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Update linking syntax page #415

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127 changes: 82 additions & 45 deletions docs/syntax/links.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,105 +1,142 @@
# Links

A link contains link text (the visible text) and a link destination (the URI that is the link destination). The link text can include inline elements.

## Inline link
A markdown link looks like this:

```markdown
[Link title](links.md)
[Link text](destination.md)
```
It has two components:
- Link **text** enclosed in square brackets `[ ]`
- Link **destination** enclosed in parentheses `( )`

[Link title](links.md)
## Link types

```markdown
[**Hi**, _I'm md_](links.md)
```
### Internal links

[**Hi**, _I'm md_](links.md)
Link between documentation files using either relative or absolute paths.

## Anchor link

You can link to a heading on a page with an anchor link. The link destination should be a `#` followed by the header text. Convert spaces to dashes (`-`).
#### Relative paths
Navigate relative to the current file's location:

```markdown
I link to the [Inline link](#inline-link) heading above.
[Security documentation](../security/index.md)

[Monitoring guide](monitor/index.md)
```

I link to the [Inline link](#inline-link) heading above.
#### Absolute paths

You can also use absolute paths to link to pages within the same repository.
Say you're working on a random page somewhere in the `docs-content` repo. You can link to a page in the `deploy-manage` section like this:

```markdown
I link to the [Notes](tables.md#notes) heading on the [Tables](tables.md) page.
[API Keys](/deploy-manage/api-keys.md)
```

## Cross Links
Note the leading `/` before the path.

### Same-page links (anchors)

Cross links are links that point to a different docset.
Link to sections within the same document using heading anchors prefixed with `#`:

```markdown
[Cross link](kibana://cross-link.md)
[Jump to the next section](#next-section-anchor)
```

The syntax is `<scheme>://<path>`, where <scheme> is the repository name and <path> is the path to the file.
Headings will automatically create anchor links in the resulting HTML. They are automatically generated by:

## Auto Text Links
- Converting to lowercase
- Replacing spaces with hyphens
- Removing special characters

If you link to a local markdown file but omit any link text `docs-builder` will use the target's [title](titles.md).
For example:

```markdown
[](applies.md)
### Same-page links (anchors)
<!-- Creates anchor #same-page-links-anchors -->
```
will output: [](applies.md)

You can go one step further to auto generate link text for headings within files:
#### Custom anchors
You can specify custom anchors for headings inline:

```markdown
[](applies.md#sections)
## License management [manage-license]
<!-- Creates anchor #manage-license instead of #license-management -->
```

will output: [](applies.md#sections)
Custom anchors are also cleaned up to remove special characters and spaces, and converted to lowercase:

```markdown
## API Setup [First Time Setup!]
<!-- Creates anchor #first-time-setup -->
```

This also applies to local anchors
### Cross-repository links

Link to documentation in different repositories using the `scheme://path` syntax:

```markdown
[](#anchor-link)
[Kibana API documentation](kibana://api/index.md)
[Beats configuration](beats://configuration.md)
```

will output: [](#anchor-link)
The syntax follows the format `<scheme>://<path>`, where:
- `scheme`: The target repository name (e.g., kibana, beats)
- `path`: The file path within that repository

## Heading anchors
### External links

Headings will automatically create anchor links in the resulting html.
Link to websites and resources outside the Elastic docs:

```markdown
## This Is A Header
[Elastic Cloud](https://cloud.elastic.co)
[Elastic Documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide)
```

Will have an anchor link injected with the name `this-is-an-header`.
## Link formatting

### Style link text

If you need more control over the anchor name you may specify it inline
You can include Markdown formatting within link text:

```markdown
## This Is A Header [#but-this-is-my-anchor]
[**Distributed architecture**](distributed-architecture.md)

[*Production guidance* and best practices](production-guidance.md)

[`manage-connectors.md`](manage-connectors.md)
```

Will result in an anchor link named `but-this-my-anchor` to be injected instead.
### Auto-generated link text

Do note that these inline anchors will be normalized.
When linking to local Markdown files, you can omit the link text to automatically use the target page's title:

```markdown
## This Is A Header [What about this for an anchor!]
[](maintenance.md)
<!-- Uses the title from maintenance.md -->

[](monitoring.md#alerting)
<!-- Uses "Alerting" section title from monitoring.md -->
```

Will result in the anchor `what-about-this-for-an-anchor`.
You can also auto-generate text for specific headings within files:

```markdown
[](deploy.md#scaling)
<!-- Uses "Scaling" section title from deploy.md -->

## Inline anchors
[](#configuration)
<!-- Uses the "Configuration" section title from current file -->
```

Docsbuilder temporary supports the abbility to create a linkable anchor anywhere on any document.
## Legacy features

```markdown
This is text and $$$this-is-an-inline-anchor$$$
```
### Inline anchors

This feature exists to aid with migration however is scheduled for removal and new content should **NOT** utilize this feature.
::::{warning}
This syntax exists to aid with migration. It is scheduled for removal and **should not be used** in new content.
::::

```markdown
Some text $$$custom-anchor$$$ more text
```
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/syntax/titles.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ This title is used both by the documentation navigation
* Left hand site
* Navigational elements such as breadcrumbs and previous/next links.

As well as when using the [auto text links](./links.md#auto-text-links), e.g:
As well as when using the [auto text links](./links.md#same-page-links-anchors), e.g:

```markdown
[](titles.md)
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