Website - Improve clarity/accuracy of how the @isHrefExternal argument is documented across multiple components

[didoo]

📌 Summary

This PR is the result of this conversation: https://hashicorp.slack.com/archives/C025N5V4PFZ/p1752603803426089

🛠️ Detailed description

In this PR I have:

• updated the “How to use” sections related to @isHrefExternal for different components
• updated the “Component API” documentation for multiple components that had @isHrefExternal arguments
• updated showcase for AppSideNav/SideNav with more use cases for @isHrefExternal
  • this is a special case, compared with the other components, because we explicitly use the @isHrefExternal argument to determine if show the external icon or not, without a default, but at the same time the argument is forwarded to the Hds::Interactive component, which has a default true for this argument.

📸 Screenshots

Before:

After:

🔗 External links

Jira ticket: https://hashicorp.atlassian.net/browse/HDS-5152

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👀 Component checklist

• Percy was checked for any visual regression

💬 Please consider using conventional comments when reviewing this PR.

📋 PCI review checklist

• If applicable, I've documented a plan to revert these changes if they require more than reverting the pull request.
• If applicable, I've worked with GRC to document the impact of any changes to security controls.
  Examples of changes to controls include access controls, encryption, logging, etc.
• If applicable, I've worked with GRC to ensure compliance due to a significant change to the in-scope PCI environment.
  Examples include changes to operating systems, ports, protocols, services, cryptography-related components, PII processing code, etc.

[vercel]

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for Git ↗︎

Name	Status	Preview	Updated (UTC)
hds-showcase	✅ Ready (Inspect)	Visit Preview	Jul 16, 2025 4:42pm
hds-website	✅ Ready (Inspect)	Visit Preview	Jul 16, 2025 4:42pm

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR improves the clarity and accuracy of documentation for the @isHrefExternal argument across multiple components in the website's design system documentation. The changes correct inconsistencies in how this boolean parameter's default behavior and usage are described.

• Corrects the default value documentation from false to reflecting the actual default behavior (true/undefined)
• Standardizes the description language across all component documentation files
• Fixes an incorrect example in the inline link documentation that showed @isHrefExternal={{true}} instead of {{false}}

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 17 out of 17 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
website/docs/utilities/interactive/partials/code/how-to-use.md	Updates explanation of default external link behavior and @isHrefExternal={{false}} usage
website/docs/utilities/interactive/partials/code/component-api.md	Changes default value from false to true and improves description
website/docs/components/tag/partials/code/component-api.md	Removes incorrect default value and standardizes description
website/docs/components/side-nav/partials/code/component-api.md	Updates API documentation for multiple side nav components
website/docs/components/link/standalone/partials/code/how-to-use.md	Adds explanation for internal link handling
website/docs/components/link/standalone/partials/code/component-api.md	Standardizes API documentation
website/docs/components/link/inline/partials/code/how-to-use.md	Fixes incorrect boolean value in example from true to false
website/docs/components/link/inline/partials/code/component-api.md	Updates API documentation
website/docs/components/dropdown/partials/code/how-to-use.md	Reorganizes content and adds consistent external link explanation
website/docs/components/dropdown/partials/code/component-api.md	Standardizes API documentation for dropdown components
website/docs/components/button/partials/code/how-to-use.md	Improves explanation of external vs internal link behavior
website/docs/components/button/partials/code/component-api.md	Updates API documentation
website/docs/components/app-side-nav/partials/code/component-api.md	Standardizes API documentation for app side nav components
website/docs/components/app-header/partials/code/component-api.md	Updates API documentation
website/docs/components/app-footer/partials/code/component-api.md	Standardizes API documentation for footer components
showcase/app/templates/page-components/side-nav.hbs	Adds examples for default, external, and internal link variants
showcase/app/templates/page-components/app-side-nav/index.hbs	Adds examples for different link variants

[annawanggg]

Looks good to me! The language under "With @href" is a lot clearer now :D

[heatherlarsen]

Nice!