Simplifying Links to Media Files
For some reason, when you have finished uploading a media file to a WordPress web page, clicking the link won’t open the file, but will take users to another page where they have to click another link to open the file. See which of these two versions you prefer:
A. Scribe – September 2011 (3.4 MB)
B. Scribe – September 2011 (3.4 MB)
I think version A is irritating, confusing, and unnecessary. Luckily, there is an easy fix.
To simplify a media link:
1) After you have added media: update your page, click “view page”, then click the link to your new media file.
2) When you get to your new media file’s page: click “EDIT”, which will take you to the Edit Media page.
3) Copy the File URL from the box near the bottom of the Edit Media page. You may need to scroll a little to copy the entire URL.
4) Go back to the page you are working on, and using the Visual Editor, highlight the link to your new media file.
5) Click the “break link” icon in the tool bar.
6) Click the “link” icon in the tool bar and a small window will open. Paste the File URL from step 3 into the top line and click the Add Link button.
7) Update your page, then try out your simplified link. (If it doesn’t work, check to see if part of the URL is missing.)
