I use google mail and would like to send web page links in a mail, i'm pretty new to this and find the advice on u tube videos confusing.

I can see a thing with 2 links of a chain when i compose mail, but what the hell do i do with it.

Very confused Bob[/i], i even have trouble trying to get everything in italic here.

Hi Confused Bob,

The simplest way is to just copy the link from the address bar of your browser and paste it into the email. For example, the web page link to here is this:

http://mgmcc.forumotion.net/windows-xp-f3/putting-web-page-links-in-e-mails-t214.htm?sid=80d3190bc094327e37aeee6d80d0580e

Now that's a long address, and may get split in an email, so an alternative is to copy that same link into Tiny URL' s web page and it will generate a smaller link to the same page.

First, I open a new tab and go to the Tiny URL site, which is: http://tinyurl.com/
(Copied and pasted, just as would in an email.)

Then I copy/paste the long URL above into the box at Tiny URL and click on the button to 'make tiny url' which gives me this to copy and paste:

http://tinyurl.com/bwgsg5 which is also a link to this page.

Does this help?

[i]Thanks i will give it a go now

I'm even more confused now, i can't put the tinyurl on to the tool bar with drag and drop, so i bookmarked it.

It then goes on about a clipboard(no idea what that is) and pasting(no idea what that means either).

When you copy anything in the computer, Windows stores it in what is called the "clipboard". The process for then inserting what you've saved on the "clipboard" into a document, or reply box in a forum etc, is called "pasting". The keyboard shortcuts for this are:

Ctrl+C to "Copy" whatever you've selected (highlighted).

Ctrl+V to "Paste" in the content from the "clipboard".

There is also:

Ctrl+X to "Cut" whatever you've selected (highlighted). Unlike "Copy", this deletes the original, but still places it on the "Clipboard" so that it can be "Pasted" where required.

To use the B, I and U emphases, click the relevant button, type in the text that you want it to apply to and then click the button again to close the tag.

As an alternative to using the tinyurl method, you could try this ..........

To make a long URL appear as word(s) .. (such as "Click Here") .. instead of the full address …

For example, to display "Click Here" as a link to the Breast Cancer website .....

[url=http://thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2]Click Here[/url]

type [url=
then paste the required URL immediately after the equal sign … then type at the end of the long URL
]Click Here[/url]

which now displays "Click Here" instead of the URL as per below.

Click Here

Spit

PS : In case you're wondering, I used ascii codes so that the code displayed instead of the link.

Spit,

The question is about copying links into emails, not on forums. Hence the additional tip on using Tiny URL.

Thanks for all the help on this.

Sorry I'm a bit late with the thanks, but been away for a while with limited Internet access.

Thanks for getting back to us Bob,

are you ok now with copying and pasting a link to a website?

I know how confusing it can be for a new pc user to hear several different methods of doing the same job. As you get to know your way about the Windows operating system you will discover that there is usually about 3 ways of performing the same task ..... you'll eventually have your own preference.

In case you are still baffled over copying and pasting a link to a website into an email these are the steps I would give;

first load the website that you want the link from for your email,
click once in the address bar of that webpage so the address becomes highlighted (it will likely turn blue)
now right click the mouse cursor within that blue area in the address bar and choose copy,
go to your email that you are composing and click once at the location you want the web link to be pasted, then right click and choose "paste",
the link should now appear.

*Remember the keyboard shortcuts given above by Mike can also be used,

when you have clicked in the address bar to highlight the url (url = another name for the web address) and the text has turned blue, instead of right clicking to select copy you would use the shortcut of pressing the Ctrl and C keys together
this does the same thing.

when you would click in your email at the location you want the url, then right click to paste, you would instead use Ctrl and V .... so basically the shortcuts replace the right click and copy, right click and paste.

As mentioned above sometimes the url (web address) can be very long and in an email it can become split up which can sometimes cause it to not work when the recipient clicks on it ...

for this, most of us use a website called Tinyurl .. mentioned by Dave .... this too can look a bit confusing to a new user;

when you load the website you'll see a little box ready to enter the url you want shortening ... right click in that box and select paste to paste the web address that you have previously copied ... then click the button "Make Tiny URL!"

*you might see a prompt where you have to click Allow, to allow access to your clipboard contents, this is a security feature of the browser ....

Next a new page loads displaying the original url, the new shortened url and a custom type url .... you need the middle one, you'll see it is much shorter .... you now need to copy and paste this shortened url into your email ... just use the same methods as above only this time to copy the url you can't just click on it for it to turn blue as you could in the address bar ...

to highlight text like this you have to click once at the beginning of the piece of text, then keeping your mouse pressed in ...drag across the text to the last letter (make sure you don't leave the last letter out or the url will not work) ... this piece should now have become highlighted (turned blue) ... continue now with right click copy or Ctrl and C as instructede above.

Hope this helps