Link Address Field

[awehling]

Currently, when a user highlights text and clicks the Link icon, the cursor automatically lands in the Text to display field, which is already filled with the selected text. To add a URL, the user must manually click into the Link address field, which is empty and the only field requiring input. This creates an unnecessary extra step.

To improve usability, the cursor should instead land directly in the Link address field upon opening the dialog, allowing users to immediately enter the URL without additional clicks.

Summary of improvements:

• Shortened sentences for clarity.
• Used bold to highlight key fields.
• Directly stated the recommended improvement.
• Removed redundancy and clarified the workflow issue.

[Maren Mahoney]

I respectfully disagree. I will often use the Text to Display to enter the exact name of the document that I am linking to, and then putting the link itself in the Link field. This allows later readers to know what document is referenced by a link when (inevitably) Cisco moves or changes the link itself - allowing them to do a Google search for the document name. With the Text to Display field first, this prompts posters to do exactly that.

Maren

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

I read the OP to be a different ask than what you're advocating for @Maren Mahoney. I believe the OP merely requests that the URL field within the Add link dialog have focus by default when it opens. I agree with that and that is exactly the behavior I get in Safari on macOS. @awehling You may want to reply with the OS & browser you're seeing a different behavior in.

And I too would love to have the default link target be a new page.

[Roger Kallberg]

The thing is that if you fill in the url link field first it auto populates the Text to show field with the same information as the link field and then if you want to have this field to contain the type of information that Maren describes you’ll need to clear out that auto generated information.

[awehling]

@Jonathan Schulenberg, you are correct; the only change I'm seeking is to give the Add link field have focus by default when it opens. No changes to the Text to Display field. I use the Webex desktop app on a Mac, not a browser.  

[Maren Mahoney]

@Jonathan Schulenberg  I understood what the OP asked for and disagreed. I did not advocate for a change to the field itself, and I don't know how you read that into what I wrote. But...whatever.

I'm advocating to leave the Text to Display field be the focus when building links as it is now because, as @Roger Kallberg pointed out, that field auto-populates with the URL unless the Text to Display is populated first. I did not know, though, that the initial focus is different in different browsers. Hopefully the OP will be okay changing browsers instead of changing the system.

Maren

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

My misunderstanding then, sorry. FWIW- I just tested this in Firefox and Chrome on macOS in addition to Safari. All three behave the same for me: the Url field has focus (i.e., the cursor) when the Add link dialog opens. I'm at a loss for how I'm seeing the opposite behavior you and Roger are here.

I agree that automatically copying the URL into the 'Text to display' field is annoying and creates extra work though. Independent of which field has focus initially, I'd love to see that stop. The editor could instead display the real URL if the Text to display field is left blank.

[Roger Kallberg]

I agree with @Maren Mahoney I often do the exact same as her for the very same reason. What I would like to see changed in the Add link window is that Open in new window should be preselected as I don’t want the link to be opened in the post page as that makes further answers on the post more difficult.

[Maren Mahoney]

And I agree 100% with @Roger Kallberg that "Open Link in New Window" should be the default. -- Maren