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How can links be displayed as text?

Updated

In various areas of the system, links appear that lead to external resources such as MS Teams interviews or questionnaires that applicants need to complete. These links can be long and cluttered, leading to a less appealing presentation. To improve the user experience, you can reformat these links and hide them behind a user-friendly text.
By reformatting, the readability of emails is improved, and the link appears in a more user-friendly and professional form.

Do you have an extremely long link to a website and want to make it more attractive by hiding it behind a text?
Example:
The long link www.examplewebsite.com/hjekkem33/someothersite/455655/xyuehhjd should be displayed as Go to the questionnaire.

Proceed as follows:

  1. Open the element that should contain the link, such as a correspondence template.
  2. Click the edit icon so that the content is displayed in the HTML editor.
  3. Click where you want the link to appear.
  4. Click the link icon in the HTML editor. A dialog window will open with the Link Info tab selected.
  5. Fill out the form:
    • Link Info Tab
      • Display Text: The text that users should see.
      • URL: Enter the full link here.
    • Target Tab
      • Target: Define how the link should behave when clicked. We recommend New Window.
  6. Click the button OK to save your entries. The dialog window will close.
  7. Save your changes in the form where you used the HTML editor.

System elements use internal placeholder names. For example, the link to a questionnaire always has the placeholder {QUESTIONNAIRE:URL}. When displayed in an email, this placeholder may result in a long, unattractive link. However, you can influence how it appears to users by defining a custom display text.
Example:
The placeholder {QUESTIONNAIRE:URL} would typically appear in an email as: https://example-system.com/feedback/be416f1e-2abd-45d6-93dd-f846c9fbd046. Instead, applicants should see: Go to the questionnaire.

Proceed as follows:

  1. Open the element containing the placeholder with the link, such as a correspondence template.
  2. Click the edit icon so that the content is displayed in the HTML editor.
  3. Click the <> Source Code icon in the HTML editor. The content will switch to code view.
  4. Locate the placeholder. It is written in uppercase and usually contains "URL" or "LINK".
  5. Modify the code so that the placeholder is wrapped in an <a href> element, with a user-friendly display text in between.
    Example:
    <a href="{APPOINTMENT:ONLINE_MEETING_URL}">This is the text that will be displayed.</a>

Warning 
If you implement this in correspondence templates, it’s best to create a test application and send the email to yourself to verify the formatting.

  • A) Teams Meetings
    <a href="{APPOINTMENT:ONLINE_MEETING_URL}">Go to the meeting.</a>
    Displayed as: Go to the meeting.
  • B) Questionnaires
    <a href="{QUESTIONNAIRE:URL}">Go to the questionnaire.</a>
    Displayed as: Go to the questionnaire.
  • C) Placeholders
    <a href="{LOGGED_IN_USER:EMAIL}">Email</a>
    Displayed as: Email

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