Yes I do type http:// at the beginning of my link since it makes it clickable "open up my website when someone clicks my link" on most bloging, Video sharing, and other types of sites.
But, for forums I usually use the forum link code which is
Most times, I do. Otherwise it just comes up as text, and well, you know as people can be lazy, you can't very well expect them to copy and paste it, let alone type the "http://" and so, that leaves me with doing it just on the mere chance that there is an issue if I don't..
I just usually use forums insert link button since it types the http:// for you in most cases unless the forum is using a very old forum software or it is not modified to have a pop-up window to tell you to type or paste in the link.
