If you have set a base URL in the Options dialog box that is accessible, you can preview your relative URL links to ensure their accuracy. If you set an incorrect path to the hyperlinked content or one that is not accessible at this time, the system will not be able to preview the outline content. However, the link may still be valid once the content is fully deployed.

There are three places to preview a relative link; in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, in the Concept pane in the Outline Editor, and in a topic preview.

Insert Hyperlink Preview 

You can preview a link after typing it in the Insert Hyperlink dialog box by clicking the Go button in the dialog box. If the Full URL is accessible and is correct, the target web page appears in the dialog box. 

Concept Pane Preview 

You can preview a relative link used as the concept of a module, section, or topic from the Concept pane in the Outline Editor. If you link a relative URL without setting a base URL, a message notifies you that the base address is not set. 

A concept may link to a relative URL in several ways: 

• The concept is the URL link
   
  You can test this link by selecting the document in the outline and viewing the results in the Concept pane.
   
• A web page linked to the concept contains a hyperlink to a relative URL that you manually inserted
   
  You can test this link by clicking the link in the Concept pane to see if the correct target opens.
   
• A web page linked to the concept contains a glossary term that links to a relative URL
   
  You can test this link by clicking the link in the Concept pane to see if the correct target opens.

Note: You will not be able to preview relative URLs in the Concept pane if you suppressed the preview of URLs and/or web pages on the Preview page in the Options dialog box. 

Topic Preview 

You can use Preview in the Outline Editor to preview single topics in Try It! mode and check the relative URLs in frame links, manual bubble text links, and glossary links. 

Tip: After the web content is deployed, you can change the base URL in the Options dialog box to the final location. 

Document Preview 

Only relative URLs appear in previewed or published documents. Depending if the document type you are previewing includes attachments, you can view the relative links in topic concepts and frame links. Although the links appear clickable in the previewed document, they do not resolve with the base URL as they do in the Player. During document preview, the Developer defines the base path (./) as a location in your local Preview folder, which means that the links do not point to the full URL.  

Note: The relative links in published documents only point to the correct target if the documents are placed in the base URL folder of the hyperlinked content on the deployment server. See Publish Relative URL Links in the Enhance Content with URLs, Work with Relative URLs sections of the Enhance Content with Attachments chapter for more information.

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