> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.postqueen.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Links and validation

> Character badge, channels that strip links, short-link prompt, and what she checks before save

Extracted from the composer hub. Layout, channels and the three ways out: [Writing a post](/using/writing-a-post).

## The character badge

At the end of the attachments row a small badge counts while you type.

In global mode the number on the right is the smallest limit you have not already passed. Write past a 280 character channel while a 3000 character one is also selected and the badge rolls over from `x/280` to `x/3000`.

<Tip>
  Hover the badge for the breakdown: one line per channel, each with its own count and limit. Channels you split off read **Internal Edit** instead, because their limit now belongs to their own text.
</Tip>

The badge turns red the moment any channel still following global is over its own limit, and it also turns red when the post has neither a character nor an image.

<Warning>
  Red means links too. When a selected channel strips links out of posts and your text contains one, the badge names names: *Links will be removed from: ...*
</Warning>

Per-network limits: [Providers overview](/providers/overview).

## The short link prompt

Put a URL in your post and, on the way out, she asks once: *Do you want to shortlink the URLs? it will let you get statistics over clicks*. Say yes and the links go out shortened, with click statistics behind them.

Whether she asks at all is a setting on **Settings → Global Settings**.

| Shortlink preference | What happens                                                              |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Ask every time       | The prompt appears whenever your text carries a link. This is the default |
| Always shortlink     | Links are shortened without asking                                        |
| Never shortlink      | No prompt and no shortening                                               |

<Note>
  Two things skip the question quietly. Channels that strip links out of posts are left out of the check, because a shortlink they delete helps nobody. And an install with no short link provider set up never asks in the first place. Cloud has a provider. Self-host: [Short links](/configuration/short-links).
</Note>

## What she checks before saving

<Note>
  Validation runs on her server, not in your browser, so it cannot be talked around from the page.
</Note>

| What you press                      | What she checks                                                                              |
| ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Save as Draft**                   | At least one character or one image                                                          |
| **Add to calendar** or **Post Now** | That, plus each channel's settings, each channel's length limit and each channel's own rules |

The first failure stops the save, warns you with the channel named, and drops you on that channel so you can see what it wants.

<Warning>
  Closing the composer asks *Are you sure you want to close this modal? (all data will be lost)*, and that is literal. Nothing is written down until you press **Save as Draft**, **Add to calendar** or **Post Now**.
</Warning>