Setting Links to Open-In-App

Do you want a unified and streamlined experience where all actions occur in your Community - here's how to do this.

There are a few areas of your Community where you can build in a link or a button that directs a member to an external URL. However, instead of that member opening the link and being taken out of your Community, you can set these links to open within your Community to present them with a unified experience. 

There are a few nuances to this, and the Android & iOS apps will work slightly differently to the Web platform, but we'll get into that shortly. 

What Can be Set to Open-In-App?

There are four main elements that can have an external URL set to open within your Community. These are:

• Pages:
  • You can create a Page link to an external URL. 
• Posts:
  • Via the Console, you can add a button to a Post that links to an external URL. 
• Events:
  • You can add a button to an Event that links to an external URL. 
• Menu:
  • You can add external URL links to your navigation menu. 

You will see the option to do this when adding in the external URL link, but there's slightly more to it than a single toggle. 

Open-In-App for Android and iOS:

This is nice and simple. All you have to do is toggle on the option for the link to open-in-app and then publish the change. 

When you only toggle on the open-in-app option, it's default setting will be for the external URL in the element you selected to:

• Always open in the in-app browser for the Android and iOS apps. 
• Always open in an external web browser tab for the Web platform. 

There are some nuances to opening an external link using the in-app browser for the Web platform, which we'll explain further below. 

Open-In-App for the Web Platform:

For the Web platform, external links are opened in the in-app browser using iframing. 

Why does this matter you ask? Simply put, not all web pages allow their pages and content to be presented via iframing. YouTube is a classic example of this, because they want people to have to visit their platform instead. 

If you set a link to open-in-app for the Web platform that doesn't allow for iframing, your members who use the Web platform would only see a blank page – as if something was broken or blocked. 

Unless you own the external website you're linking to, there isn't anything you can do to change their allowance of the use of iframing. So instead, you have the option within the Console to specify if you want your external URL to open using the in-app browser for Web, or to default to a new browser tab. 

(This does not impact the Android and iOS Apps). 

You'll notice that once you've initially set a link to open-in-app, you have a second option. This second option allows you to dictate if you want your link to open-in-app for the Web platform or not:

• If your external link allows for iframing, then we would suggest toggling this on. 
• If your external link does not allow for iframing, then we would suggest toggling this off. 

Most of the time, you won't know if the external URL you're linking to allows for iframing or not. So to save you the time and hassle of navigating each web pages support guide, we recommend a quick trial and error check. 

1. Set the link to open-in-app for Web platforms. 
2. Publish the change. 
3. Open your community via the Web platform. 
4. Check the link – does it open in the in-app browser?
   1. If it does - great, you're all set! 
   2. If it doesn't - head back to the Console and simply toggle it off. 

More Information:

A web pages content security policy (CSP) is what will dictate if the web page is allowed to be embedded via iframing or not. 

This will only have an impact on the Web platform and not the Android or iOS App, but isn't something in your control, unless you own the web page itself. 

Trial and error is your best port of call when setting your external links, it's quick, easy and allows you to validate your members journey through your Community.