Problem

Smart Links in Confluence Cloud, particularly with the Inline display mode, significantly detract from the readability of content due to the prominent display of an embedded page icon alongside the link text.

This approach deviates from the minimalist style of HTML, making it challenging to maintain a clean, reader-friendly document that heavily utilizes internal links.

Suggested Solution

Affected customers propose two enhancements to improve Smart Links:

1. Option to Remove Embedded Icon: Allow users to hide the page icon in Smart Links to simplify link presentation.
2. CSS Customization: Enable CSS styling options for Smart Links, allowing adjustments to color, underline, and outline. These options should be configurable at both individual link and space-wide levels. 

Why This Is Important

Enhancing Smart Link customization will significantly improve document readability and aesthetics.

This is particularly vital for Confluence users who rely on extensive linking for interconnected documentation without losing the convenience of automatic link label updates—a core feature of Smart Links.

Workaround

The native workaround available would be to 'Edit Link' the smart link with an exact "Display text". But would require a significant amount of manual work.

Currently, users are using CSS snippets to apply browser-style plugins to override Smart Link styles. However, this is a technical and partial solution that doesn't address the need for broader styling flexibility across Confluence.