diff --git a/searx/help/en/about.md b/searx/help/en/about.md
index dd7cd4515..865e104fa 100644
--- a/searx/help/en/about.md
+++ b/searx/help/en/about.md
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 # About SearXNG
 
 SearXNG is a fork from the well-known [searx] [metasearch engine], aggregating
-the results of other [search engines][url_for:preferences] while not storing
+the results of other [search engines]($preferences) while not storing
 information about its users.
 
 More about SearXNG ...
 
-* [SearXNG sources][brand.git_url]
+* [SearXNG sources]($brand.git_url)
 * [weblate]
 
 ---
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ More about SearXNG ...
   with a third party, and it can't be used to compromise you.
 
 * SearXNG is free software, the code is 100% open and you can help
-  to make it better.  See more on [SearXNG sources][brand.git_url].
+  to make it better.  See more on [SearXNG sources]($brand.git_url).
 
 If you do care about privacy, want to be a conscious user, or otherwise
 believe in digital freedom, make SearXNG your default search engine or run
@@ -49,20 +49,20 @@ search engine, see your browser's documentation:
 
 ## Where to find anonymous usage statistics of this instance ?
 
-[Stats page][url_for:stats] contains some useful data about the engines used.
+[Stats page]($stats) contains some useful data about the engines used.
 
 ## How can I make it my own?
 
 SearXNG appreciates your concern regarding logs, so take the code from
-the [SearXNG project][brand.git_url] and run it yourself!
+the [SearXNG project]($brand.git_url) and run it yourself!
 
-Add your instance to this [list of public instances][brand.public_instances] to
+Add your instance to this [list of public instances]($brand.public_instances) to
 help other people reclaim their privacy and make the Internet freer!  The more
 decentralized the Internet is, the more freedom we have!
 
 ## Where are the docs & code of this instance?
 
-See the [SearXNG docs][brand.docs_url] and [SearXNG sources][brand.git_url]
+See the [SearXNG docs]($brand.docs_url) and [SearXNG sources]($brand.git_url)
 
 [searx]: https://github.com/searx/searx
 [metasearch engine]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metasearch_engine
diff --git a/searx/user_help.py b/searx/user_help.py
index 1914c7c84..446c52ca8 100644
--- a/searx/user_help.py
+++ b/searx/user_help.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # pyright: basic
 from typing import Dict, NamedTuple
 import pkg_resources
+import string
+import sys
 
 import flask
 from flask.helpers import url_for
@@ -22,6 +24,10 @@ PAGES: Dict[str, HelpPage] = {}
 """ Maps a filename under help/ without the file extension to the rendered page. """
 
 
+class Template(string.Template):
+    idpattern = '(:?[a-z._:]+)'
+
+
 def render(app: flask.Flask):
     """
     Renders the user documentation. Must be called after all Flask routes have been
@@ -30,7 +36,7 @@ def render(app: flask.Flask):
     We render the user documentation once on startup to improve performance.
     """
 
-    link_targets = {
+    variables = {
         'brand.git_url': GIT_URL,
         'brand.public_instances': get_setting('brand.public_instances'),
         'brand.docs_url': get_setting('brand.docs_url'),
@@ -40,15 +46,21 @@ def render(app: flask.Flask):
     # we specify base_url so that url_for works for base_urls that have a non-root path
 
     with app.test_request_context(base_url=base_url):
-        link_targets['url_for:index'] = url_for('index')
-        link_targets['url_for:preferences'] = url_for('preferences')
-        link_targets['url_for:stats'] = url_for('stats')
-
-    define_link_targets = ''.join(f'[{name}]: {url}\n' for name, url in link_targets.items())
+        variables['index'] = url_for('index')
+        variables['preferences'] = url_for('preferences')
+        variables['stats'] = url_for('stats')
 
     for pagename in _TOC:
-        file_content = pkg_resources.resource_string(__name__, 'help/en/' + pagename + '.md').decode()
-        markdown = define_link_targets + file_content
+        filename = 'help/en/' + pagename + '.md'
+        file_content = pkg_resources.resource_string(__name__, filename).decode()
+        try:
+            markdown = Template(file_content).substitute(variables)
+        except KeyError as e:
+            print('[FATAL ERROR] undefined variable ${} in {}'.format(e.args[0], filename))
+            print('available variables are:')
+            for key in variables:
+                print('\t' + key)
+            sys.exit(1)
         assert file_content.startswith('# ')
         title = file_content.split('\n', maxsplit=1)[0].strip('# ')
         content: str = mistletoe.markdown(markdown)