Pretty Links integrates directly into the WordPress block editor so you can insert pretty links into your content without leaving the page.
Searching and Inserting a Pretty Link
While editing a post or page in Gutenberg:
- Select some text you want to turn into a pretty link.
- Click the Pretty Links icon in the block toolbar (or open the link popover and look for the Pretty Links option).
- Search by title, slug, or target URL.
- Click the link you want to use.
The selected text becomes a hyperlink pointing to your pretty URL.
You can also place the cursor without selecting text first, search and pick a link, and Pretty Links will insert the link with the title as the visible text.
Keyboard Shortcuts
For power users, keyboard shortcuts let you insert pretty links without touching the mouse:
- Insert pretty link: Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+P (Mac)
- Remove pretty link: Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P
(Ctrl+P is the browser print shortcut by default; the block editor takes over when your cursor is inside a rich-text block, but if you’re focused outside the editor you’ll still get the print dialog.)
The insert shortcut opens the search popover. Type a few characters of the link’s title or slug, use arrow keys to highlight the one you want, and press Enter to insert.
The remove shortcut is the inverse — place your cursor inside an existing pretty link and the shortcut detaches it (turning it back into plain text).
Creating a Link Inline
Don’t have a pretty link for the URL you want yet? You don’t have to leave the editor:
- Open the Pretty Links search popover.
- Type or paste the target URL.
- Click Create new pretty link.
Pretty Links creates the new link in the background using your default settings (auto-generated slug, default redirect type, default tracking, etc.) and inserts it into your content. You can fine-tune the link later from Dashboard > Pretty Links > Pretty Links.
This handles the common case: you’re writing a post, you want to share an outbound URL, and you’d like it to be tracked. One popover, three keystrokes, done.
Editing an Existing Pretty Link in Your Content
Click anywhere inside an existing pretty link in your content and you’ll see the standard link popover. From there you can:
- See where the pretty link currently points.
- Open the link’s edit screen in a new tab to change its target or settings.
- Remove the link (turn it back into plain text).
- Replace it with a different pretty link.
Changes you make to the underlying pretty link (changing its target URL, for example) take effect immediately for all visitors clicking it — across this post and any other content where you’ve embedded the same link.
What Gets Saved in the Post
When you insert a pretty link, what’s stored in your post content is the pretty URL (e.g., https://yoursite.com/cool-thing), not the target URL. That’s by design: it means changing the target later updates every place you’ve used the link, automatically. You don’t have to find and replace anything.
Tips
- Use descriptive titles when creating pretty links. The block editor’s search matches on title first, so a link titled “Affiliate Hosting Q1” is much easier to find than “Link 47.”
- Use the inline create flow for one-off outbound links. It’s faster than tabbing over to the Pretty Links menu, creating the link, and tabbing back.
- Learn the keyboard shortcut. It’s a small productivity boost individually but adds up over hundreds of links a year.
Combining With Other Features
Block-editor inserts respect:
- The link’s redirect type and nofollow / sponsored / new-window settings;
- Click tracking — every click of the inserted link is tracked;
- All advanced redirect features — cloaking, targeting, rotation, etc.
For automatic linking of words and phrases throughout your site, see Keyword Replacements.