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My good friend, patriciaad, asked about how to link one comment to another. A good explanation needs pictures, so answering as a comment was out. Rather than put it in a private email, I decided to write it up once and publish it. It might have some value to others who are new here.
Step 0. Copy the link's URL
If you want to link to a Newsvine comment, go find the comment. If you want to link to a Newsvine article, go find the article. If you want some other target, go find that target. The point is, get the URL you want as the target for your link.
Copy the URL. For most computer users, this means "copy to your copy/paste buffer". If that's a problem, then record the target's URL in some other fashion. Use a PostIt™ Note if you have to.
Linking to a Newsvine Comment
Newsvine comments each contain a link to themselves. (See Figure 1.) It's the Comment Number in the lower left; this is also a link to the Comment. As links go, it's not much use since it just links to itself. But you can copy the link URL to use elsewhere!
Figure 1a shows what happens if you hover over the Comment Number. The little popup tip informs you that you can use this URL to link to the comment. Figure 1b shows what happens if you right-click (using Microsoft's Internet Explorer–your menu may differ). With MSIE (and I assume other browsers), you can copy the link URL directly. In this case, it's the Copy Shortcut selection on the right-click menu.
Step 1. Start typing the link text...
Now go create the Newsvine Comment in which you wish to place the link. (Refer to Figure 2.) Type whatever text will lead the link (e.g. "I really liked...").
Step 2. Click the [Link] button
When you get to the point where the clickable part should start, click the Comment Editor's [Link] button. (Refer to Figure 3.) When you do, a User Input Box pops up. Paste the target URL into this Input box. If you had to use the PostIt™ Note, carefully type the URL text.
Figure 3 shows a bunch of dots just to fit the URL into the image. You shouldn't have any dots like that. I just wanted to show the end of the URL which contains the attribute (#c2467517 that identifies the Comment within the Thread).
Click the [OK] button to close the Input Box.
Now your comment should look something like Figure 4. A bunch of HTML has been inserted to your comment. Don't mess with the HTML unless you know what you're doing!
Step 3a. Type the link text
(Refer to Figure 4.) After the HTML that was inserted, type the actual link text (the clickable part). Best practice is to make this as descriptive as possible. One reason is that blind people often have software that reads them the link text. So don't do this:
There's a really interesting discussion here.
The word "here" isn't very helpful. So make the clickable part descriptive.
Step 3b. Complete the Link
With the cursor positioned after your link text, click the Comment Editor's [/Link] button again. (Note that all these buttons "toggle". After the first click (the open click), they show the leading slash mark to help you remember to click them again to close the HTML.)
With the link closed and completed, you can type any text that you might wish after your link. Or you can just go on to the next sentence or paragraph.
Step 4. All Done! Check your work!!
(Refer to Figure 5.) Now you have a link in your Comment. There's a bunch of HTML before and after the clickable link text. There's also any lead in text you may have typed. Check the rendered appearance in the Comment Preview below the edit box.
That's it, you're done!
© 2008 Chris from MN
