Links To Websites And Files
A link to something outside the graph is written the markdown way. Links between documents are wikilinks, described in Pages And Wikilinks.
Web addresses
A bare address becomes a link on its own. Paste https://example.com/docs into a line and it
renders as a link where it stands. To show words instead of the address, write it as markdown:
See the docshttps://example.com/docs for the details.
When the cursor leaves the line, the brackets and the address fade and the docs shows,
underlined in the link colour. Click back onto the line and the whole thing reappears for
editing. <https://example.com> in angle brackets works too and renders as the address.
A plain click opens the link in a new browser tab. To put the cursor into the link text without opening it, hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) while you click.
Only addresses a browser can safely open are links: http, https, mailto, tel and ftp.
A javascript: or data: address stays plain text.
Files on your computer
A path on your own machine can be a link as well, written as a file:/// address:
The signed contract is at file:///home/sidney/Documents/Contract.pdf
Q3 reportfile:///C:/Users/Sidney/Reports/Q3.docx
A web page cannot open a file on your computer; every browser enforces that. So a file link does not try. It is underlined in the text colour rather than the link colour, with a small copy icon after it. Click the icon, or the link itself, and the path is copied to your clipboard in the form your computer uses, ready to paste into a file manager, a terminal or an Open dialog:
| You wrote | You get |
|---|---|
file:///home/sidney/My%20Notes.pdf |
/home/sidney/My Notes.pdf |
file:///C:/Users/Sidney/Q3.docx |
C:\Users\Sidney\Q3.docx |
file://server/share/plans.xlsx |
\\server\share\plans.xlsx |
The icon shows a tick for a moment to confirm the copy. For the keyboard route, put the cursor on
a line with a file link, type / and choose Copy file path. On a line with more than one
file link, it copies the link nearest before the cursor.
Two rules, both the same as for any web address:
- A space in the path must be written as
%20, or the link ends at the space. - EtherPK does not check that the file exists. A link to a file you later move still copies the old path.
A bare path without the file:/// prefix is plain text.
A file that belongs with the note is better kept as an attachment. An attachment travels with the graph, is stored once however often it is used, and opens in its own tab. See Images And Files.