Ever wonder how some people's links look like this:
http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2006/05/fugovision_song.html
and some people's look like this?
Well, the ones with the itty, bitty, customized links that say whatever they want simply typed in the word, in this case "this" then went back and highlighted it, then clicked on the ChainLink icon, 11th from left if I can still count straight after a Dayquil and two glasses of fine Cuban rum.
This will bring up a link edit box, which causes your screen to go blank for a second if you're on a system like mine. Don't worry, happens all the time. Don't touch anything for a second, it will correct itself. I think this happens cuz the default is a basic HTML editor that comes up, then it goes "Hey, raincoaster wants the rich text editor, not the HTML stuff, we'd better switch" and calls the stunt team, otherwise known as the rich text editor in. This all happens automatically, so you don't need to worry about it; I only explain because the pause and screen-going-blank thing is alarming.
Then after the slight pause a new link edit box pops up, with a blue border. You paste the actual, long-form URL you want in the top line of the popup, in the middle line you select "Open in same window" or "Open in new window" and for various reasons I'll explain later I suggest you click on the latter, ie new window. But it's up to you: which do you prefer?
Then, in the bottom line, you type whatever text you want to float over the link when people hover over it.
They're looking for something that'll tell them what they're getting into when they click on it; people hate "Click Me!" mystery links, so make it easy on them, either by making the text say "Here's what the Fugs Said About Eurovision" or, if the text is small like "this" make the floater more descriptive. One of the two can be cute, but the other has to be informative.
Then at the bottom of the popup, pick Update if you're ready to go, Cancel if you want to start over from the beginning. You can erase while you're still there, and btw you don't even need to put anything in that bottom, floater line. Most people don't.
Then you should be done!
If you find a screwup, you can go back and edit it. Go to anywhere in the link and put your cursor there. Then hit the Chainlink icon again, and the link edit box will pop up, so you can edit the contents just that easy.
So now, if we're going to go back to our first example, our link and quotation from PerezHilton will look like this:
From PerezHilton:
"This is for everyone who thinks they know me"
We don't think we know you, Brit. How can that be possible when we think YOU don't even know yourself???
Find your way girl!!
See?
put the source in, plus the direct link to where you got the article, and then, for the quote, use blockquotes, which are a kind of indent. WordPress makes this easier; it's the seventh from the left button. Click on that, then paste or type the text in; when viewed in the regular window, it'll be indented a bit and there will be a line to the left side, a visible clue you are quoting from elsewhere. When you're done quoting, hit Enter to give you a new line, and hit the sixth-from left button, which will give you Normal Margins again.
We'll cover the other buttons in future lessons. You may (likely) get a pop-up window giving you some sort of dumbass security warning. Get used to it; this will happen almost every time you hit Publish. I don't know why. It doesn't matter. Just hit Yes, I wanna Post. To me, if Bill Gates wants to see into my computer, he'll get what is damn well coming to him.
raincoaster 