I start with the post I'm writing open in one window or tab and whatever I'm linking to, open in another so I can get to it easily.

Suppose I wanted to link you to the BB Codes page here at PC. It's probably not the ideal reference for you right now if you're just learning to do links, but after you get the hang of linking you might want to go see what you're technically doing. I often look at a road map, too, to see exactly how I got to wherever I happen to be.

When I'm at the BB Code page, in the location bar at the top of my browser window it says:

That's the URL. It tells my browser and yours how to get to that page. If you just paste that text into a post, the Forum software should automatically turn it into a link:

http://forums.psychcentral.com/misc.php?do=bbcode

However, if you'd like your readers to see something other than the bare URL, here's what you can do:

1. Type into your post what you want your link to say. For instance:

Here's the BB Codes page

2. Select that text so that it's highlighted. I can't make it look highlighted so I'll show it in red to pretend it is:

Here's the BB Codes page

3. Leave it highlighted and go to the window where you found the URL. Highlight (select) the URL if it's not already selected and copy it to your clipboard. Ctrl-C should do it, though I find [Right click] > Copy quicker.

4. Come back to where you're putting the link together. Right above the text box you should see a row of controls starting with B I U. Near the middle of that row should be one that looks like a little blue globe. When I hover my mouse pointer over it, it says "Insert Link". Click it.

5. Into the box that says "Please enter the URL of your link," paste the URL. Either [Right click] > Paste or Ctrl-V should do it. Click the [ OK ] button or hit Enter.

6. You should now have your link:

Here's the BB Codes page

Here's what the actual code for that looks like, in case you're interested:Let us know how this works for you. Once we shake the bugs out (Bugs?! ) we could let Rainbowzz make a tutorial out of it if she's willing.