Patent attributes
Systems and methods for replacing a hyperlink to a referenced object with a smart link are disclosed. The method performed by a smart link management system includes receiving a content request for the hyperlink from a client device, the content request comprising a uniform resource locator (URL) of the referenced object, the URL indicating the location of the content; identifying a data source where the referenced object is located based on the URL; forwarding the content request to the data source; receiving metadata corresponding to the referenced object hosted by the data source; and forwarding the metadata to the client device for display on the client device in the form of a smart link, the smart link being a visual object including at least a portion of the metadata received from the data source.