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[How To] Create HTML anchors using bbcode

by cbiweb 20 Aug 2009

Rating:

(2 votes - 5.00 average)

Overview

HTML anchors are links that allow you to jump to a specific place within a document. This is very handy for long documents that have headings or other sections of interest to the reader. Typically, the top of the document contains a set of links to each section, and you need only to click one of those links to jump to the desired location on the page.

Anchors would be just as useful in forums for those who want to make long posts, perhaps for tutorials, forum guidelines or similar types of posts. Since most, if not all vBulletin license holders do not allow HTML in their forums, here is way to create anchors using http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode instead of HTML.

Instructions

First, you need to create two new bbcodes. Start by going to:
Admin CP -> Custom BB Codes -> Add New BB Code

Then fill in the relevant fields using these settings and parameters:

Title: Anchor link
Tag: jumpto
Replacement: <a href="#{option}">{param}</a>
Example: [jumpto=aname]This takes you to a new location within a post[/jumpto]
Description: The [jumpto] tag allows you to jump to another location within a post, usually used for long posts with headings and/or sections of interest. This tag <b>must</b> be used in conjunction with the [aname] tag. One is not functional without the other.
Use {option}: Yes
Click Save

Create another bbcode using these settings and parameters:

Title: Named anchor link
Tag: aname
Replacement: <a name="{option}">{param}</a>
Example: [aname=aname]This is where you jump to[/aname]
Description: The [aname] tag is used in conjunction with the <a href="#jumpto">[jumpto]</a> tag. One is not functional without the other.
Use {option}: Yes
Click Save

Implementation

Wrap the [jumpto] tag around a link that will take the reader to another place within the post, as follows:

Code:

[jumpto="anchor1"]link to somewhere within the post[/jumpto]

Then wrap the [aname] tag around the first word or phrase of the section you want the reader to jump to:

Code:

[aname="anchor1"]This is where you end up[/aname]

In the above two examples, change anchor1 to whatever name you choose for the link. (For example: if you are linking to a section called "Theory of Gravity", anchor1 could be called theory). They must both be identical in order to work correctly.

And yes, you can use these same tags for "back to top" links. Wrap the following tags around the first word of the post:

Code:

[aname="top"]first word of your post[/aname]

And place this one in the appropriate part of the post where a reader would click it to jump back to the top:

Code:

[jumpto="top"]back to top[/jumpto]

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