NOTE: The following assumes you have a basic knowledge of how to create links. If you do not, read the [url=/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10355399]guide to text markups[/url]. This guide will explore the abilities and special applications of linking on Bungie.net. [b][u]Linking Without Opening a New Window[/u][/b] This is one of the nicest and most convenient skills to have, and yet almost nobody knows how to do it. Observe, if you will, the following two links to The Septagon: [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3]Link #1[/url] [url=/Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3]Link #2[/url] Following the first link opens a new browser window or tab, whereas opening the second takes you directly to The Septagon, an overall faster and more convenient experience. How is this accomplished? It's very simple - take a look a the url of The Septagon: http://www.bungie.net/Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3 Since we're currently already located on http://www.bungie.net, that part is redundant. Remove it to create the following modified url: /Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3 This modified url will take you to the desired location within the same browser window. To reiterate, take a look at the undisguised link examples from above: [url]http://www.bungie.net/Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3[/url] (Link #1) [url]/Forums/topics.aspx?forumID=3[/url] (Link #2) It is important to take note of two things here: 1) The technique only works for linking [i]inside[/i] Bungie.net. 2) Remember to put the forward slash ('/') before the url, it won't work. Hopefully everyone will adopt this practice, and we'll see a lot less tabs and windows around. It also decreases the length of the url (not that you damn young 'uns would remember a time that actually mattered). [i]Note: the rest of the guide will negate http://www.bungie.net from examples.[/i] [b][u]Linking Directly to Posts (General Forums)[/u][/b] Interestingly, people link directly to posts all the time without even realizing it. Linking someone to a topic links directly to the first post. Linking directly to posts occurring later on in the thread is a more complicated matter, but only slightly. First of all, you need the post ID number. To obtain this, go to the post you want to link to, and click 'reply' (or alternately 'edit'). Now, take a look at the url, specifically the string of numbers occurring after 'postID='. This is the post ID number. Now that you have obtained the post ID, you can link to the post. This is accomplished by inserting the post ID into the following url: /Forums/posts.aspx?postID= For example, say the post ID is 12345678. The url linking directly to post 12345678 would be: /Forums/posts.aspx?postID=12345678 Here's a practical demonstration linking to the post below mine: [url]/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=32353410[/url] [b][u]Linking Directly to Posts (Groups)[/u][/b] The procedure for linking directly to posts inside groups is largely the same as in the general forums. You need the post ID, which can be found same as above. This time, you also need the group ID, which can be found by going to the group in question's homepage. The url will look like this: http://www.bungie.net/fanclub//Group/GroupHome.aspx The group ID will be located where I have indicated, and can be either a string of numbers or text. Now, put it all together. To link to the post, insert the group ID and post ID into the following url: /fanclub//Forums/posts.aspx?postID= [u][b]Applications of Linking[/b][/u] What follows are interesting applications of linking-related things on this site. [b]Linking directly to the user's profile:[/b] /Account/Profile.aspx Long a staple of prank threads, this url will take the clicker to their own profile (example: [url=/Account/Profile.aspx]this[/url] guy stalks me for some reason). [b]Demonstrating Text Markup:[/b] So say you're instructing someone on how to link, but it's hard to show them what to type because it changes the text like it's supposed to as opposed to showing the actual markups used. There is an easy fix for this - simply put empty bold, italic, or underline tags inside the tag you're attempting to demonstrate. For instance, if I were demonstrating linking: [u[i[i][/i]][/i]rl=http://www.bungie.net]Bungie[/url] You can see the italic tags are empty, and so when you actually submit it it'll just look like this: [u[i][/i]rl=http://www.bungie.net]Bungie[/url] Note that this works for [i]any[/i] text markups. In the first example I showed with the italics tags visible, I made other italics tags break up [i]those[/i] italics tags. You can pretty much keep it going forever if done right. [b]Misdirecting Links:[/b] Another application more useful for pranks than anything else, the misdirecting link will appear at first glance to take you to a certain website, but in reality might take you someplace far different. To explain how this is accomplished, we'll have to set out some terminology first. We will call links of the following type [b]long links[/b]: [i]text markup:[/i] [url]ht[i][/i]tp://www.bungie.net[/url] [i]appearance:[/i] [url]http://www.bungie.net[/url] These will be called [b]lazy links[/b]: [i]text markup:[/i] [url=ht[i][/i]tp://www.bungie.net]Bungie[/url] [i]appearance:[/i] [url=http://www.bungie.net]Bungie[/url] Now, the trick we pull here is to make a [b]lazy link[/b], but make it [i]appear[/i] as a [b]long link[/b]. For instance: [i]text markup:[/i] [url=ht[i][/i]tp://www.penny-arcade.com/]http://www.bungie.net[/url] [i]appearance:[/i] [url=http://www.penny-arcade.com/]http://www.bungie.net[/url] You put the address of the site you want it to [i]appear[/i] as in the text part, and the address of the site you want to [i]link[/i] to in the url part. The above appears to take you to the Bungie.net homepage before clicking, but in reality will take you to Penny Arcade. Casual readers will assume it's a long link for Bungie.net, although this can be smoked out by looking at the bottom left corner of your browser whilst hovering over the link. I'm sure you can think of some interesting applications (but keep it clean folks!). For an excellent related read on tricks with email markups, check out the [url=/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=32373514]Guide To Posting/Linking Emails - Stuff You Didn't Know[/url], written by [url=/Account/Profile.aspx?memberID=1559334]PKF_647[/url]. [Edited on 04.23.2009 4:09 PM PDT]