diff --git a/docs/api/ford._markdown.rst b/docs/api/ford._markdown.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0107889a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api/ford._markdown.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+ford._markdown module
+==========================
+
+.. automodule:: ford._markdown
+   :members:
+   :undoc-members:
+   :show-inheritance:
diff --git a/docs/api/ford.rst b/docs/api/ford.rst
index 9dffa186..719e4915 100644
--- a/docs/api/ford.rst
+++ b/docs/api/ford.rst
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Submodules
    ford.fortran_project
    ford.graphs
    ford.intrinsics
+   ford._markdown
    ford.md_admonition
    ford.md_environ
    ford.md_striped_table
diff --git a/docs/developers_guide/index.rst b/docs/developers_guide/index.rst
index 2cc21490..05ee9117 100644
--- a/docs/developers_guide/index.rst
+++ b/docs/developers_guide/index.rst
@@ -49,18 +49,19 @@ This is a very rough outline of how FORD works internally.
 #. After each file has been parsed, the lists of entities are added to
    the `Project`'s lists of all the entities in the whole project.
 
-#. After all the files have been parsed, the documentation comments are
-   converted from Markdown to HTML, recursively down from the source
-   files. At this point, metadata in the comments is also parsed.
-
 #. Entities defined in other files are now "correlated" with their
    concrete objects. This is done recursively from
    `Project.correlate`, first by finding which modules are ``use``\ d
    by each entity, and then looking up names in the corresponding
    `FortranModule`.
 
-#. Another recursive pass is done of the project to convert internal
-   `links <writing-links>` to actual HTML links using `sub_links`.
+#. After all the files have been parsed, the documentation comments
+   are converted from Markdown to HTML, recursively down from the
+   source files. At this point, metadata in the comments is also
+   parsed. Several markdown extensions, `AliasPreprocessor`,
+   `FordLinkProcessor`, `RelativeLinksTreeProcessor`, handle aliases,
+   links, and absolute to relative link conversion respectively. The
+   `MetaMarkdown` class just wraps constructing the markdown object.
 
 #. The static pages are processed with `get_page_tree`.
 
diff --git a/docs/user_guide/writing_documentation.rst b/docs/user_guide/writing_documentation.rst
index 721b6b19..f9656664 100644
--- a/docs/user_guide/writing_documentation.rst
+++ b/docs/user_guide/writing_documentation.rst
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ the source-code this way. This::
            !! The ammount of pet food (in kilograms) which you have on hand.
        integer, intent(out) :: angry
            !! The number of pets angry because they weren't fed.
-           
+
        !...
        return
    end subroutine feed_pets
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ looks better/more readable than::
        real, intent(inout)  :: food
        !! The number of pets angry because they weren't fed.
        integer, intent(out) :: angry
-           
+
        !...
        return
    end subroutine feed_pets
@@ -280,28 +280,58 @@ this is ``[[component(type):item(type)]]``:
    as a type and its public constructor). If multiple items with the
    same name exist and ``type`` is not specified then FORD’s behaviour
    is undefined; it will link to the first of those items which it
-   finds. The available options are “procedure”, “subroutine”,
-   “function”, “proc” (all of which are interchangeable and specify a
-   procedure), “interface”, “absinterface” (both of which are for
-   abstract interfaces), “block” (for the legacy ``block data`` program
-   unit), and “type”, “file”, “module”, and “program” (which are
-   self-explanatory).
+   finds. The available options are:
+
+   - "procedure", "proc", "subroutine", "function" for any kind of
+     procedure defined within the project
+   - "interface", "absinterface" for abstract interfaces
+   - "block" for the legacy ``block data`` construct
+   - "type"
+   - "file"
+   - "module"
+   - "submodule"
+   - "program"
+   - "namelist"
+
+   The majority of these can also be prefixed with "ext" to refer to
+   entities defined in `external projects <option-external>`
 -  ``item`` (optional) specifies an item within ``component`` which is
    to be linked to. The link’s target will be ``item``\ ’s location on
    ``component``\ ’s page. If ``item`` is not present then the colon in
    the link must be omitted.
 -  ``type`` (optional, but ``item`` must also be present) is
    ``item``\ ’s type of Fortran construct. It can be used in the same
-   manner as the component ``type``, but has different options. These
-   are “variable”, “type”, “constructor”, “interface”, “absinterface”
-   (abstract interface), “subroutine”, “function”, “final” (finalization
-   procedure), “bound” (type-bound procedure), “modproc” (module
-   procedure in a generic interface block), and “common”. None of these
-   options are interchangeable. If no description is given then its
-   meaning should be self-explanatory. If you specify an option that can
-   not exist within ``component`` (for example, if ``component`` is a
-   module and ``item`` is “bound”) then a warning message is issued and
-   the link is not generated.
+   manner as the component ``type``, but has different options:
+
+   - "absinterface" for abstract interfaces
+   - "bound" for type-bound procedures
+   - "common" for ``common`` blocks
+   - "constructor" for structure constructor procedures
+   - "final" for finalization procedures
+   - "function"
+   - "interface"
+   - "modproc" for module procedures in generic interfaces
+   - "subroutine"
+   - "type"
+   - "variable"
+
+   None of these options are interchangeable. If you specify an option
+   that can not exist within ``component`` (for example, if
+   ``component`` is a module and ``item`` is “bound”) then a warning
+   message is issued and the link is not generated.
+
+For example, to link to a module called ``my_mod`` you could
+use ``[[my_mod]]`` or ``[[my_mod(module)]]``, while if you wanted to
+refer to a function called ``my_function`` in that module you could
+use any of (from least to most specific):
+
+- ``[[my_function]]``
+- ``[[my_function(function)]]``
+- ``[[my_function(proc)]]``
+- ``[[my_mod:my_function]]``
+- ``[[my_mod(module):my_function]]``
+- ``[[my_mod:my_function(function)]]``
+- ``[[my_mod(module):my_function(function)]]``
 
 If you have an overridden constructor a derived type, then it is
 strongly recommended that you specify ``item`` should you wish to link
@@ -309,6 +339,14 @@ to either of them. Otherwise FORD will not know whether you are
 referring to the derived type itself or the interface for its
 constructor.
 
+.. versionchanged:: 7.0.0
+   Previously, links inside code blocks (with backticks) were
+   resolved, now they are left verbatim, as with all other
+   markup. That is, pre-v7, ```call [[my_subroutine]]``` would be
+   rendered as ``call my_subroutine`` with a link to
+   ``my_subroutine``, while now it will be left as: ``call
+   [[my_subroutine]]``.
+
 .. _non-fortran-source-files:
 
 Non-Fortran Source Files
diff --git a/ford/_markdown.py b/ford/_markdown.py
index 2dbeabb6..30db7a3b 100644
--- a/ford/_markdown.py
+++ b/ford/_markdown.py
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ def __init__(
         aliases: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None,
         project: Optional[Project] = None,
     ):
-        """make thing"""
 
         default_extensions: List[Union[str, Extension]] = [
             "markdown_include.include",
diff --git a/ford/fortran_project.py b/ford/fortran_project.py
index bba05d65..7c735f73 100755
--- a/ford/fortran_project.py
+++ b/ford/fortran_project.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
 
 LINK_TYPES = {
     "module": "modules",
+    "submodule": "submodules",
     "extmodule": "extModules",
     "type": "types",
     "exttype": "extTypes",
diff --git a/test/test_project.py b/test/test_project.py
index 5a3f6bcd..469df53d 100644
--- a/test/test_project.py
+++ b/test/test_project.py
@@ -1043,7 +1043,7 @@ def test_submodule_uses(copy_fortran_file):
 
 
 def test_make_links(copy_fortran_file):
-    links = "[[a]] [[b(type)]] [[b:c]] [[a:d]] [[b:e]] [[F(proc)]] [[A:G]] [[H]]"
+    links = "[[a]] [[b(type)]] [[b:c]] [[a:d]] [[b:e]] [[F(proc)]] [[A:G]] [[H]] [[I]]"
 
     data = f"""\
     module a !! {links}
@@ -1073,6 +1073,9 @@ def test_make_links(copy_fortran_file):
 
     program h !! {links}
     end program h
+
+    submodule (a) i !! {links}
+    end submodule i
     """
     settings = copy_fortran_file(data)
     project = create_project(settings)
@@ -1088,6 +1091,7 @@ def test_make_links(copy_fortran_file):
         "f": "../proc/f.html",
         "g": "../module/a.html#variable-g",
         "h": "../program/h.html",
+        "i": "../module/i.html",
     }
 
     for item in chain(
@@ -1106,7 +1110,7 @@ def test_make_links_with_entity_spec(copy_fortran_file):
     links = (
         "[[a(module)]] [[b(type)]] [[b(type):c(variable)]] "
         "[[A(MODULE):D(SUBROUTINE)]] [[B(TYPE):E]] [[F(PROC)]] "
-        "[[A(module):G(variable)]] [[H(program)]]"
+        "[[A(module):G(variable)]] [[H(program)]] [[I(SUBMODULE)]]"
     )
 
     data = f"""\
@@ -1137,6 +1141,9 @@ def test_make_links_with_entity_spec(copy_fortran_file):
 
     program h !! {links}
     end program h
+
+    submodule (a) i !! {links}
+    end submodule i
     """
     settings = copy_fortran_file(data)
     project = create_project(settings)
@@ -1152,6 +1159,7 @@ def test_make_links_with_entity_spec(copy_fortran_file):
         "f": "../proc/f.html",
         "g": "../module/a.html#variable-g",
         "h": "../program/h.html",
+        "i": "../module/i.html",
     }
 
     for item in chain(
@@ -1166,7 +1174,7 @@ def test_make_links_with_entity_spec(copy_fortran_file):
         assert link_locations == expected_links, (item, item.name)
 
 
-def test_link_with_context(copy_fortran_file):
+def test_make_links_with_context(copy_fortran_file):
     data = """\
     module a !! [[g]]
       type b !! [[c]] [[e]] [[g]]