Feature request: Fast links

Having the option to add "fast links" would be nice for markdown and WYSIWYG editor. It would make inserting links more convenient and faster. The workflow would be:

  1. Copy an URL
  2. Select text in the note body
  3. Paste the URL
  4. Instead of replacing the original text, a hyperlink is added

References:

Pull request (mobile markdown editor and desktop beta markdown editor only):

2 Likes

Is that a good feature though? When you select something then paste something you expect the previous text to be cleared.

In fact given the comments in the provided link, this change didn't seem very popular in Confluence either

At least for me it often saves time when adding a hyperlink in Confluence. I agree that it might be unexpected behavior for users. Maybe it could be enabled with a dedicated checkbox in the settings?

It looks like GitHub does it too:

I'm frequently annoyed by it when trying to update an existing link (e.g. [test](http://example.com) -> [test](https://example.com/test)) or when it creates a link within an existing link (e.g. ![this is an image](https://example.com/image/link/here) -> ![[this is](http://example.com/) an image](https://example.com/image/link/here)).

The pull request above should avoid linkifying in these cases, but I wonder if this would make more sense as a plugin.

1 Like

Would be fine for me, as I wouldn't use it on mobile.

1 Like

This is standard in Wordpress and even Discourse, the forum we are on right now.

Personally I love the feature. But of course there has to be a test to see if what is in the clipboard is a real link.

Define "real link." I personally would hate to see Joplin turn into something that might have come from Microsoft. I sure wouldn't want to have Joplin testing the links to see if they were real. I may have a link I want to record but really don't want to try it out. Following links to see if they work or are real can be a bit dangerous.

1 Like

The pull request above bases this on whether the clipboard text starts with https://, http://, or :/ (and doesn't contain spaces). This won't work in many cases (e.g. ftp:// links or links that omit the protocol) though.

1 Like

One more note for implementing this as a plugin: As far as I can see, plugins can interact with Codemirror (the markdown editor), but not with TinyMCE (the WYSIWYG editor). So the plugin would be only useful for people that use the markdown editor.

1 Like

Would it be possible to implement a โ€œspecial pasteโ€ like ctrl+shift+v or something for that so ctrl+v has the expected/current behavior?

Maybe a different key combo because ctrl+shift+v is already a 'special paste' (paste as values) in Windows. CTRL+ALT+V ?

Please be careful with Ctrl+Alt and letter combinations, as these are often used for inserting special letters/characters in various languages.

Yeah, I guess that didn't make sense. I didn't mean working link. I should have just said link. the way @personalizedrefriger specified.

Going back to the very first post above. Marph wants copy+select+paste cause that is fast(er). Fair enough, I just cannot see why copy-select + cmd-K +paste isn't good enough or fast enough. Just one more keystroke, addresses Laurent's concern, and it is already available in Joplin.

1 Like

Actually, I wasn't aware of this shortcut. I guess I will use it from now on. However, it would still be more convenient to create hyperlinks directly. The fact that this is the default behavior of Discourse, Confluence and Github means that the feature request has its justification.

And Wordpress. Personally, my default now is to expect it to work and am always surprised when it doesn't. But I realize that it may seem intrusive if you aren't expecting it.

I am glad to hear about this .... that cmd-K may work for you ...
AND I 'd be rather unhappy if fast-links came about.