diff --git a/plume-common/src/utils.rs b/plume-common/src/utils.rs
index 0abb8ad..a9a9586 100644
--- a/plume-common/src/utils.rs
+++ b/plume-common/src/utils.rs
@@ -154,10 +154,15 @@ fn process_image<'a, 'b>(
 /// Returns (HTML, mentions, hashtags)
 pub fn md_to_html<'a>(
     md: &str,
-    base_url: &str,
+    base_url: Option<&str>,
     inline: bool,
     media_processor: Option<MediaProcessor<'a>>,
 ) -> (String, HashSet<String>, HashSet<String>) {
+    let base_url = if let Some(base_url) = base_url {
+        format!("//{}/", base_url)
+    } else {
+        "/".to_owned()
+    };
     let parser = Parser::new_ext(md, Options::all());
 
     let (parser, mentions, hashtags): (Vec<Event>, Vec<String>, Vec<String>) = parser
@@ -185,7 +190,7 @@ pub fn md_to_html<'a>(
                                     let mention = text_acc;
                                     let short_mention = mention.splitn(1, '@').nth(0).unwrap_or("");
                                     let link = Tag::Link(
-                                        format!("//{}/@/{}/", base_url, &mention).into(),
+                                        format!("{}@/{}/", base_url, &mention).into(),
                                         short_mention.to_owned().into(),
                                     );
 
@@ -215,7 +220,7 @@ pub fn md_to_html<'a>(
                                     }
                                     let hashtag = text_acc;
                                     let link = Tag::Link(
-                                        format!("//{}/tag/{}", base_url, &hashtag.to_camel_case())
+                                        format!("{}tag/{}", base_url, &hashtag.to_camel_case())
                                             .into(),
                                         hashtag.to_owned().into(),
                                     );
@@ -337,7 +342,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         for (md, mentions) in tests {
             assert_eq!(
-                md_to_html(md, "", false, None).1,
+                md_to_html(md, None, false, None).1,
                 mentions
                     .into_iter()
                     .map(|s| s.to_string())
@@ -362,7 +367,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         for (md, mentions) in tests {
             assert_eq!(
-                md_to_html(md, "", false, None).2,
+                md_to_html(md, None, false, None).2,
                 mentions
                     .into_iter()
                     .map(|s| s.to_string())
@@ -374,11 +379,11 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn test_inline() {
         assert_eq!(
-            md_to_html("# Hello", "", false, None).0,
+            md_to_html("# Hello", None, false, None).0,
             String::from("<h1>Hello</h1>\n")
         );
         assert_eq!(
-            md_to_html("# Hello", "", true, None).0,
+            md_to_html("# Hello", None, true, None).0,
             String::from("<p>Hello</p>\n")
         );
     }
diff --git a/plume-models/src/comments.rs b/plume-models/src/comments.rs
index 63da5a7..93b9a44 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/comments.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/comments.rs
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ impl Comment {
         let author = User::get(&c.conn, self.author_id)?;
         let (html, mentions, _hashtags) = utils::md_to_html(
             self.content.get().as_ref(),
-            &Instance::get_local(&c.conn)?.public_domain,
+            Some(&Instance::get_local(&c.conn)?.public_domain),
             true,
             Some(Media::get_media_processor(&c.conn, vec![&author])),
         );
diff --git a/plume-models/src/instance.rs b/plume-models/src/instance.rs
index d7c527e..07b9a30 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/instance.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/instance.rs
@@ -131,13 +131,13 @@ impl Instance {
     ) -> Result<()> {
         let (sd, _, _) = md_to_html(
             short_description.as_ref(),
-            &self.public_domain,
+            Some(&self.public_domain),
             true,
             Some(Media::get_media_processor(conn, vec![])),
         );
         let (ld, _, _) = md_to_html(
             long_description.as_ref(),
-            &self.public_domain,
+            Some(&self.public_domain),
             false,
             Some(Media::get_media_processor(conn, vec![])),
         );
diff --git a/plume-models/src/posts.rs b/plume-models/src/posts.rs
index 356f584..99a2d53 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/posts.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/posts.rs
@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@ impl FromId<PlumeRocket> for Post {
         }
 
         // save mentions and tags
-        let mut hashtags = md_to_html(&post.source, "", false, None)
+        let mut hashtags = md_to_html(&post.source, None, false, None)
             .2
             .into_iter()
             .map(|s| s.to_camel_case())
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ impl AsObject<User, Update, &PlumeRocket> for PostUpdate {
             post.license = license;
         }
 
-        let mut txt_hashtags = md_to_html(&post.source, "", false, None)
+        let mut txt_hashtags = md_to_html(&post.source, None, false, None)
             .2
             .into_iter()
             .map(|s| s.to_camel_case())
diff --git a/plume-models/src/users.rs b/plume-models/src/users.rs
index 75305de..0460b7b 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/users.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/users.rs
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ impl User {
                 users::email.eq(email),
                 users::summary_html.eq(utils::md_to_html(
                     &summary,
-                    "",
+                    None,
                     false,
                     Some(Media::get_media_processor(conn, vec![self])),
                 )
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ impl NewUser {
                 display_name,
                 is_admin,
                 summary: summary.to_owned(),
-                summary_html: SafeString::new(&utils::md_to_html(&summary, "", false, None).0),
+                summary_html: SafeString::new(&utils::md_to_html(&summary, None, false, None).0),
                 email: Some(email),
                 hashed_password: Some(password),
                 instance_id: Instance::get_local(conn)?.id,
diff --git a/src/api/posts.rs b/src/api/posts.rs
index fd97c21..2151658 100644
--- a/src/api/posts.rs
+++ b/src/api/posts.rs
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ pub fn create(
     let domain = &Instance::get_local(conn)?.public_domain;
     let (content, mentions, hashtags) = md_to_html(
         &payload.source,
-        domain,
+        Some(domain),
         false,
         Some(Media::get_media_processor(conn, vec![&author])),
     );
diff --git a/src/routes/blogs.rs b/src/routes/blogs.rs
index ae935dc..24d9b83 100644
--- a/src/routes/blogs.rs
+++ b/src/routes/blogs.rs
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ pub fn update(
                 blog.summary_html = SafeString::new(
                     &utils::md_to_html(
                         &form.summary,
-                        "",
+                        None,
                         true,
                         Some(Media::get_media_processor(
                             &conn,
diff --git a/src/routes/comments.rs b/src/routes/comments.rs
index 991b830..fcd9b99 100644
--- a/src/routes/comments.rs
+++ b/src/routes/comments.rs
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ pub fn create(
         .map(|_| {
             let (html, mentions, _hashtags) = utils::md_to_html(
                 form.content.as_ref(),
-                &Instance::get_local(&conn)
-                    .expect("comments::create: local instance error")
-                    .public_domain,
+                Some(
+                    &Instance::get_local(&conn)
+                        .expect("comments::create: local instance error")
+                        .public_domain,
+                ),
                 true,
                 Some(Media::get_media_processor(&conn, vec![&user])),
             );
diff --git a/src/routes/posts.rs b/src/routes/posts.rs
index 47f5555..b836b39 100644
--- a/src/routes/posts.rs
+++ b/src/routes/posts.rs
@@ -262,9 +262,11 @@ pub fn update(
         } else {
             let (content, mentions, hashtags) = utils::md_to_html(
                 form.content.to_string().as_ref(),
-                &Instance::get_local(&conn)
-                    .expect("posts::update: Error getting local instance")
-                    .public_domain,
+                Some(
+                    &Instance::get_local(&conn)
+                        .expect("posts::update: Error getting local instance")
+                        .public_domain,
+                ),
                 false,
                 Some(Media::get_media_processor(
                     &conn,
@@ -432,9 +434,11 @@ pub fn create(
 
         let (content, mentions, hashtags) = utils::md_to_html(
             form.content.to_string().as_ref(),
-            &Instance::get_local(&conn)
-                .expect("post::create: local instance error")
-                .public_domain,
+            Some(
+                &Instance::get_local(&conn)
+                    .expect("post::create: local instance error")
+                    .public_domain,
+            ),
             false,
             Some(Media::get_media_processor(
                 &conn,