# Add URL link...from keyboard

**URL:** <https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973>\
**Category:** Wish List\
**Created:** [January 10, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973 "2010-01-10T21:30:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/howarth)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/1 "2010-01-10T21:30:22Z")

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I often want to add URL links to a word or phrase in a document.  
Right now, I have to go to the Text/Add Link…/ menu and paste the URL into a window.  
Word, Pages, and Bean all do this with a key combination.  
Cmd-L would be nice, if it weren’t in use for Scrivener Link.  
Which I never use. Though I’m sure it’s helpful to others.

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**Author:** ![Jaysen](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/jaysen/32/16_2.png) [@Jaysen](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Jaysen)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/2 "2010-01-10T22:34:19Z")

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I think you want to

1. Use the system preferences to assign new shortcut to Scrivener link.
2. Assign CMD-L to Text/Add Link…

At least that is what KB has suggested to other that want to use a scriv preassigned shortcut in the past.

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**Author:** ![KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/KB)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/3 "2010-01-10T23:24:19Z")

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Hi druid,

Yes, as Jaysen says, you can change the keyboard shortcuts as you wish using the System Preferences, making sure you change New Link to something else.

All the best,  
Keith

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**Author:** ![howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/howarth)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/4 "2010-01-11T01:31:34Z")

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Got it…thanks, guys!

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**Author:** ![Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/rubin/32/17071_2.png) [@Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Rubin)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/5 "2011-04-03T14:59:13Z")

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Hey guys. I have no idea if this is a Scrivener bug or an OS X bug, but:

I’ve assigned Cmd-L to “Add Link…” and another shortcut to “Add Scrivener Link…” just like you said, but now I always need to open up the “Edit” menu in the menubar once in order for the Cmd-L shortcut to work. Otherwise when I hit Cmd-L it will play that little “bong” sound as though the keyboard shortcut isn’t assigned.

Oddly enough though, the new keyboard shortcut for Scrivener links works “out of the box” the first time around.

So as a result when I’m about to write a piece that’s going to use classic weblinks I know I need to open up the “Edit” menu in Scrivener once in order to be able to use the Cmd-L keyboard shortcut. It’s no big deal really, but it’s pretty weird.

Again, no idea if this is a bug in Snow Leopard (I’m using 10.6.7) or in Scrivener (2.0.5). Just thought you’d like to know.

Cheers.

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**Author:** ![KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/KB)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/6 "2011-04-03T15:43:15Z")

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“Add Link…” can become “Edit Link…” - it’s contextual (just when it changes title is handled by OS X, a change Apple made in Snow Leopard, and it can be pretty funky, saying “Edit Link…” when there is no link to edit). So, you’ll need to add cmd-L as a keyboard shortcut to “Edit Link…” as well as to “Add Link…”.

Hope that helps,  
Keith

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**Author:** ![howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@howarth](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/howarth)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/7 "2011-04-03T19:08:10Z")

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I’m using Cmd-L for Add Link… which works fine, bringing up that nice dialog box that allows links to Web, File, Email, or No prefix destinations. (Thanks all for the suggestion.)

For Scrivener Link: New Link I tried Option-L, but it doesn’t work. Since I use fewer of them, I’ll just work with the Edit menu when needed.

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**Author:** ![MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/mimeticmouton/32/34_2.png) [@MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/MimeticMouton)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/8 "2011-04-03T19:21:26Z")

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The Mac uses the Option key for a lot of special characters, so you can’t usually create your own with that as the only modifier key. If you don’t regularly use the keyboard to insert page breaks, you could reassign Ctrl-Opt-L to the “New Link…” command, which is pretty close.

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**Author:** ![Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/rubin/32/17071_2.png) [@Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Rubin)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/9 "2011-04-04T18:56:15Z")

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> [@KB](#):
>
> “Add Link…” can become “Edit Link…” - it’s contextual (just when it changes title is handled by OS X, a change Apple made in Snow Leopard, and it can be pretty funky, saying “Edit Link…” when there is no link to edit). So, you’ll need to add cmd-L as a keyboard shortcut to “Edit Link…” as well as to “Add Link…”.

Unfortunately adding Cmd-L as a shortcut to “Edit Link…” as well doesn’t change anything.

Thanks anyways. It’s not that big of a problem.

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**Author:** ![bargonzo](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@bargonzo](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/bargonzo)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/10 "2011-04-05T04:31:08Z")

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I have been playing with this a bit and cannot seem to get the keyboard commands to work at all. Sure, the one for Scrivener Link (built-in) works, but the new ones I add in Keyboard Shortcuts don’t do a thing. I’ve tried titling them “Text/Add Link” “Edit/Add Link” “Edit/Edit Link” “Text/Edit Link”, and I’ve included elipses after these as well. Nothing happens when I push the command (Cmd/opt/cntrl/L). I’m putting this in as a shortcut under the Application Shortcut, but I’ve also tried it as a universal command. But nothing works.

Is there some step I am missing?

Thanks,

Bargonzo

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**Author:** ![MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/mimeticmouton/32/34_2.png) [@MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/MimeticMouton)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/11 "2011-04-05T04:37:19Z")

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The shortcut should go under Application shortcuts, and you want to use just the menu item as the name for the shortcut, not the path. The capitalization needs to match and it should include any punctuation, such as the ellipsis. So for the command Edit\>Add Link… you would just use “Add Link…” (no quotes).  
Example:  
 ![shortcuts.png](https://dev.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/2X/7/7ef23d7eaa18967e7d02096361cddded8d595a24.png)

If you’ve got multiple versions of Scrivener installed, that might be messing with your shortcuts also, if you’ve done the above and it still isn’t working.

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**Author:** ![bargonzo](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@bargonzo](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/bargonzo)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/12 "2011-04-05T04:39:11Z")

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More testing, finally figured it out. Just “Add Link…” – no Text/ or Edit/ in front of it. Now it’s working fine.

Thanks anyway! 😊

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**Author:** ![MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/mimeticmouton/32/34_2.png) [@MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/MimeticMouton)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/13 "2011-04-05T04:40:58Z")

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Glad you got it sorted. 🙂

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**Author:** ![MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/mimeticmouton/32/34_2.png) [@MimeticMouton](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/MimeticMouton)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/14 "2011-04-05T04:56:26Z")

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> [@Rubin](#):
>
> Unfortunately adding Cmd-L as a shortcut to “Edit Link…” as well doesn’t change anything.

Ah yeah, I notice this too. I’m putting it down to a Snow Leopard weirdness, since it’s peculiar to this command which, due to Snow Leopard weirdness, changes somewhat arbitrarily. Perhaps the OS needs to index the menu before it works properly? No idea. 😕

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**Author:** ![tshanno](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tshanno](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/tshanno)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/15 "2011-04-12T12:52:10Z")

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Hi.

This one should be easy. I may have missed this it but I can’t find it.

Given the problems assigning shortcut keys to the “Add Link…”/“Edit Link…”, commands the ability to customize the toolbar by adding buttons for these would be a plus.

Tom S.

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**Author:** ![KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/KB)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/16 "2011-04-12T14:29:56Z")

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This definitely isn’t something for the toolbar, sorry. There aren’t any problems with adding keyboard shortcuts to Add Link…/Edit Link… in general - the user reporting this problem stated he worked it out.

That said, I think I may now see one issue. Snow Leopard dynamically changes the title of this menu item to “Add Link…” or “Edit Link…” depending on context. So, you need to add the keyboard shortcut to both of those, as I say. However, in the actual interface file, this command is entitled simply “Link…” (which is how it will appear on Tiger and Leopard). I bet Snow Leopard doesn’t change the title of the command until the Edit menu is opened at least once, meaning that if you add the shortcut to “Edit Link…” and “Add Link…”, it may not work until the Edit menu has been opened at least once. If you add the keyboard shortcut to “Link…”, too, everything should be fine.

All the best,  
Keith

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**Author:** ![Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/rubin/32/17071_2.png) [@Rubin](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Rubin)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/17 "2011-04-14T20:12:45Z")

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There, you fixed it. 😉

Thanks a bunch, man.

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**Author:** ![KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/KB)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/18 "2011-04-14T21:24:02Z")

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Glad it helped! I’ve also renamed the menu item in the interface file for the future (in the version available on the Beta Testing forum, too) and now change it for Tiger and Leopard during the launch process, so that from 2.0.6 onwards you shouldn’t need to add “Link…” as well as the other two.

Thanks,  
Keith

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**Author:** ![tshanno](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/7feea3/32.png) [@tshanno](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/tshanno)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/19 "2011-04-14T22:26:00Z")

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> [@KB](#):
>
> This definitely isn’t something for the toolbar, sorry. There aren’t any problems with adding keyboard shortcuts to Add Link…/Edit Link… in general - the user reporting this problem stated he worked it out.
> 
> That said, I think I may now see one issue. Snow Leopard dynamically changes the title of this menu item to “Add Link…” or “Edit Link…” depending on context. So, you need to add the keyboard shortcut to both of those, as I say. However, in the actual interface file, this command is entitled simply “Link…” (which is how it will appear on Tiger and Leopard). I bet Snow Leopard doesn’t change the title of the command until the Edit menu is opened at least once, meaning that if you add the shortcut to “Edit Link…” and “Add Link…”, it may not work until the Edit menu has been opened at least once. If you add the keyboard shortcut to “Link…”, too, everything should be fine.

Thanks for the help. For what its worth, I didn’t catch the “Link…” hint. I added the same shortcut for “Edit Link…” and “Add Link…” and this didn’t work unless I opened the “Edit” menu each time, presumably because I alternate these commands quite frequently. Obviously going to the menu each time made it kind of a moot point. However, adding a shortcut for just “Link…” did, in fact, work using the latest version of Snow Leopard.

Thanks,  
Tom S.

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**Author:** ![KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KB](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/KB)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/add-url-link-from-keyboard/6973/20 "2011-04-14T22:32:31Z")

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Hi,

Yes, the “Link…” thing was something I hadn’t realised until halfway through responding to your message. 🙂 So thanks for bringing it to my attention, as no one would ever gather this but it should be fixed for the future. I’d be grateful if you could try downloading 2.5.5 from the Beta Testing section of the forum and deleting the shortcut for “Link…” from your system preferences - 2.5.5 should work with just the shortcut added to “Add Link…” and “Edit Link…”

Thanks!  
Keith

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