How to link websites without pasting the whole long link?

Use TinyUrl and then cut and paste.

horsewoofie, do you mean "how to add a link (hyperlink is the term) in a post?" If so, you first have to have copied the link you want to add, then when you click on the Add Reply button, there is an empty text box for you to type your message. Above the box is a row of little icons, one of which is a small earth globe with an arrow. Click on that and it opens a space for you to paste in your copied url. Then you have to write a short description of what the link is to. Its kind of easy to mess up, but once you get the hang of it, it works.

Apologies if that wasn't your question.

I agree with what stan says.

This is also personal preference, but I dislike TinyURL use -- it's impossible to tell from a TinyURL link where it will actually go to, there's no warning if it will be a PDF or a video or audio file if someone links directly to that, and if the TinyURL link breaks there's no indication of what used to be there.

In some character-limited situations (such as Twitter) it's understandable why they get used, but in forums like this with reasonable text conditions I find their drawbacks outweigh the benefits.

Stan and Andrew, that is exactly what I'm looking for (I think). I'll give it a try. Thanks!
Kathy

I also don't like TinyURL. Here's how I add links, using the web site's Mark-Down language. Type these bracket styles, but with no space between them: [text] (link)

This tip and similar are at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/understanding-markdown.

Bingo Laura! Your explanation worked great. Thanks to all
Kathy

Personally, I prefer to just put in the whole, long link because I prefer to see exactly what a link is to at first glance in other people's posts.

I agree with the others. I never click on tiny url links. I'm surprised anyone still uses them. The comment form on this website provides a useful tool for embedding a link in selected text, as others have explained. There's no need to post the entire URL: you can see it by hovering it over the linked text. Posting the entire URL just adds bulk but no additional information.

Hovering isn't possible on some devices.

Just as an FYI, with various browsers on mobile devices you can usually hover over a link by leaving your finger on it for a few seconds. So instead of just a quick click, press and hold the link. This brings up a dialog box with various options (such as copying the URL, opening it in a new tab or window, and so on). That same box will display the actual URL as well. This won’t work with tinyURL because it uses redirects but will work with hyperlinks like you’ll find here (such as in forum posts, or even with users forum names displayed next to their posts and such).

Thank you!

What Laura said is the way I was told to do it. A bit cumbersome to get used to at first but it becomes easy the more you do it.

The formatting on Rick Steve's forum is a language called Markdown

You can read about it here

This is the wording from the Rick steve markdown syntax page :

Links: use parentheses around URLs immediately after the link text. Link text should be enclosed within brackets. For example...
This is an example link.
This would appear in your published post...

This is an example link.

So put your short key word in brackets [key word] followed by the URL in parenthesis (URLhere). There is no space between the right bracket and the left parentheses.

It works for me and when it doesn't it's because of the space between the bracket and parenthesis or you aren't using the correct bracket or parentheses.
Give it a try.

I am looking for a way to embed photos into my posts rather than links. Any one know?

I am looking for a way to embed photos into my posts rather than links

I'm pretty sure that if there was a way to do this, we'd all be doing it. Which is probably why the option is not available.

"I am looking for a way to embed photos into my posts rather than links. Any one know?"

The only way to embed photos is to first post them on an internet photo site, and then simply paste the link using the same method mentioned in the previous posts. AFAIK, it's not possible to add JPEG files to the forum except using this method.