87eae20de868054a5abeedeb78a24d3e296b87d5
dschmelt
  Tue May 21 15:09:55 2019 -0700
Adding notes about TinyURL enabling URL parameters #23030

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 <h1>Frequently Asked Questions: Linking to the Genome Browser</h1>
 
 <h2>Topics</h2>
 
 <ul>
 <li><a href="#link1">Creating a sharable URL to view specific tracks</a></li>
 <li><a href="#link2">Linking to the Browser at a specific position</a></li>
 <li><a href="#trackViz">Setting track visibility via URL</a></li>
 <li><a href="#custUrl">Loading Custom Tracks with the URL</a></li>
 <li><a href="#hubUrl">Loading Track Hubs and Assembly Hubs with the URL</a></li>
 <li><a href="#link3">Linking to gene specific information</a></li>
 <li><a href="#hgsid">The hgsid parameter</a></li>
 <li><a href="#moreInfo">Additional URL parameters</a></li>
 </ul>
 
 <a name="link1"></a>
 <h2>Creating a sharable URL to view specific tracks</h2>
 <h6>How do I create a link to the Genome Browser to share my data?</h6>
 <p> 
 The easiest way to save and share tracks from the URL is by
 <a href="../cgi-bin/hgLogin" TARGET="_blank">logging in</a> to your Genome Browser account and
 creating a <a href="../goldenPath/help/hgSessionHelp.html">saved session</a>.
 Saved sessions are a versatile way to share data that may include native annotations, Custom
 Tracks, Track Hubs, and Assembly Hubs. Note that the &lt;input&gt; format indicates a 
 user choice and not a valid example.</p>
 <p>
-You will be able to share Genome Browser sessions with the following link format:
+You will be able to share Genome Browser sessions with the following link format:</p>
 <p><code>http://genome.ucsc.edu/s/&lt;userName&gt;/&lt;sessionName&gt;</code></p>
 <p>
 For instructions on creating a saved session, go to the
 <a href="../goldenPath/help/hgSessionHelp.html#Create" target ="_blank">session user guide</a>.
 If you want to specify track settings in a URL directly, please read the section on 
-<a href="#trackViz">setting track visibility via URL</a> for a complete description. 
-Note that URL parameters do not work with the shorter session URLs. </p>
+<a href="#trackViz">setting track visibility via URL</a> for a complete description. </p>
 
 <p>
-Or if you prefer a modifiable, longer URL, use the following format:</p>
-<p><code>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?hgS_doOtherUser=submit&hgS_otherUserName=&lt;userName&gt;&hgS_otherUserSessionName=&lt;SessionName&gt;</code></p>
-<p>It has the advantage of being able to add additional URL parameters to the end and the 
-flexibility of replacing "hgTracks" with different tools to share saved settings on the Table 
-Browser (hgTables), Variant Annotation Integrator (hgVai), or Data Integrator (hgIntegrator). 
-This will preserve your option selections and can be useful to share.</p>
+Or if you prefer the older style, which allows you to link to different tools, you may use the 
+following format:</p>
+<p><code>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?hgS_doOtherUser=submit&amp;hgS_otherUserName=&lt;userName&gt;&amp;gS_otherUserSessionName=&lt;SessionName&gt;</code></p>
+<p>
+This longer format has the flexibility of replacing "hgTracks" with different tool names to share 
+saved settings on the Table Browser (hgTables), Variant Annotation Integrator (hgVai), or Data 
+Integrator (hgIntegrator). This will preserve your option selections and can be useful to share.
+The following format will bring the recipient to a user's custom Table Browser selections:</p>
+<p><code>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTables?hgS_doOtherUser=submit&amp;hgS_otherUserName=&lt;userName&gt;&amp;hgS_otherUserSessionName=&lt;SessionName&gt;</code></p>
+
+<p>Both session link formats have the advantage of being able to add URL parameters to the end.
+The shorter link format requires a question mark before any URL parameters, with ampersand 
+characters separating different parameters like so: </p>
+<p><code><a href=http://genome.ucsc.edu/s/view/clinicalzoom?textSize=18>http://genome.ucsc.edu/s/view/clinicalzoom?textSize=18</a></code></p>
+<p>The longer format requires an ampersand between each parameter, like so:</p>
+<p><code><a href=http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?hgS_doOtherUser=submit&amp;hgS_otherUserName=view&amp;hgS_otherUserSessionName=clinicalzoom&amp;textSize=18>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?hgS_doOtherUser=submit&amp;hgS_otherUserName=view&amp;hgS_otherUserSessionName=clinicalzoom&amp;textSize=18</a></code></p>
 
 <a name="link2"></a>
 <h2>Linking to the Browser at a specific position</h2>
 <h6>How do I make a link to a specific genome or position?</h6>
 <p>
 You can link to a specific genome assembly and position in the Genome Browser using a URL with
 the <code>db=</code> and <code>position=</code> parameters. Note that the &lt;input&gt; 
 format indicates a user choice and not a valid example.</p>
 <p><code>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=&lt;assembly&gt;&position=&lt;position&gt;</code></p>
 <p>
 Where:</p>
 <ul>
   <li>
   <code>db</code> - designates a specific genome assembly. For example, <code>db=hg19</code> 
   refers to the Feb. 2009 human genome release. For a list of db parameter values that 
   correspond to UCSC assemblies, see the <a href="FAQreleases.html#release1">list of UCSC 
   releases</a>.</li>
   <li><code>position</code> - can be any search term for the genome specified, including
   a position range or a gene identifier. This often takes the form of
   <code>position=chr1:35000-40000</code>.</li>
 </ul>
 <p>The following link is an example of a URL that declares assembly and position:</p>
 <p><code><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&position=chr1:35000-40000">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&position=chr1:35000-40000</a></code></p>
 
 <a name="trackViz"></a>
 <h2>Setting Track Visibility via URL</h2>
 <h6>How do I create a custom URL to control the visibility of specific tracks?</h6>
 <p>
 You can control the visibility of tracks from the URL with the following parameters, 
 each linked by the "&amp;" sign, similar to position parameters. For more information, please see
 the <a href="../goldenPath/help/customTrack.html#optParams" target ="_blank">optional URL 
 parameters</a> section of the Custom Tracks User's Guide. Note that the &lt;input&gt; format indicates
 a user choice and not a valid example.</p>
 <ul>
 <li><code>hideTracks=1</code> - hides all tracks</li>
 <li><code>&lt;trackName&gt;=hide|dense|pack|full</code> - sets specified track or subtrack to a
 chosen visibility</li>
-<li><code>textSize=&lt;number&gt;</code> - sets browser text size to a chosen number, default of 
-8 and maximum of 24</li>
+<li><code>textSize=&lt;number&gt;</code> - sets browser text size to either 6,8,10,12,14,18,24,or 
+34. Default is a textSize of 8.</li>
 <li><code>ignoreCookie=1</code> - removes pre-existing user settings like track seletion, custom
 tracks, and track hubs</li>
 </ul>
 <p>
 For example, you can use the following command to hide every track (hideTracks=1) and set the knownGene track to 
 the pack visibility (knownGene=pack):</p>
 <p><code><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hideTracks=1&knownGene=pack">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hideTracks=1&knownGene=pack</a></code></p>
 
 <p>Composite tracks have additional URL parameters that encode options to hide, select, and 
 display subtracks.</p>
 <ul>
 <li><code>&lt;trackName&gt;_hideKids=1</code> - hides a specific composite track's subtracks</li>
 <li><code>&lt;trackName&gt;_sel=1</code> - selects specific subtrack to be 'checked', allowing
 display</li>
 </ul>
 <p>For example, the following URL hides all tracks (hideTracks=1), hides a specific composite
 track's default subtracks (refSeqComposite_hideKids=1), turns on one specific subtrack 
 (ncbiRefSeqCurated=full), and checks a box to display that subtrack 
 (ncbiRefSeqCurated_sel=1).
 
 <pre><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hideTracks=1&refSeqComposite_hideKids=1&ncbiRefSeqCurated=full&ncbiRefSeqCurated_sel=1">https://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hideTracks=1&refSeqComposite_hideKids=1&ncbiRefSeqCurated=full&ncbiRefSeqCurated_sel=1</a></pre>
 
 
 <h2>Loading data with the URL</h2>
 <a name="custUrl"></a>
 <h3>Loading Custom Track data with the URL</h3>
 <h6>How do I create a link to my custom track data?</h6>
 <p>
 You can combine the URL visibility settings with the <code>hgct_customText=</code> parameter using
 a track line you would otherwise put in the <a href="../cgi-bin/hgCustom">custom track 
 input box</a>. The following example shows the <code>hgct_customText</code> parameter accepting
 a bigBed file URL as a custom track:
 </p>
 <pre><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&position=chr21:34821279-34888690&hgct_customText=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/bigBedExample.bb">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&position=chr21:34821279-34888690&hgct_customText=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/bigBedExample.bb</a></pre>
 
 <p>
 If you want to add more information to the Custom Track, you can do so using the 
 <code>hgct_customText</code> parameter. Since this is a URL, you must use "%20" to encode
 for spaces and "%0A" for a new line character. For example, the following example shows Custom
 Track input pasted in the <a href="../cgi-bin/hgCustom">custom track input box</a> and the 
 equivalent input in the URL:
 
 <pre>browser position chr21:33038946-33039092
 track type=bam bigDataUrl=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/bamExample.bam name=Example description=ExampleBAM</pre>
 <pre><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hgct_customText=browser%20position%20chr21:33038946-33039092%0Atrack%20type=bam%20bigDataUrl=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/bamExample.bam%20name=Example%20description=ExampleBAM">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg38&hgct_customText=browser%20position%20chr21:33038946-33039092%0Atrack%20type=bam%20bigDataUrl=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/bamExample.bam%20name=Example%20description=ExampleBAM</a></pre>
 <p>
 More information on custom track parameters can be found in the 
 <a href="../goldenPath/help/customTrack.html">Custom Track user guide</a>.</p>
 
 
 <a name="hubUrl"></a>
 <h3>Loading Track Hubs and Assembly Hubs with the URL</h3>
 <h6>How do I create a link to my track hub or assembly hub?</h6>
 <p>Similar to custom tracks, track hubs can be loaded into the URL using the 
 <code>hubUrl=</code> parameter. This parameter takes input similar to the
 <a href="../cgi-bin/hgHubConnect#unlistedHubs">track hub input box</a>. The following example
 links to the hg19 genome database and an example track Hub:</p>  
 <pre><a href=../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&hubUrl=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/hubDirectory/hub.txt>http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&hubUrl=https://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/hubDirectory/hub.txt</a></pre>
 
 <p>Track hubs' track visibility can also be changed from the URL parameters. The following link 
 specifies the genome database (db=hg19), loads a track hub (hubUrl=http.../hub.txt), hides all tracks
 (hideTracks=1), hides the subtrack kids of a particular track (gtexRnaSignalMaleYoung_hideKids=1),
 sets a specific subtrack to be displayed (gtexRnaSignalSRR1311243=full), and ignores user settings
 (ignoreCookie=1).</p>
 <pre><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&hubUrl=http://hgdownload.soe.ucsc.edu/hubs/gtex/hub.txt&hideTracks=1&gtexRnaSignalMaleYoung_hideKids=1&gtexRnaSignalMaleYoung=full&gtexRnaSignalSRR1311243=full&ignoreCookie=1">https://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&hubUrl=http://hgdownload.soe.ucsc.edu/hubs/gtex/hub.txt&hideTracks=1&amp;gtexRnaSignalMaleYoung_hideKids=1&amp;gtexRnaSignalMaleYoung=full&amp;gtexRnaSignalSRR1311243=full&ignoreCookie=1</a></pre>
 
 <p>
 To link to an assembly hub and display data on a non-natively supported genome, the same 
 parameters apply. To specify the intended genome assembly, instead of using <code>db=</code>,
 you must use <code>genome=araTha1</code>, where araTha1 is the assembly name set by
 your genomes.txt file in the line <code>genome araTha1</code>.</p>
 <pre><a href=../cgi-bin/hgTracks?genome=araTha1&hubUrl=http://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/hubExamples/hubAssembly/plantAraTha1/hub.txt>https://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?genome=araTha1&hubUrl=http://genome.ucsc.edu/goldenPath/help/examples/hubExamples/hubAssembly/plantAraTha1/hub.txt</a></pre>
 <p>
 To see the files behind that assembly hub, please visit the
 <a href="../goldenPath/help/examples/hubExamples/hubAssembly/plantAraTha1/">
 hub's directory</a>. For more information on assembly hubs in general, please see the
 <a href="http://genomewiki.ucsc.edu/index.php/Assembly_Hubs" target ="_blank">assembly hub wiki</a>, the <a
 href="../goldenPath/help/hgTrackHubHelp.html">track hub user guide</a>,
 or the <a href=../goldenPath/help/hubQuickStartAssembly.html>quick start guide
 to assembly hubs</a>.
 
 <a name="link3"></a>
 <h2>Linking to gene specific information</h2>
 <h6>How do I link to a specific gene or specific gene description page?</h6>
 <p>
 To jump directly to a gene's position on the Genome Browser, set the position parameter in the
 URL to a gene symbol (e.g., TP53, MTOR, KRAS) and add the parameter
 <code>singleSearch=knownCanonical</code>. For example, the following link will open the
 Genome Browser for the hg19 human assembly at the position of TP53 on the knownCanonical dataset
 </p>
 <p><code><a href="../cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&singleSearch=knownCanonical&position=TP53" target="_blank">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgTracks?db=hg19&singleSearch=knownCanonical&position=TP53</a></code></p>
 <p>
 <a name="gene"></a>
 You can also link directly to gene description pages from the URL. Instead of a position search,
 gene descriptions use the <code>hgg_gene=</code> URL parameter. The following URL connecting
 to 'hgGene' will open up the Genome Browser description page containing protein function,
 expression profile, and links to additional information for the gene TP53.
 </p>
 <p><code><a href="../cgi-bin/hgGene?db=hg19&hgg_gene=TP53" target="_blank">http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgGene?db=hg19&hgg_gene=TP53</a> </code></p>
 
 
 
 <a name="hgsid"></a>
 <h2>The <em>hgsid</em> parameter</h2>
 <h6>What is the hgsid parameter and should I include it in Genome Browser links?</h6>
 <p>The hgsid is a temporary user ID that stores setting and custom track information in the URL.
 Including it in any shared URLs is a privacy concern, and it should be removed when
 constructing any links to the Genome Browser. Creating
 <a href="../goldenPath/help/hgSessionHelp.html#Create">Saved Sessions</a> is the recommended way to
 share Genome Browser information.
 </p>
 
 <a name="moreInfo"></a>
 <h2>Additional URL parameters</h2>
 <h6>Are there any more resources for URL and link parameters?</h6>
 <p>
 For more information, please see our <a href=../goldenPath/help/customTrack.html#optParams>section
 on URL parameters for custom tracks</a>. If you cannot find what 
 you are looking for, please contact our active mailing list by emailing 
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 messages sent to that address are publicly archived. If your question includes sensitive data, 
 you may send it instead to <a href="mailto:&#103;e&#110;&#111;&#109;&#101;&#45;&#119;w&#119;
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