Hypertext


Automatic hypertext linking

Hypertext is the text that links to other text or objects. To create an automatic hypertext link in a post, just post a full URL. Once you have posted, the URL will be shown as an active link. You may also create a link to trigger the reader’s mail program.

Internet resources

Internet resources   Format to use
URLs   <https://www.well.com> Note: brackets are optional for URLs, and are mainly used for very long ones which otherwise “break” with a linewrap.
E-mail   <mailto:address@address.com>

WELL resources

Type of link   Reference format
Link back to earlier responses in the same topic (e.g. responses 113-115)   <113-115>
Link to another conference by name   <confname.>
Link to a specific topic (e.g. topic number 5) in a named conference   <confname.5>
Link to a specific response or series of responses (e.g. 3 or 1-10) in any conference   <confname.4.1-10>
Link to a member’s profile   <username>

HTML

On The WELL, you must precede the bracket of each HTML tag with a backslash (“\”), which indicates that you want other members’ browsers to render the HTML. (Without the backslash, your HTML will appear as text in your response just as you typed it.)

Posting an image

To embed an image in a post on the Well, the image must first appear on some site on the internet.

You then post the image embedded in your response using this formula, where IMAGE URL is the URL address of your image:    <img src=”IMAGE URL”>.  This string must be preceded by the backslash (“\”)  to render properly, like this:

\<img src="IMAGE URL">

Test your image in the Test Conference (g test) before you post it in the intended conference.

NOTEMany photo sharing/storage websites will not allow “hotlinking” (i.e. just such usage) of their images, notably Flickr and Google Photos.

URLs for discussion items

Every conference, topic, and response has a unique URL. For instance, you could link from your personal home page or another site directly to your favorite conference or topic.

The URL for a discussion item has two parts: the base address and the item address. The base address is:
https://user.well.com/engaged.cgi?

The item address may include three parameters, separated by an ampersand (&):
c=conference name
t=topic number
q=response number

Example: Suppose your favorite discussion is in the Words Conference, topic number 1488.

The URL to the conference would be:
https://user.well.com/engaged.cgi?c=words

The URL to the specific topic would be:
https://user.well.com/engaged.cgi?c=words&t=1488

Tip: Only currently registered WELL members may read a discussion (unless it is in a .vue conference, and they have the differently-formatted outside URL). An individual who follows a link from the Web into a WELL discussion will be asked for a username and password to proceed. They may join if they wish.