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:
Copy an URL
Select text in the note body
Paste the URL
Instead of replacing the original text, a hyperlink is added
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?
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.  ->  an image](https://example.com/image/link/here)).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.