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Insert a link to a file

You can insert links in web pages for visitors to access files. The file will either open in the visitor's browser or be available to download, depending on the file type and the browser.

Note: publishing information on web pages rather than via linked documents should be the default approach, as it's better for accessibility. Linking to documents is more appropriate for long-form content intended for reading at length offline, such as research papers or brochures.

In this article:

Insert a link to a file (Components Editor)

The Components Editor is an evolution of the old visual editor, for editing the content of web pages within SiteBuilder.

  1. Go to the page where you want to insert the link.
  2. Upload the file, if it's not already uploaded.
  3. Edit the page with the Components Editor.
  4. Highlight the text you want to act as the link.
  5. Select the Add/edit link button in the toolbar. Alternatively, select Add links and anchors > Web link in the left-hand menu.
  6. In the Add a link to this content section of the popup that appears, specify the link URL by doing one of the following:
    • Select find, then in the popup that appears browse to the file you want to link to and select it – the relative path, ending with the file name, appears in the Link URL box.
    • Enter the relative path, ending with the file name, directly in the Link URL box. If the file is uploaded to the page you are editing, the relative path is just the file name, as it appears on the Files tab in SiteBuilder, for example project-report.pdf.
  7. If you want the file to open in a new browser tab or window, select the New window radio button. Generally, we recommend not forcing files to open in a new browser window.
  8. Select the relevant document icon to indicate the file type, for example PDF or Word. You can hover over each one for a description. The document icon is displayed at the end of the text that acts as the link.
  9. Select Add link.

    Tip: to edit an existing link, place your cursor within the text that acts as the link and then follow the process above from step 4.

  10. To check that your link works as expected, select Preview.
  11. When you've finished editing your page, select Publish.

Insert a link to a file (old visual editor)

  1. Go to the page where you want to insert a link.
  2. Edit the page with the old visual editor.
  3. Position your cursor in the editor where you want to insert the link.
  4. Select the Link button in the toolbar. Alternatively, right-click in the editor and select Link.
    Link icon
  5. In the window that pops up, select the Find button.

  6. If you have already uploaded the file to SiteBuilder, browse to the file on the This web site tab and select it.
    This website tab

    Alternatively, to upload the file now, select the Your computer tab.

    Your computer tab
  7. In the Caption box, enter the text you want to display as the link.
  8. Select the Select button.
  9. The link appears in the visual editor with the Caption you specified. You can edit the link caption text in the visual editor.

    Note: it's good practice to let visitors know that selecting a link results in something other than opening a web page. To do this, we recommend adding a document icon within the link caption text.

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