There are a lot of different apps / frontends that can show stuff from Lemmy, and they vary in how well they support different link formats. Here is a short explainer:

Each entry below shows you what you should type (like this) and what you will see as a result (after the dash ‘-’).

For each entry, some apps will support it and others will not. It can be helpful to include a few different link formats so that everyone can use the link easily.

NOTE: There is a bug on the Lemmy website right now. If you start typing a community or username, it will try to autocomplete it. DO NOT click that autocomplete, or it will mess up the link.

!community@example.com - !community@example.com

• This is the universal format. If you click this link, the community will open in your home instance.
• This is the recommended method.
• If you are coming from Reddit, it is similar to how you could type /r/askReddit

[you can put whatever here](/c/community@example.com) - you can put whatever here

• This is another way to make a universal link. If you click this link, the community will open in your home instance.
• This works well if you can’t use the method above. For example, if you want to stick a link in a shields.io badge, you can use this technique to still include a universal link.

example.com/c/community - https://example.com/c/community

• This is a hardcoded link. This is what you can copy and paste from the browser. If you click this link, the community will open on a specific instance. Anyone using a different instance (ex. anything except lemmy.ca in this case) will not be able to subscribe right away, and they will need to redirect it first.
• Sometimes you can’t use the methods above. For example, if you want to create a nice thumbnail while promoting your community on !communityPromo@lemmy.ca, you will need to use this URL.
• If you use this method, try to use the other methods as well so people have options.

https://lemmyverse.link/c/community@example.com

• You can also use this external tool to automatically redirect users. Once the user clicks on the link, they will be redirected to the instance that they set. This can be great for new users that click on the link, who may not understand what is happening or how the instances work.
• This also works for posts, but I will write up a separate post for those