Red Traffic Lights InDesign document. The Hyperlink character design...

Question

I did not want to have the Hyperlink Character Style in the document I am building.
I wanted to have the hyperlinks appear in a different fashion. I built several new Character Styles, none of which functioned or changed anything, but when I reverted to HYPERLINK default style it worked, and when I couldnt see another option, I clicked WORD IMPORTED LIST STYLE 1. This changed the links in the document, but turned the red traffic light on for the hyperlinks I changed to theis style. When I attempted to revert to HYPERLINK style, it Did not change the now broken link/red light signal.

What is going on?

How do I get a new charcter style to actually function and why are the red lights on? Why cant I change back to HYPERLINK style?

Warriors Of t275919404p5g · Accepted Answer

What PDF viewer are you using? If it's not Acrobat DC or Reader, that can be imposing problems of its own. (Not all PDF readers are the same, and most of the aftermarket ones and all of the browser-based ones have limitations.)

Most of this is not InDesign's doing — it's the PDF reader. Just as most browsers apply automatic color, underline etc. to links unless strongly overridden, many doc readers (PDF, EPUB, etc.) use their own hard-coded protocol to highlight and display links.

All that aside, I just did a quick test doc and applied a custom character style to the link, and it shows up just as intended in PDF — which was my recollection; I don't recall ever having any formatting issues with this situation. (I am more focused on EPUB, so I had to check my memory before making the claim.)

All I can suggest is this:

Create the character style you want for your links.
Create each link using Hyperlinks {pane], drop-down menu, New Hyperlink, and specify your link style:

Export to PDF and make sure Include: Hyperlinks is checked.

The links should appear as styled in the PDF, at least, when viewed in Acrobat DC or Reader, wtih no guarantees for any other reader.

Note that fully formed links must be used, or the Hyperlink panel will show a red dot because it can't validate the link address.

Fixed:
The problem was I didn't put Hyperlink in the Title, but custom 1,2 whatever. I didn't knowni needed the title be be Hyperlink. Hrs of pain for 1 second of epiphany.

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James Gifford—NitroPress · Answer

InDesign is rather strong-armed when it comes to managing links. Short version: you will get further modifying the Hyperlink character style than you will trying to override or replace it.

What document format are you exporting to?

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