The Official PostNuke Installation & Getting Started Guide: Revision 9939 / Preview
Prev | Chapter 16. Advanced Website Configuration & Use | Next

# Web Links

Web Links allow your users to submit, view, and comment on other websites. Web Links can be configured into categories (for example: "Computers") and sub-categories (for example, "Computers / Games", "Computers / Audio", or "Computers / CMS"). Users can search for results or post comments about websites within this module.

- Add a Category: To add a new category to your Web Links, enter the name of the category (for example, "Computers"), enter a description (for example, "Everything you need to know about computers!"), and click "Add".

  To add a sub-category, follow the same steps but select the parent category in the drop-down list to the right of the name.

- Modify a Category: To modify a category, select it from the drop-down list and click "Modify". The category will be displayed to allow editing of the name or description. Make your changes and click "Submit changes". If you wish to delete a category, click "Delete". You will be offered a confirmation screen before anything is deleted.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: When you "Delete" a Category, ALL sub-categories AND WebLinks in that Category (and sub-categories) will be deleted.

- Add a New Link: If you wish to administratively add web links, you may do so using this function. Simply type the title of the page (for example, "Official PostNuke Homepage"), the complete page URL (including "http://") (for example: "http://www.postnuke.com"), the category in which the page should appear on your site (for example, "Computers / CMS"), a free-form alphanumeric text description of the site (for example: "All things PostNuke!"), and finally, the username and email address of the submitter. Click "Add this URL" to add the new link. When logged in as the Administrator, the submission is added to the database immediately. If not logged in as the Administrator, links must be approved before they will be posted.

- Modify a Link: To modify a link, enter its "Link ID" in this field and click the "Modify" button. To determine a link's Link ID, locate the Web Link entry that you wish to edit and "hover" the mouse over the link title. In the browser's status bar, you will see the URL for the link, for example: http://www.yoursite.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Web_Links&file=index&req=visit&lid=59. Look at the end of the line for "lid=##", where "##" is the Link ID. In this example, your Link ID is "59".

  You may modify any of the following fields. Click "Modify" to save your changes, or "Delete" to delete the Web Link. You must confirm the deletion before anything will be deleted.

  - Page title: Title of the web page link, for example: "DrewVogel.COM".

  - Page URL: This is the FULL URL of the web site. Be sure to include "http://" at the beginning of the URL. For example: "http://www.drewvogel.com"

  - Visit: Click "Visit" to open the referenced web site in a new browser window. (This is an excellent way to 'preview' a site before approving it.)

  - Description: Free-form alphanumeric text description of the web site to which this link points.

  - Name: Name of the link submitter. Free-form alphanumeric text.

  - E-mail: Complete e-mail address of the link submitter.

  - Hits: This is the number of hits (or visits) that this site has received from your site.

  - Category: Select from the drop-down list of previously-defined categories (see "Add a Category", above).

  Click "Modify" to save your changes. Click "Delete" to delete this link.

  IMPORTANT NOTE: There is no CONFIRMATION SCREEN when you click to "Delete" a Web Link! Be certain that you wish to delete the Web Link before clicking the "Delete" button.

- Add/modify editorial: At the bottom of the Modify Link page, you are offered the option to write (or modify if an editorial exists) an editorial of the referenced web site. Once the editorial has been written, an "Editorial" link appears next to the Web Links listing for the web site.

  For example:

  Drew's Recipe File

  Description: Recipes that Drew likes! Frequently updated.

  Added on: 24-Oct-2001 Hits: 52 Rating: 9.1 (21 Votes)

  Rate this site | Report broken link | Details | Editorial

  Editorial title: Enter the name of the editorial here. Free-form alphanumeric text.

  Editorial text: Enter the body of the editorial here. Free-form alphanumeric text.

  Click "Add" or "Modify" to perform the action and save the editorial.

- Links Awaiting Validation: If your users submit web links, the links are held unaccessible to other users until the Administrator can review and post it.

## Web Links -> Web Links Configuration

** IMPORTANT NOTE: WEB LINKS ARE BEING REWRITTEN FOR FUTURE VERSIONS OF POSTNUKE. THIS SECTION OF THE GUIDE IS, THEREFORE, INCOMPLETE. **

- Links per page: How many links to display per page listing. Set this number to balance convenience and load on your web site. If your listing of links spans multiple pages, navigation tools appear at the bottom of the listing. Example entry: "25"

- Number of days Anonymous users need to wait to vote on a link: If you wish, you can configure Web Links so that Anonymous users may not vote on links for a certain period of time. That period of time is specified in this field. Enter "0" in this field to allow Anonymous users to vote on links as soon as the link is available. Entry example: "1" day.

- Number of days outside users need to wait to vote on a link: If you wish, you can configure Web Links so that Outside users may not vote on links for a certain period of time. Outside users are defined as users who cast votes via PostNuke's "remote vote" service: Owners of links (or downloads) can put a rating form or text/button link in their sites to allow their visitors to cast a vote on your site. Enter "0" in this field to allow Outside users to vote on links as soon as the link is available. Entry example: "1 day".

- Allow Webmasters to put vote links on their site: Entry example: "Yes"

- How many unregistered user votes per 1 registered user vote: To place more value on the opinions of registered users, you can define an entry in this field that specifies how many UNregistered user votes are equal to one registered user vote. An entry of "10" means that every 10 unregistered user votes are equal to one registered user vote. Entry example: "10".

- How many outside user votes per 1 registered user vote: To place more value on the opinions of registered users, you can define an entry in this field that specifies how may Outside user votes are equal to one registered user vote. An entry of "10" means that every 10 Outside user votes are equal to one registered user vote. Entry example: "10".

- Let detailed vote summary decimal out to n places: This entry allows you to specify if the detailed vote summery should display decimal points, and if so, how many. If you want only whole numbers, enter "0" in this field. Enter "2" to carry the decimal points out two places. Entry example: "2"

- 1 to show top links as a percentage (else # of links): "Top Links" is defined as the best rated links (or downloads). "Popular" is defined as the most visited (or downloaded) items. If you set this field to "1", your Top items are displayed as: "Top Links: Top 25% - 50% - 75% - 100%" (the percentages are links that show that percentage of the items). If set to a number (for example, "10"), Top Links will show that many top items (for example, "Top 10 Links"). Entry example: "1".

- Top links - either # of links or percentage to show (percentage as whole number. #/100):

- 1 to show most popular links as a percentage (else # of links): "Top Links" is defined as the best rated links (or downloads). "Popular" is defined as the most visited (or downloaded) items. If you set this field to "1", your Popular items are displayed as: "Most Popular: Top 25% - 50% - 75% - 100%" (the percentages are links that show that percentage of the items). If set to a number (for example, "10"), Popular links will show that many popular items (for example, "10 Most Popular Links"). Entry example: "1".

- Most popular: either # of links or percentage to show (percentage as whole number. #/100): Entry example: "25"

- Show featured link box on links main page: Entry example: "Yes"

- Number votes needed to make the "Top 10" list: This field defines the minimum number of votes that a link must receive to be qualified for the "Top 10" list on your site. Entry example: "5"

- Block unregistered users from suggesting link changes: Set to "Yes" to block Anonymous users from requesting modification of the link description and other link information . If set to "No", Anonymous users may request modification of the link description and other link information. Entry example: "No"

- Hits to be 'Popular': Set this field to a number equal to how many visits a site must have from your site to be considered 'popular'. Entry example: "500"

- Number of links as 'New': Within this field, you define how many web links are to be defined as "new" at a time. If you wish to display 10 links as "new", enter "10" in this field.

- Number of links as 'Best': Within this field, you define how many web links are to be defined as "best" at a time. If you wish to display 25 links as "best", enter "25" in this field.

- Links in search results: This field defines how many links are displayed in Search results. If there are more than this number of links, the user will be shown a link to display all matching results. Entry example: "10"

- Let Anonymous users post new links?: Should Anonymous users be allowed to post new links? If you wish to allow Anonymous users to post new links, set this field to "Yes". If you do not wish to allow Anonymous users to post new links, set this field to "No". Entry example: "Yes"

Prev | Home | Next
User Administration | Up | Groups & Permissions