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---+!! What is an !ACRONYM?

Linking topics using acronyms.

An acronym is an abbreviation that is typically made up of the first letter or letters of a phrase. An acronym of 3 or more letters will be automatically linked if (and only if) a topic of that name already exists in the current web.

Just like !WikiWord linking, acronym linking is easy to use:
   * You don't have to know the full path to where the topic is stored - you just type the name
   * You don't need to write HTML
   * Without HTML, the topic text is easier to read when editing
   * Easy linking leads to interesting texts with links placed in context

---++ Examples of Acronyms

   * HTML
   * RADAR

But _Not_
   * HTML5 - A digit breaks the acronym link.
   * FAQs - The lower case letter breaks the link.

---++ Variations in linking

When you write an acronym and the acronym topic already exists, it becomes a link. There are more ways

   * To force a link to to an acronym, use bracket notation: =[<nop>[HTML5]]= - this becomes: [[HTML5]] and will display the broken link indicator (red dotted underline) if the topic does not exist.
   * To link to an acronym in *another web*, write: =%SANDBOXWEB%.HTML= - this becomes: %SANDBOXWEB%.HTML
   * To link to an acronym on a site like the Acronym Finder, use: =Acronym:HTTP= - this becomes: Acronym:HTTP (sites are defined in the InterwikiPlugin)

---++ Hints
   * To stop an Acronym from being turned into a hyperlink, insert an exclamation point immediately before the Acronym. For example, write =!<nop>HTML= to get HTML.
   * Unlike WikiWords, plural Acronyms are _not_ automatically linked to the singular topic.
   * =FAQ= will be linked, but =FAQIndex= will not. Turn acronyms into !WikiWords, i.e. Change =FAQIndex= to =FaqIndex= for a "FAQ index" topic.
   * It is possible to turn off the auto-linking and to rely only on the bracket notation using the NOAUTOLINK [[%SYSTEMWEB%.PreferenceSettings][preference setting]].
      * You can set NOAUTOLINK in your personal topic, or directly in any topic to change linking behavior for you or an individual topic.

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*Related Topics:* TopicMarkupLanguage
