links without learning HTML?

November 30, 2005 7:21 AM

Apologies for what is most likely an extremely dumb question, but how do I create links within posted messages without resorting to HTML?

It's been a while since I posted and I remember there used to be a simple user interface to create hyperlinks, but now all I see in the posting area is a plain text-entry box.
posted by plenty to Bugs at 7:21 AM (18 comments total)

There is in fact a widget under the text entry box which makes this easier. You need to report which browser you're using. Sometimes it doesn't work in all browsers.
posted by scarabic at 7:42 AM on November 30, 2005

Have you switched browsers? Apparently the buttons don't work in all browsers. They work for me in IE and FireFox. IIRC, Safari users might be out of luck.
posted by raedyn at 7:43 AM on November 30, 2005

The buttons are there in the main "Post a Link" page for the blue, but NOT there for the "Post a New Question" link on Ask Metafilter, nor on MetaTalk.
posted by agropyron at 8:11 AM on November 30, 2005

The buttons don't work in Safari, for example, on any of the boxes. Resorting to HTML isn't terribly hard, however.

<a href="http://example.com">example.com</a>
posted by jessamyn at 8:23 AM on November 30, 2005

Ah, that must be it. Safari user here!
posted by plenty at 8:55 AM on November 30, 2005

What code is used to make these buttons, and why doesn't Safari support it? Similar widgets don't appear in Safari when using MovableType and WordPress.
posted by Robot Johnny at 9:56 AM on November 30, 2005

i just want to know what the hell is so hard about <a href="http://some.address.com">some text</a>????
</grumpy pedant>
posted by quonsar at 10:11 AM on November 30, 2005

TypeItIn is very handy.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:20 AM on November 30, 2005

I must second quonsar - "create links within posted messages without resorting to HTML" is like saying "creating children without resorting to sex". You can do it, but you need external help and in the end it's a lot more work without any pleasure. HTML (the very tiny amount of HTML you need to create a link) is not rocket science and besides, you can always use any of the "link" tools in the message areas (Mefi, Meta, Ask) and copy/paste the result.
posted by nkyad at 11:54 AM on November 30, 2005

And I just want to know what the hell is so hard about *presses shift key*
[grumpy pedant]

Guess we all have our bitchy little complaints.
posted by LarryC at 12:29 PM on November 30, 2005

all us bitches, anyway.
posted by quonsar at 1:00 PM on November 30, 2005

What's wrong with "resorting" HTML?
posted by delmoi at 1:20 PM on November 30, 2005

HTML is perfectly sorted already. You don't want to be starting from scratch.
posted by languagehat at 2:25 PM on November 30, 2005

okay then, how do you comment out your html so that when you're showing someone HTML in a mefi comment, it shows the code instead of rendering the code? Like here.
posted by jonson at 4:52 PM on November 30, 2005

By encoding the characters. The greater/less thans (pointy brackets) must be encoded, or they won't show, and neither will their contents. You'll lose all the code on preview, so copy and paste before you preview, then paste that in the next window again before posting. Try it out without posting by looking in the preview window to see how the characters change. Hit preview to see how the codes disappear from the text box and need to be re-pasted.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 5:45 PM on November 30, 2005

By encoding the characters. The greater/less thans (pointy brackets) must be encoded, or they won't show, and neither will their contents. You'll lose all the code on preview, so copy and paste before you preview, then paste that in the next window again before posting.

Uh, that bug has been fixed for a while, plus most people only need live-preview these days...
posted by delmoi at 9:43 PM on November 30, 2005

I followed quonsar's advice and got this. Do they pay you, Mighty Q?
posted by davy at 9:48 PM on November 30, 2005

jonson, like so:

<a href="http://example.com">example.com</a>
posted by S.C. at 10:25 PM on November 30, 2005