Creating an HTML link in a Legend game type

Want to link to an external website from within a Legend game? Here are your steps:

1) Locate the URL you want to incorporate into the game question.

If your URL is long, shorten it. The characters in the code string count against the total number of characters you can have in the question. Free services exist that enable you to shorten the URL address. TinyURL.com is one to try. You enter your URL and it spits out a shortened code for you to use. In the example below, our original URL was 105 characters. By using tinyurl.com, we shortened it to 26 characters – a big difference.

2) Use the code we provide below, inserting your URL and any unique direction to your users. The portions shown in red are where you insert your unique information. The blue portions remain the same for any hyperlink you create. Pay attention to where quotations marks are used and where spaces are used.

<U><a href=”YOURURLADDRESS” target=”_blank”>YOUR ONSCREEN TEXT FOR USERS TO SEE </a></U>

Here’s an example of a question I wrote in the authoring tool. I included blue and red fonts to make it easier for you to see the code string and my unique information:

In a learning game, what’s the correct definition of a game goal?
<U><a href=”http://tinyurl.com/q2onwgv” target=”_blank”>Click here for more information about game goals versus learning goals. </a></U>

Here’s an image of how it looks to the player in the game:

Screen Shot 2014-11-21 at 12.16.08 PM

 

If you get an error message, you may have unintentionally inserted hidden characters into your code string. Here’s how to check:

  1. Open up an empty Word document and paste your string of text into it.
  2. Select the “Paragraph” button in Word (looks like a backwards P with a second line).
    • This makes all non-printable characters show up on the screen.
    • Remove any extraneous characters you see and then copy the code string back into Knowledge Guru.