follows a link to another website, opening it in a new tab keeps your page available for them to return to. For links to other pages within ithaca.edu, it is generally better to open them in the same tab, as opening too many tabs can be disorienting.

Additional Tips

Phone and email links

Link fields also accept tel: and mailto: links, which allow visitors to call or email directly from the page.

  • Phone links : enter tel:+16075551234 (include the country code, no spaces or dashes). On mobile devices, tapping this link will prompt the visitor to call the number.
  • Email links : enter mailto:admissions@ithaca.edu. Clicking this link will open the visitor's default email client with the address pre-filled.

These work in both dedicated link fields and as hyperlinks inside rich text fields.

relative paths

A relative path is a link that points to a page on the same site, written as everything after the domain. For example, if the full URL of a page is https://www.ithaca.edu/about/offices, the internal path is /about/offices. You can paste or type this directly into a link field and it will work.

Accessible Links

More information on how to format links accessibly can be found in the Creating Accessible Web Content subsection of the Accessibility Guide. 

Do not use file paths from your computer

A path like C:\Users\yourname\Documents\flyer.pdf or anything beginning with C:/, file:///, or a network drive letter is a location on your own computer, not a web address. No one else can open it, and it will appear as a broken link to every visitor. 

If you need to link to a file, upload it to the site first and use the resulting URL or path.