diff --git a/WebsiteGenerator/Content/Element.swift b/WebsiteGenerator/Content/Element.swift
index 9c3e980..36e0a97 100644
--- a/WebsiteGenerator/Content/Element.swift
+++ b/WebsiteGenerator/Content/Element.swift
@@ -4,6 +4,23 @@ struct Element {
 
     static let overviewItemCountDefault = 6
 
+    /**
+     The default unique id for the root element
+     */
+    static let defaultRootId = "root"
+
+    /**
+     The unique id of the element.
+
+     The id is used for short-hand links to pages, in the form of `![page](page_id)`
+     for thumbnail previews or `[text](page:page_id)` for simple links.
+     - Note: The default id for the root element is specified by ``defaultRootId``
+
+     The id can be manually specified using ``GenericMetadata.id``,
+     otherwise it is set to the name of the element folder.
+     */
+    let id: String
+
     /**
      The author of the content.
 
@@ -132,6 +149,7 @@ struct Element {
             return nil
         }
 
+        self.id = metadata.customId ?? Element.defaultRootId
         self.author = log.required(metadata.author, name: "author", source: source) ?? "author"
         self.topBarTitle = log
             .required(metadata.topBarTitle, name: "topBarTitle", source: source) ?? "My Website"
@@ -149,6 +167,10 @@ struct Element {
             .compactMap { language in
                     .init(atRoot: folder, data: language)
             } ?? []
+
+        // All properties initialized
+
+        files.add(page: path, id: id)
         try self.readElements(in: folder, source: nil)
     }
 
@@ -177,6 +199,7 @@ struct Element {
             return nil
         }
 
+        self.id = metadata.customId ?? folder.lastPathComponent
         self.author = metadata.author ?? parent.author
         self.topBarTitle = log
             .unused(metadata.topBarTitle, "topBarTitle", source: source) ?? parent.topBarTitle
@@ -220,6 +243,10 @@ struct Element {
             .forEach {
                 log.add(warning: "Language '\($0)' not found in parent, so not generated", source: source)
             }
+
+        // All properties initialized
+
+        files.add(page: path, id: id)
         try self.readElements(in: folder, source: path)
     }
 }
diff --git a/WebsiteGenerator/Content/GenericMetadata.swift b/WebsiteGenerator/Content/GenericMetadata.swift
index d43f922..521b224 100644
--- a/WebsiteGenerator/Content/GenericMetadata.swift
+++ b/WebsiteGenerator/Content/GenericMetadata.swift
@@ -10,6 +10,16 @@ struct GenericMetadata {
      */
     static let metadataFileName = "metadata.json"
 
+    /**
+     A custom id to uniquely identify the element on the site.
+
+     The id is used for short-hand links to pages, in the form of `![page](page_id)`
+     for thumbnail previews or `[text](page:page_id)` for simple links.
+
+     If no custom id is set, then the name of the element folder is used.
+     */
+    let customId: String?
+
     /**
      The author of the content.
 
@@ -108,6 +118,7 @@ extension GenericMetadata: Codable {
 
     private static var knownKeyList: [CodingKeys] {
         [
+            .customId,
             .author,
             .topBarTitle,
             .date,
@@ -177,6 +188,7 @@ extension GenericMetadata {
 
     static var full: GenericMetadata {
         .init(
+            customId: "",
             author: "",
             topBarTitle: "",
             date: "",
diff --git a/WebsiteGenerator/Files/FileSystem.swift b/WebsiteGenerator/Files/FileSystem.swift
index 4dec232..b730d2d 100644
--- a/WebsiteGenerator/Files/FileSystem.swift
+++ b/WebsiteGenerator/Files/FileSystem.swift
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ final class FileSystem {
      */
     private var emptyPages: Set<String> = []
 
+    /**
+     All paths to page element folders, indexed by their unique id.
+
+     This relation is used to generate relative links to pages using the ``Element.id`
+     */
+    private var pagePaths: [String: String] = [:]
+
     /**
      The image creation tasks.
 
@@ -423,6 +430,13 @@ final class FileSystem {
         }
     }
 
+    func add(page: String, id: String) {
+        if let existing = pagePaths[id] {
+            log.add(error: "Conflicting id with \(existing)", source: page)
+        }
+        pagePaths[id] = page
+    }
+
 
     // MARK: Writing files