diff --git a/index.Rmd b/index.Rmd
index 02657d0..09826a6 100755
--- a/index.Rmd
+++ b/index.Rmd
@@ -77,6 +77,18 @@ natbib-bibliography-style: ACM-Reference-Format #or plainnat or some .bst file y
 ### correction highlighting ###
 corrections: true
 
+### link highlighting ###
+colored-not-bordered-links: true # true = highlight text of links - false = highlight links with border
+
+# Set the link text/bord coloring here, in RGB. 
+# Comment out a variable to just use whatever the text's existing color is. 
+# If you wish NOT to highlight links, set colored-not-bordered-links: true, 
+# and comment out the colors below
+urlcolor-rgb: "0,0,139"
+citecolor-rgb: "0,33,71"
+# linkcolor-rgb: "0,33,71"  # coloring normal links looks a bit excessive, as it highlights also all links in the table of contents
+
+
 ### binding / margins ###
 page-layout: nobind #'nobind' for equal margins (PDF output), 'twoside' for two-sided binding (mirror margins and blank pages), leave blank for one-sided binding (left margin > right margin)
 
@@ -119,7 +131,6 @@ frontmatter-linespacing: 17pt plus1pt minus1pt #spacing in roman-numbered pages
 
 ### other stuff ###
 abstractseparate: false  # include front page w/ abstract for examination schools?
-hidelinks: true # false to highlight clickable links with a colored border
 includeline-num: false #show line numbering in PDF?
 
 
diff --git a/templates/template.tex b/templates/template.tex
index cea567d..534b85a 100755
--- a/templates/template.tex
+++ b/templates/template.tex
@@ -34,7 +34,38 @@
 
 %%%%% ADDING LATEX PACKAGES
 % add hyperref package with options from YAML %
-\usepackage[colorlinks=false,pdfpagelabels$if(hidelinks)$,hidelinks$endif$]{hyperref}
+\usepackage[pdfpagelabels]{hyperref}
+% change the default coloring of links to something sensible
+\usepackage{xcolor}
+
+$if(linkcolor-rgb)$
+\definecolor{mylinkcolor}{RGB}{$linkcolor-rgb$}
+$endif$
+$if(urlcolor-rgb)$
+\definecolor{myurlcolor}{RGB}{$urlcolor-rgb$}
+$endif$
+$if(citecolor-rgb)$
+\definecolor{mycitecolor}{RGB}{$citecolor-rgb$}
+$endif$
+
+$if(colored-not-bordered-links)$
+\hypersetup{
+  hidelinks,
+  colorlinks,
+  linkcolor=$if(linkcolor-rgb)$mylinkcolor$else$.$endif$,
+  urlcolor=$if(urlcolor-rgb)$myurlcolor$else$.$endif$,
+  citecolor=$if(citecolor-rgb)$mycitecolor$else$.$endif$
+}
+
+$else$
+\hypersetup{
+  colorlinks=false,
+  linkbordercolor=$if(linkcolor-rgb)$mylinkcolor$else$.$endif$,
+  urlbordercolor=$if(urlcolor-rgb)$myurlcolor$else$.$endif$,
+  citebordercolor=$if(citecolor-rgb)$mycitecolor$else$.$endif$
+}
+$endif$
+
 
 % add float package to allow manual control of figure positioning %
 \usepackage{float}
@@ -44,7 +75,6 @@
 
 % use soul package for correction highlighting
 \usepackage{color, soul}
-\usepackage{xcolor}
 \definecolor{correctioncolor}{HTML}{CCCCFF}
 \sethlcolor{correctioncolor}
 \newcommand{\ctext}[3][RGB]{%