WiscWeb - Linking to a Document

This document will walk you through the process of adding a link to uploaded documents into text areas within your site.

In this document:

Purpose and use

Users can upload documents to their Media Library to make links to those particular items available. Documents can include PDF, Microsoft Word (.doc), or plain text (.txt) files.

If you are going to be working with documents that update on a consistent basis, it is our recommendation to use shared files out of a departmental Box directory. Box is better set to handle revision history and access by multiple authors of documents. You can find out more information about the UW-Madison Box service at https://it.wisc.edu/services/box/.

Uploading a document

Before setting a link to a document, you will need to upload that item to your Media Library. Navigate to yours by clicking on the Media Library link on the left. Once there, click the Add New and navigate to your file to upload. You can also just drag and drop the file into your screen to upload it as well. Once uploaded, click on the new file and apply an appropriate Title to the file.

Please note: Files must follow standardized file naming guidlines, such as:

  • Keep filenames as short as possible. Longer file names increase file size and are more difficult to remember.
  • Include two to three keywords for SEO
  • Don’t use spaces or special characters (ex. ?, %, #, /, : , and ‘ ) in filenames. Use hyphens (not underscore) as separators instead.
  • Use all lowercase
  • Remove dates or version control notations (i.e. v1, FINAL, 4-13-edits)

Adding a Single Document to a Text Block

  1. Navigate to the Text Block on which you would like to add the document.
  2. Place your cursor where you want this link to appear.
  3. Click on the Add Media button at the top of the Text Block.
  4. Click on the file to add, or upload a new file following the instructions above. Once selected, look to the Attachment Details section to the right:
    • The Title field will be the text that is added to your Text Block as the linked text. You can change this here, or do it on page.
    • Scroll down and check to make sure that the"Attachment Display Settings" are set to Link To: Media File.
  5. Click Insert into page.
  6. The link will be added to the Text Block. To edit the linked text, click on it and click the pencil icon (edit), then click the gear (link options) icon.
    • In the link options window, change the Link Text field to be what your new desired text should be and click Update.

Adding Multiple Documents to a Page

Listing multiple documents can be done using a Text Block, and repeating the steps above, however you could also consider using a Document Listing. The Document Listing allows you to select specific set of documents, or categorize documents by Type, and all those documents to a pre-formatted list. For instructions on using Document Listing, see [Link for document 70448 is unavailable at this time].