Anchor Links

Linking Inside a Chapter

  • Use anchor links to connect between different parts of your eBook. Common uses include links to footnotes and endnotes.
  • An anchor is where you want the link to point to. It’s the destination.
  • Every anchor has a name. Names must have:
    • at least 1 letter.
    • no spaces.
Best practices:
  • Create dummy links and then change them into anchors.
  • Anchors look like clickable links in the text. Make sure every anchor is also a link.
  1. Create a Dummy Link with no Destination
    1. Highlight the text you want to make into a link.
    2. Click the globe-and-chain-link icon.
    3. Enter some dummy text like “lorem ipsum” or just press spacebar.
    4. Click OK.
  2. Make the Dummy Link into an Anchor
    1. Highlight the dummy link.
    2. Click the flag icon.
    3. Enter a name for your anchor.
    4. Click OK.
    5. You will see an anchor icon.
  3. Link to Your Anchor
    1. Highlight the text you want to make into a link.
    2. Click the globe-and-chain-link icon.
    3. Change Link Type from “URL” to “Link to anchor in the text”.
    4. Select the anchor you want to link to using the By Anchor Name menu.
    5. Click OK.
  4. Make the Link You Just Created into an Anchor
    1. Highlight the link.
    2. Click the flag icon.
    3. Enter a name for your second anchor.
    4. Click OK.
  5. Link the Dummy Link to the New Anchor
    1. Highlight the dummy link.
    2. Click the globe-and-chain-link icon.
    3. Change Link Type from “URL” to “Link to anchor in the text”.
    4. Select the anchor you want to link to using the By Anchor Name menu.
    5. Click OK.

Linking Between Chapters

  1. Create an Anchor
    • Go to chapter you want to link to.
    • Create a dummy link with no destination. Follow the steps in 1) above.
    • Make the dummy link into an anchor. Follow the steps in 2) above.
  2. Create an epub Preview
    • Go to Preview and click “Get file”.
    • Ignore any errors and click “Get your preview”.

  3. Unzip the epub
  4. Find the File Name of the Section You Want to Link to
    • eBook sections are in the OEBPS folder.
    • eBook sections have the prefix “chap” and the file extension “.xhtml”. For example: “chap30145.xhtml”, “chap30146.xhtml”, and “chap30365.xhtml”.
    • Open a section in a web browser to view its contents.
    • Remember the file name of the section that contains the anchor.
  5. Link to Your Anchor
    • Highlight the text you want to make into a link.
    • Click the globe-and-chain-link icon.
    • Keep Link Type set to “URL”.
    • Set Protocol to “<other>”.
    • In the URL field, type the file name, followed by “#” and the name of your anchor. For example: “chap30146.xhtml#chapter2″.
    • Click OK.
  6. Make the Link into Another Anchor
    • Highlight your link.
    • Click the flag icon.
    • Enter a name for your anchor.
    • Click OK.
  7. Link to Your Second Anchor
    • Go to your first anchor.
    • Highlight the dummy link.
    • Click the globe-and-chain-link icon.
    • Keep Link Type set to “URL”.
    • Set Protocol to “<other>”
    • In the URL field, type the file name, followed by “#” and the name of your anchor. For example: “chap30145.xhtml#chapter1″.
    • Click OK.