I'm going to post my color-coded link demo again, and give a bit of explanation. Get a cup of coffee and focus yourself on this brief message, and you'll find you'll master links in no time.

HTML isn't hard, if you just get the hang of the logic of HTML. The Mudcat HTML guide will give a more comprehensive explanation, but here are some basics.

An HTML command is always enclosed in <angle brackets>. The command is turned off by repeating it, with a slash in front of it, again enclosed in </angle brackets>. Most HTML commands are reasonably intuitive:

b for bold
u for underline
i for italics
h1, h2, h3, etc. for Headlines
blockquote for indented text
hr for horizontal rule (line)        

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But links start with <a...> (plus modifiers, usually href=) and end with </a> - which, to my mind, isn't particularly intuitive. Still, it follows the same pattern of starting with a command <a...> (plus modifiers) and ending with </a>. In the example below, you'll see that

the constant parts of a link are in black
the target URL is in red
and the link text (which can be anything, even a picture) is in blue

<a href="http://www.mudcat.org">Click here</a>

Note that the full Web address - including http://, is required for links outside Mudcat. I find it's best to copy [CTRL-C] the URL (address) from the address bar of my browser, and then paste [CTRL-V] it into the link I'm making.

If you're posting links at Mudcat, the quotation marks are optional. I prefer not to use them, because they complicate the task of making links. Simple is better, I think. Fewer misteaks.

It may be easier and quicker to open a new browser window [CTRL-N] and navigate your way to the site you want to link to. Highlight and copy [CTRL-C] the URL (address) of the site, and then go back to your Mudcat message and paste [CTRL-V] the URL into your link. Be sure to include the http:// in that URL. The quotation marks are standard procedure, but most links work just fine without quotation marks.


I don't find e-mail links particularly helpful nowadays, since so many people use Web-based e-mail that doesn't work with the links.

<a href="mailto:joe@mudcat.org">Click to e-mail</a>

-Joe Offer-

<a href="http://www.mudcat.org">Click here</a>