This post updates our original 2011 guide to linking your blog to JADE. The API endpoints still work — we’ve just made everything simpler and more powerful since then.

If you write about Australian law — whether you’re a practitioner blogging about recent decisions, an academic commenting on legislative developments, or a student building a digital portfolio — JADE can make your content more useful. Every case citation in your blog can become a live link to the full text of that decision, with all the research context JADE provides.

The basics: three ways to link to JADE

JADE supports three URL patterns for linking to cases. All three work in any blog post, email, document, or web page.

1. Medium neutral citation (recommended)

This is the simplest and most reliable method. Take any medium neutral citation and convert it into a URL:

https://jade.io/mnc/<year>/<acronym>/<number>

Examples:

• https://jade.io/mnc/2024/hca/1 — links to [2024] HCA 1
• https://jade.io/mnc/2024/vsca/1 — links to [2024] VSCA 1
• https://jade.io/mnc/2024/fca/100 — links to [2024] FCA 100

Case-insensitive. No fuss. If JADE has the decision, this URL will find it.

2. AustLII-style path

If you’re migrating from AustLII links, JADE understands the same taxonomy:

https://jade.io/au/cases/<state>/<ACRONYM>/<year>/<number>.html

Use cth for Commonwealth. The acronym must be UPPER CASE in this format.

3. Direct content access

For blogs that want to embed or preview case text directly:

https://jade.io/content/ext/mnc/<year>/<acronym>/<number>

This returns clean HTML of the judgment text — useful if you’re building more sophisticated integrations.

Practical guide: migrating your legal blog to JADE links

If your blog currently links to another legal database, switching to JADE links is straightforward:

Step 1: Identify your existing case links. Most legal blogs link to cases using their medium neutral citation. Search your blog for patterns like [2024] HCA or [2023] FCA.

Step 2: Convert to JADE URLs. Take each citation and convert it:

• [2024] HCA 12 becomes https://jade.io/mnc/2024/hca/12
• [2023] NSWCA 45 becomes https://jade.io/mnc/2023/nswca/45
• [2024] FCA 200 becomes https://jade.io/mnc/2024/fca/200

Step 3: For WordPress users — a simple find-and-replace plugin can update all existing links in one pass. Replace your old domain with jade.io and adjust the path format.

Why JADE links are better for your readers

When someone clicks a JADE link from your blog, they don’t just get the judgment text. They get:

• Citation mapping — see which cases cite and are cited by the decision, from JADE’s database of 6 million+ pinpoint citations
• Legislation links — statutory provisions mentioned in the judgment are linked to the current version of the Act
• Catchwords and headnotes — structured metadata to help readers assess relevance quickly
• Related cases — JADE’s similarity tools surface decisions your readers might also want to see

In short, a JADE link gives your readers a research starting point, not just a case reference.

For legal bloggers: we want to work with you

If you run a legal blog covering Australian decisions, we’d love to hear from you. We can:

• Help you set up JADE alerts so you’re notified about new decisions in your area
• Feature your blog on our recommended list
• Discuss API access for more advanced integrations

Drop us a line at help@jade.io — we’re always happy to help legal bloggers get the most out of JADE.

Getting started

JADE is free to use — sign up at jade.io and start linking today. If you want the full research toolkit (section citations, Jasmine AI, advanced alerts), try Professional for $1.

For video tutorials on getting started with JADE, visit our training page at openlaw.com.au.

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