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Links

​​ Definition

Reference to data that can be accessed by clicking, tapping, or selecting.

​​ Used in

All content types

​​ Overview

Hyperlinks are incredibly useful in online content but should not be overdone. Excessive hyperlinking inside of paragraphs is often distracting and can deviate the reader’s focus from the piece at hand.

Avoid non-descriptive link text like: click here and this page; instead, use the actual title of the target page or an abbreviated version of that title. This is also important so that readers see that when they get there, they actually linked to the page they intended to visit.

Use unique link text. Speech recognition software does not handle duplicated link text well.

Use in-paragraph links only if they are internal (those within Cloudflare’s websites) and if the material relates directly to what’s being described. In other words, will the content behind the link help the reader make a decision or accomplish something before continuing to read the current document?

Avoid directional language.

Use a Related resources section at the end of your document for:

  • Internal links that loosely relate to the topic or offer a chance for deeper learning
  • All external links (not residing in Cloudflare’s websites)
  • Internal and external links that represent the next logical steps to follow

External links placed in-paragraph are strongly discouraged because Cloudflare has no control over them. For example, if a link no longer resolves, our content feels less reliable. By shifting all external links to the end of the document, the impact of a broken link is less dramatic.

Place links for example requests and API calls in code blocks.

Use placeholders in links with account- or user-specific information. And explain what to replace the referential text with.

  • For example, for the link “https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/a0b1c2d3/rulesets” use “https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/<ACCOUNTID>/rulesets” and add text to say “replace <ACCOUNTID> with your Account ID” or similar.

See angle brackets in Code Conventions and Formatting.