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

# ActionLink: The Destination Button

> The one section that is a Destination button — its fields, why it hides itself when a binding cannot resolve, and how adjacent ActionLinks merge into one block

ActionLink is the section that sends someone somewhere. Every other section displays information;
this one is a Destination. If a Page offers three systems, it has three ActionLinks.

It renders as a card: an optional 40-pixel icon on the left, a bold label, an optional description
underneath, and a chevron on the right. Tapping anywhere on the card follows the link.

## Its settings

| Setting                                 | Notes                                                                                                                               |
| --------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Label**                               | The button text. Bindable. If no label is set, the URL is shown instead                                                             |
| **Link URL**                            | The Destination. Bindable, and usually is — this is where `{{item.serial_number}}` and friends go                                   |
| **Description (Optional)**              | A line of supporting text. Long text is truncated with a more/less control                                                          |
| **Icon Image**                          | Bindable. Defaults to the Item's image                                                                                              |
| **Open in new tab**                     | Off by default, so the Destination replaces the page                                                                                |
| **Fallback URL** / **Fallback Message** | Only used when the Link URL is an app deep link and the app does not open. See [App Links & Fallback URLs](/destinations/app-links) |

A new ActionLink arrives pre-bound to the Item — label from `{{item.name}}`, description from
`{{item.description}}`, icon from `{{item.image}}` — and with a placeholder Link URL that points at
a field most Collections do not have. So a freshly added ActionLink is normally invisible until you
give it a real URL, which is the behavior described next, not a bug.

## It hides itself rather than showing a broken button

**If any binding in the Link URL cannot be resolved, the whole ActionLink is removed from the
page.** Same if the URL resolves to nothing but whitespace. A machine with no serial number simply
does not show the "Open in the CMMS" button, instead of showing a button that leads to a 404.

This is specific to ActionLink. Button and Link sections do not do it — they will happily render a
dead control.

In the editor, a hidden ActionLink is not invisible: it stays on the canvas with a dimmed orange
outline so you can see it and fix the missing field. Switch on **Preview** and it disappears, the
same as it would for a real visitor.

Two consequences worth planning for:

* A partially filled Collection will show different numbers of buttons on different Items. That is
  usually what you want, and it is the reason to bind the URL rather than hardcode it.
* The Item field the URL depends on is the thing to check first when a button "vanishes." Step
  through Items with the preview selector to see which ones come up short — see [Previewing a
  Page](/pages/previewing-a-page).

## Values are inserted exactly as stored

There is no automatic URL encoding. A field value containing a space, an `&` or a `?` is dropped
into the URL as-is and will break the link — the button appears, it just goes somewhere wrong. If
you are building a query string from free-text fields, keep the values URL-safe at the source. The
full rules are in [Field Bindings & URL Templates](/destinations/field-bindings).

Link URLs are also checked for script-executing schemes before rendering. A `javascript:` or
`data:` URL is neutralized rather than made clickable, whether you typed it or a field supplied it.

## Adjacent ActionLinks merge into one block

When two or more ActionLinks sit next to each other, they lose the gap between them and the rounded
corners in the middle, so the group reads as one segmented block of buttons rather than a stack of
separate cards.

The grouping is worked out from what will actually be visible. A hidden ActionLink — hidden by a
condition, or by an unresolvable URL — is skipped, so the two links either side of it still join
correctly and you never get a stray flat edge where something was removed. Putting any other
section between two ActionLinks (a Spacer, a Text block) breaks the group deliberately.

## Related

* [Section Types](/pages/section-types)
* [App Links & Fallback URLs](/destinations/app-links)
* [Field Bindings & URL Templates](/destinations/field-bindings)
* [Conditional Visibility](/destinations/conditional-visibility)