Linking one article or case to other articles is an integral part of building a cohesive resource.
On this page:
Blue links and grey links
Links on Vetlucent are of two colors:
blue links are links to existing articles on Vetlucent
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grey links are links to yet-to-be-written articles - as soon as that article is created, it will automatically turn blue
sometimes grey links are grey because they point to the alternative spelling of an existing article - editing and recreating the link to the correct existing article is necessary
Link style
Generally, a link should be created only the first time a topic is mentioned.
Bold, italics, and headings
Links should only ever be created on normal text. In other words, under no circumstance should a link be bold or have a heading. This may require rewording of the sentence or even paragraph.
In general, this also applies to italics, with the sole exception that nomial organisms, e.g. Escherichia coli, should be italicized and therefore if a link is added it will be italicized.
Multiple links
Separate links should also not be adjacent to each other. In other words, thyroid neoplasia should be one link to one target article, not separate links to the article thyroid and to another article on neoplasia.
Acronyms in links
If a condition is accompanied by its acronym and it is a link, then both the name and the acronym should be included in the one link.
- correct: feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)
- incorrect: feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)
- incorrect: feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)
- incorrect: feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)
How to create a link
To create a link:
enter edit mode, by clicking 'edit'
highlight text
click the link button in the toolbar (note only formatted text areas can contain links)
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a dialog box will open
if an article exists with the same title as the highlighted text it will appear in the drop-down list
If it does not you may need to alter the text in the text field of the dialog box until a match is found
if no article exists by creating a link you will enable users to follow that link to create new content
click on the desired article to link to in the drop-down list
click Submit
If everything has gone well the link will be blue (once you are no longer in edit mode). If you have created a link to a not-yet-existing article it will be grey. Don't worry, as soon as that article is created, your link will turn blue.
Grammarly issue
If you use Grammarly to help pick up typos, etc. then make sure you "ignore" or "add to dictionary" any term you are seeking to link as otherwise the link will be split around the underlined word.
External links
External links or links to other websites or online resources are an occasional feature within Vetlucent articles and/or Vetlucent cases.
In general, external links within articles are discouraged and are against our terms of use, as they have unfortunately been used maliciously in the past. In addition, they have the following disadvantages:
they break easily over time and need to be maintained
they are difficult to review
it is difficult to visually distinguish an internal from an external link
External links within Vetlucent articles and Vetlucent cases outside the [[references]] section have been approved by our editorial board in the following situations:
links to original files of reproduced images of pathology specimens
links to original files of reproduced images used to illustrate signs
links to acknowledge original sources for adapted content
they contain information that cannot be hosted by Vetlucent, is relevant to the field of veterinary radiology and is associated with a patient benefit
calculators need to be freely available with attributable authorship (either institutional or individual)
Requirements
In any case, external links require special approval by our editorial board and their decision is final. Factors considered include:
comprehensible justification for the link/links
separate tag: ‘external link' or 'external links’
the ⧉ symbol will automatically be added at the end of the link, e.g. Creative Commons - Licenses List
special formatting within Vetlucent articles
The latter includes the following format:
main heading with the style Heading 1 (H1) at the end of the article
list of the external links each one will have with the ⧉ symbol at the end of the link
The following sentence needs to be included at the end of the section:
If any of these links are broken or for other problems and questions, please contact editors@vetlucent.com.
Unacceptable external links
Examples for unacceptable external links within Vetlucent articles or cases are the following:
external links that are used for marketing or advertising purposes
external links that serve as references (they should be placed into the appropriate category)
we will remove any external links that are not deemed suitable
If you have any concerns about a link please write to editors@vetlucent.com.
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