Hyperlinks

There are occasions that make hyper-linking an absolute necessity. In its simplest form I may want to insert a web URL address into my note for future reference or in support of my current document. I should be able to insert any URL or email address into my document with ease and speed. Happily these features do exist in Scribe. I can insert URLs and email addresses without any problem by either copy/paste or drag/drop right into my notes' cursor point . For example, I can produce a little reference table for my preferred online news resources quickly. Alternatively, you can use the do-Organizer Linx bookmark manager to manage a large number of URLs and their details in a structured way.

Through our web surfing experience most of us expect to launch the URL link with a single click, as in web browsers. However, one-click on a hyperlink in Scribe doesn't do anything!  You may be disappointed by this however, what you have to remember is that in a web browser you cannot edit text, while in Scribe you can, including the hyperlinks. If Scribe used one-click for launching the link, you wouldn't be able to edit it. As soon as you clicked on a hyperlink, it would launch the link instead of placing your cursor at the desired point to carry out editing.

Before adding and editing hyperlinks, let's build a better understanding of Scribe's handling of them. You as a user have full control over how to handle hyperlinks. You can tell Scribe to Auto-mark any entered URLs and Email Addresses or not. How do we do this?

Check out the Insert menu on the main application menu bar. You will find some quick options such as switching auto-recognition on or off , forced URL and Email hyperlink recognition, and clearing all hyperlinks within the current note.

By default, Hyperlink recognition is turned on. What this means is, while you are working on your note if you type a hyperlink, Scribe will recognize it and format it as a hyperlink.  I may type a link with the "http"  http://www.gemx.com or http://gemx.com or http://www.gemx.com/texnotespro.php or without www.gemx.com, but not as gemx.com. Similar procedures apply to emails me@myxyztrdomain.or, for Scribe to recognize email addresses, the entry must contain an @ (at) sign a dot and no spaces. Its true you can easily fool Scribe by typing non existing domain extensions such as me@shdgdh.444. Please don't forget, auto detection will only work if it's active. If you switched off auto detection then Scribe will not format URLs or emails automatically. Before inundating the poor people at GemX for support saying Scribe URL and Email auto-detection doesn't work, please check if your auto-detection is active.

I have touched on the subject of adding hyperlinks above briefly - dragging and pasting URLs, Email addresses and auto detection. There are  many more options for adding hyperlinks to a note. Not all URLs and emails may be recognized by Scribe when dragged, pasted or typed straight in.

Once you launch the Hyperlinks dialog window using the insert menu shortcut icon you will see a few different types of linking options:

Notice all the different types of hyperlinks you can insert. In addition to URLs and Email address type hyperlinks, there are Database item, Dialer Number, and Local File hyperlinks  also possible.

Database Item: This option is extremely useful when working with a large Scribe record.  First I select the word I'd like to link. Then I click on  the hyperlink shortcut, from the hyperlink dialog window I choose the hyperlink Section type.

I then locate the item I wish to link to and click "OK".  If I hold the control key down and move the mouse over a linked Anchor word, the mouse cursor turns into a little hand symbol indicating it's a click-able hyperlink.

In addition to adding hyperlinks you can customize your hyperlink text color, for both states: Normal and Active (hover/mouse over)

Local File: Same as above, select the word or phrase you wish to link a local file (a file accessible on your computer), click on the "Local File" button and select the file from the windows standard open file dialog.

Advanced: As the name suggests, this option is for those who are proficient in their application usage skills. You don't need to concern yourself with this option. You can carry out the same tasks using two different operations; Database Item and Local File. Yes, that's right, Advanced option is just a combination of these two, plus it lets you type the exact target address in the "Hyperlink Target" edit box rather than browsing. As you can see, you don't need to use this option at all to fully utilize the Scribe hyperlinking facilities.

One important question you may ask here. What happens to my hyperlinks if I move their note around in the Navigator?  As long as you do not delete the hyperlinked target item all links follow the move.  In a nut shell you do not loose your hyperlinks. On the other hand if you had a link to an external file and you move or delete this file then you would lose your hyperlink as its outside the boundaries of do-Organizer Scribe Notes.