Best practices for including links

Good linking provides access to related material without diverting the reader from the focus of the topic that they are in. If related topics in a chapter or manual add value to your content, consider linking to them in the topic.

Before you add a link

Before adding links into your content, consider these best practices:

• Don't include links in the first paragraph of a topic.
• Provide critical information in your topic, not in linked information.
• Weigh any cost of including a link, such as distraction or confusion to the reader, against the benefits.
• Use links in notes or cautions only if it helps the reader complete the task or aids their understanding of the note or caution content. See Best practices for using callout boxes.

Guidelines for including links

When adding links into your content, follow these best practices:

• Give readers the context to decide if it's a link they want to select. Don't hide a link behind other words or actions in a sentence without stating what the link is and where the link takes them.
• In most cases, use the word "See" to introduce a link in the sentence or clause.
• Use the exact topic title or section heading, name of the page, or name of the entity you are linking to for the link text. Don't paraphrase the linked-to topic name.
• Keep punctuation that isn't part of the title outside the link.

For more information on formatting links, see Formatting links in Splunk documentation. For information on linking in the UI, see Links in the UI text style guidelines topic.