diff --git a/modules/markup/html.go b/modules/markup/html.go
index 2c6773bce..1c73f03df 100644
--- a/modules/markup/html.go
+++ b/modules/markup/html.go
@@ -636,11 +636,11 @@ func fullIssuePatternProcessor(ctx *postProcessCtx, node *html.Node) {
 	if matchOrg == ctx.metas["user"] && matchRepo == ctx.metas["repo"] {
 		// TODO if m[4]:m[5] is not nil, then link is to a comment,
 		// and we should indicate that in the text somehow
-		replaceContent(node, m[0], m[1], createLink(link, id, "issue"))
+		replaceContent(node, m[0], m[1], createLink(link, id, "ref-issue"))
 
 	} else {
 		orgRepoID := matchOrg + "/" + matchRepo + id
-		replaceContent(node, m[0], m[1], createLink(link, orgRepoID, "issue"))
+		replaceContent(node, m[0], m[1], createLink(link, orgRepoID, "ref-issue"))
 	}
 }
 
@@ -676,7 +676,7 @@ func issueIndexPatternProcessor(ctx *postProcessCtx, node *html.Node) {
 	reftext := node.Data[ref.RefLocation.Start:ref.RefLocation.End]
 	if exttrack && !ref.IsPull {
 		ctx.metas["index"] = ref.Issue
-		link = createLink(com.Expand(ctx.metas["format"], ctx.metas), reftext, "issue")
+		link = createLink(com.Expand(ctx.metas["format"], ctx.metas), reftext, "ref-issue")
 	} else {
 		// Path determines the type of link that will be rendered. It's unknown at this point whether
 		// the linked item is actually a PR or an issue. Luckily it's of no real consequence because
@@ -686,9 +686,9 @@ func issueIndexPatternProcessor(ctx *postProcessCtx, node *html.Node) {
 			path = "pulls"
 		}
 		if ref.Owner == "" {
-			link = createLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppURL, ctx.metas["user"], ctx.metas["repo"], path, ref.Issue), reftext, "issue")
+			link = createLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppURL, ctx.metas["user"], ctx.metas["repo"], path, ref.Issue), reftext, "ref-issue")
 		} else {
-			link = createLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppURL, ref.Owner, ref.Name, path, ref.Issue), reftext, "issue")
+			link = createLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppURL, ref.Owner, ref.Name, path, ref.Issue), reftext, "ref-issue")
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/modules/markup/html_internal_test.go b/modules/markup/html_internal_test.go
index 2746dec2c..7e4bb6f22 100644
--- a/modules/markup/html_internal_test.go
+++ b/modules/markup/html_internal_test.go
@@ -106,13 +106,13 @@ func TestRender_IssueIndexPattern2(t *testing.T) {
 
 		links := make([]interface{}, len(indices))
 		for i, index := range indices {
-			links[i] = numericIssueLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppSubURL, path), "issue", index, marker)
+			links[i] = numericIssueLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppSubURL, path), "ref-issue", index, marker)
 		}
 		expectedNil := fmt.Sprintf(expectedFmt, links...)
 		testRenderIssueIndexPattern(t, s, expectedNil, &postProcessCtx{metas: localMetas})
 
 		for i, index := range indices {
-			links[i] = numericIssueLink(prefix, "issue", index, marker)
+			links[i] = numericIssueLink(prefix, "ref-issue", index, marker)
 		}
 		expectedNum := fmt.Sprintf(expectedFmt, links...)
 		testRenderIssueIndexPattern(t, s, expectedNum, &postProcessCtx{metas: numericMetas})
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ func TestRender_IssueIndexPattern4(t *testing.T) {
 	test := func(s, expectedFmt string, names ...string) {
 		links := make([]interface{}, len(names))
 		for i, name := range names {
-			links[i] = alphanumIssueLink("https://someurl.com/someUser/someRepo/", "issue", name)
+			links[i] = alphanumIssueLink("https://someurl.com/someUser/someRepo/", "ref-issue", name)
 		}
 		expected := fmt.Sprintf(expectedFmt, links...)
 		testRenderIssueIndexPattern(t, s, expected, &postProcessCtx{metas: alphanumericMetas})
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ func TestRender_AutoLink(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// render valid issue URLs
 	test(util.URLJoin(setting.AppSubURL, "issues", "3333"),
-		numericIssueLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppSubURL, "issues"), "issue", 3333, "#"))
+		numericIssueLink(util.URLJoin(setting.AppSubURL, "issues"), "ref-issue", 3333, "#"))
 
 	// render valid commit URLs
 	tmp := util.URLJoin(AppSubURL, "commit", "d8a994ef243349f321568f9e36d5c3f444b99cae")
@@ -248,11 +248,11 @@ func TestRender_FullIssueURLs(t *testing.T) {
 	test("Here is a link https://git.osgeo.org/gogs/postgis/postgis/pulls/6",
 		"Here is a link https://git.osgeo.org/gogs/postgis/postgis/pulls/6")
 	test("Look here http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4",
-		`Look here <a href="http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4" class="issue">person/repo#4</a>`)
+		`Look here <a href="http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4" class="ref-issue">person/repo#4</a>`)
 	test("http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4#issuecomment-1234",
-		`<a href="http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4#issuecomment-1234" class="issue">person/repo#4</a>`)
+		`<a href="http://localhost:3000/person/repo/issues/4#issuecomment-1234" class="ref-issue">person/repo#4</a>`)
 	test("http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/issues/4",
-		`<a href="http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/issues/4" class="issue">#4</a>`)
+		`<a href="http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/issues/4" class="ref-issue">#4</a>`)
 }
 
 func TestRegExp_sha1CurrentPattern(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/modules/markup/html_test.go b/modules/markup/html_test.go
index 91ef320b4..45145b402 100644
--- a/modules/markup/html_test.go
+++ b/modules/markup/html_test.go
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ func TestRender_CrossReferences(t *testing.T) {
 
 	test(
 		"gogits/gogs#12345",
-		`<p><a href="`+util.URLJoin(AppURL, "gogits", "gogs", "issues", "12345")+`" rel="nofollow">gogits/gogs#12345</a></p>`)
+		`<p><a href="`+util.URLJoin(AppURL, "gogits", "gogs", "issues", "12345")+`" class="ref-issue" rel="nofollow">gogits/gogs#12345</a></p>`)
 	test(
 		"go-gitea/gitea#12345",
-		`<p><a href="`+util.URLJoin(AppURL, "go-gitea", "gitea", "issues", "12345")+`" rel="nofollow">go-gitea/gitea#12345</a></p>`)
+		`<p><a href="`+util.URLJoin(AppURL, "go-gitea", "gitea", "issues", "12345")+`" class="ref-issue" rel="nofollow">go-gitea/gitea#12345</a></p>`)
 	test(
 		"/home/gitea/go-gitea/gitea#12345",
 		`<p>/home/gitea/go-gitea/gitea#12345</p>`)
diff --git a/modules/markup/markdown/markdown_test.go b/modules/markup/markdown/markdown_test.go
index 53772ee44..b2cf52996 100644
--- a/modules/markup/markdown/markdown_test.go
+++ b/modules/markup/markdown/markdown_test.go
@@ -105,8 +105,8 @@ func testAnswers(baseURLContent, baseURLImages string) []string {
 <p>See commit <a href="http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/commit/65f1bf27bc" rel="nofollow"><code>65f1bf27bc</code></a></p>
 <p>Ideas and codes</p>
 <ul>
-<li>Bezier widget (by <a href="` + AppURL + `r-lyeh" rel="nofollow">@r-lyeh</a>) <a href="http://localhost:3000/ocornut/imgui/issues/786" rel="nofollow">ocornut/imgui#786</a></li>
-<li>Bezier widget (by <a href="` + AppURL + `r-lyeh" rel="nofollow">@r-lyeh</a>) <a href="http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/issues/786" rel="nofollow">#786</a></li>
+<li>Bezier widget (by <a href="` + AppURL + `r-lyeh" rel="nofollow">@r-lyeh</a>) <a href="http://localhost:3000/ocornut/imgui/issues/786" class="ref-issue" rel="nofollow">ocornut/imgui#786</a></li>
+<li>Bezier widget (by <a href="` + AppURL + `r-lyeh" rel="nofollow">@r-lyeh</a>) <a href="http://localhost:3000/gogits/gogs/issues/786" class="ref-issue" rel="nofollow">#786</a></li>
 <li>Node graph editors <a href="https://github.com/ocornut/imgui/issues/306" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/ocornut/imgui/issues/306</a></li>
 <li><a href="` + baseURLContent + `/memory_editor_example" rel="nofollow">Memory Editor</a></li>
 <li><a href="` + baseURLContent + `/plot_var_example" rel="nofollow">Plot var helper</a></li>
diff --git a/modules/markup/sanitizer.go b/modules/markup/sanitizer.go
index 5158e67c2..49f681f05 100644
--- a/modules/markup/sanitizer.go
+++ b/modules/markup/sanitizer.go
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ func ReplaceSanitizer() {
 	// Allow <kbd> tags for keyboard shortcut styling
 	sanitizer.policy.AllowElements("kbd")
 
+	// Allow classes for anchors
+	sanitizer.policy.AllowAttrs("class").Matching(regexp.MustCompile(`ref-issue`)).OnElements("a")
+
 	// Custom keyword markup
 	for _, rule := range setting.ExternalSanitizerRules {
 		if rule.Regexp != nil {
diff --git a/web_src/js/features/contextPopup.js b/web_src/js/features/contextPopup.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..90b849366
--- /dev/null
+++ b/web_src/js/features/contextPopup.js
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+export default function initContextPopups(suburl) {
+  const refIssues = $('.ref-issue');
+  if (!refIssues.length) return;
+
+  refIssues.each(function () {
+    const [index, _issues, repo, owner] = $(this).attr('href').replace(/[#?].*$/, '').split('/').reverse();
+    issuePopup(suburl, owner, repo, index, $(this));
+  });
+}
+
+function issuePopup(suburl, owner, repo, index, $element) {
+  $.get(`${suburl}/api/v1/repos/${owner}/${repo}/issues/${index}`, (issue) => {
+    const createdAt = new Date(issue.created_at).toLocaleDateString(undefined, { year: 'numeric', month: 'short', day: 'numeric' });
+
+    let body = issue.body.replace(/\n+/g, ' ');
+    if (body.length > 85) {
+      body = `${body.substring(0, 85)}...`;
+    }
+
+    let labels = '';
+    for (let i = 0; i < issue.labels.length; i++) {
+      const label = issue.labels[i];
+      const red = parseInt(label.color.substring(0, 2), 16);
+      const green = parseInt(label.color.substring(2, 4), 16);
+      const blue = parseInt(label.color.substring(4, 6), 16);
+      let color = '#ffffff';
+      if ((red * 0.299 + green * 0.587 + blue * 0.114) > 125) {
+        color = '#000000';
+      }
+      labels += `<div class="ui label" style="color: ${color}; background-color:#${label.color};">${label.name}</div>`;
+    }
+    if (labels.length > 0) {
+      labels = `<p>${labels}</p>`;
+    }
+
+    let octicon;
+    if (issue.pull_request !== null) {
+      if (issue.state === 'open') {
+        octicon = 'green octicon-git-pull-request'; // Open PR
+      } else if (issue.pull_request.merged === true) {
+        octicon = 'purple octicon-git-merge'; // Merged PR
+      } else {
+        octicon = 'red octicon-git-pull-request'; // Closed PR
+      }
+    } else if (issue.state === 'open') {
+      octicon = 'green octicon-issue-opened'; // Open Issue
+    } else {
+      octicon = 'red octicon-issue-closed'; // Closed Issue
+    }
+
+    $element.popup({
+      variation: 'wide',
+      delay: {
+        show: 250
+      },
+      html: `
+<div>
+  <p><small>${issue.repository.full_name} on ${createdAt}</small></p>
+  <p><i class="octicon ${octicon}"></i> <strong>${issue.title}</strong> #${index}</p>
+  <p>${body}</p>
+  ${labels}
+</div>
+`
+    });
+  });
+}
diff --git a/web_src/js/index.js b/web_src/js/index.js
index 619ca74e5..9168e7a94 100644
--- a/web_src/js/index.js
+++ b/web_src/js/index.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import './publicPath.js';
 import './gitGraphLoader.js';
 import './semanticDropdown.js';
+import initContextPopups from './features/contextPopup';
 
 function htmlEncode(text) {
   return jQuery('<div />').text(text).html();
@@ -2556,6 +2557,7 @@ $(document).ready(() => {
   initPullRequestReview();
   initRepoStatusChecker();
   initTemplateSearch();
+  initContextPopups(suburl);
 
   // Repo clone url.
   if ($('#repo-clone-url').length > 0) {
diff --git a/web_src/less/_base.less b/web_src/less/_base.less
index 068b9e814..f34cb7101 100644
--- a/web_src/less/_base.less
+++ b/web_src/less/_base.less
@@ -1185,3 +1185,19 @@ i.icon.centerlock {
     vertical-align: middle;
     height: 2.1666em !important;
 }
+
+.octicon {
+    &.green {
+        color: #21ba45;
+    }
+    &.red {
+        color: #db2828;
+    }
+    &.purple {
+        color: #a333c8;
+    }
+}
+
+.ui.popup .ui.label {
+    margin-bottom: 0.4em;
+}
diff --git a/web_src/less/themes/arc-green.less b/web_src/less/themes/arc-green.less
index 69e8963fb..5aa7c8f2c 100644
--- a/web_src/less/themes/arc-green.less
+++ b/web_src/less/themes/arc-green.less
@@ -1463,3 +1463,13 @@ a.ui.labels .label:hover {
         }
     }
 }
+
+.ui.popup {
+    background-color: #383c4a;
+    color: #9e9e9e;
+    border-color: #9e9e9e;
+
+    &.top::before {
+        background-color: #383c4a;
+    }
+}