remember how, in chapter 2, we said that the items in the table of contents should link to the appropriate spots? z.m.l. does that for you automatically.
similarly, there are often places in a book that reference other chapters in the book. in these cases, it's very nice to have a link that transports the reader to the chapter that is being referenced; it is convenient.
so z.m.l. automates those links for you, too. just use the header (or subheader) of the gourd, and z.m.l. will auto-link it.
for instance, the beginning of this chapter has a reference to chapter 2. if a reader clicked on those words -- "chapter 2" -- they will automatically go to chapter 2. (and likewise with each of the references to "chapter 2" here in this paragraph too.)
such internal links are one type needed, but you also might want external links, ones that will jump out to some webpage.
to make an external link, just list the u.r.l.
z.m.l. will create that link automatically.
a core element of the z.m.l. philosophy is that a book's elements be transparent, so there is no way to "hide" a link behind some text. the u.r.l. must be fully exposed.
however, if the u.r.l. would be too bulky to include there, you can put it in a footnote.
i get ten times more traffic from google[_goop_] than from yahoo[_yoop_] and m.s.n.[_moop_] combined.
^^^^ [goop] http://google.com ^^^^
^^^^ [yoop] http://search.yahoo.com ^^^^
^^^^ [moop] http://search.msn.com ^^^^