Question: How do I make a link download a document?

Answer:

You can make any text in a Rich Text element link to a document that will download when people click on the text. For example, the document could be a PDF file, a plain text file, or a Microsoft Word file. However, you must upload the document into one of your "lockers" (the School Loop name for a collection of uploaded documents).

We recommend that you turn Microsoft documents into PDF files before uploading them to your website. This makes them easier to use by students or parents. See the questions and answers in the PDF files section for details.

Sometimes it's better to put information directly on your website rather than make people do an extra step to download a file. For example, suppose you want parents to know what classroom supplies you need. Make it easy for them by typing your wishlist directly into a Rich Text element on one of your web pages, rather than putting the wishlist in a Microsoft Word document, turning it into a PDF file, uploading it, and then making parents download the document and open it in a word-processing program. Everyone wins if the list is right on the web page.

StepInstructionsExample or PictureNotes
1 If you didn't already upload the document, do so.

See How do I upload a document? in the Files section.
 
2 Select the "clickable text." That's what we'll call the text that you want people to click on.

In this example we'll assume you typed a list of weekly assignments for students to download. You already linked the first one (Microscopes) to its document. Now you want to link the second one (Telescopes) to its document, so you highlight the Telescopes text.
 
3 Click the Link icon.  
4 The Select a Link window will appear.  
5 Click on the Locker tab.  
6 Open the triangles and click on the document that you want the link to download, e.g., Telescope Report.

If you don't see the document, perhaps you forgot to upload it (Step 1).
If you change your mind, click the X in the top right corner.
7 The clickable text will now be a download link for the document. Click outside the highlighed area to remove the highlighting.  
8 Once you publish your updated web page, the document will download when people click the link.  

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