Managing your Links page
One of the many features included in your WebSpawner Enhanced web site account is a Links page, which you can use to create your own categorized directory of links to other sites that you think will be of interest or value to your site’s visitors. Viewers of your site may also submit links for their own sites to your Links page; this is referred to as Free For All Linking, which allows sites to share viewer traffic with each other. Today we will cover how to manage your Links page.
To turn on the Links page option for your web site:
- Login to your WebSpawner account with your Username and Password.
- Select your Start page under Step 1 in the Member Menu and click the Modify button under Step 2.
- Scroll down in the Modification form until you reach the Free For All Links step as shown below, and click the Yes button:
- Click Continue at the bottom of the Modification form, then click I Like It at the test page preview.
After you have completed these steps, your web site will contain a Links button which, when clicked, will open your Links page.
The Links page is color-coordinated with your site, matching the Background, Text, and Link colors which you selected for your Start page. The Links page has 10 different categories: Business, Computers, Education, Entertainment, Government, Health, Internet, Miscellaneous, Personal, and Recreation.
At the bottom of the Links page is a form where you (or a viewer of your site) can add a new link. To add a link, enter a Website Title and the complete Website URL address, along with an Email Address and Description of the site. Select a Category using the pull-down menu and then click the Post My Link button as shown in the sample below:
The new link will immediately be added to your Links page, as shown in this example:
You can repeat these steps to add links as you wish to each category. Viewers of your site will take the same steps if they submit their link to your Links page; however, you will be able to remove any links that you do not wish to keep.
In the Member Menu of your WebSpawner account, there are tools which you can use to manage your Links page. To access these tools, click the Free-For-All Links Page icon which appears under the Add-Ons tab as shown below:
The FFA Links Page Edit window will appear, which has three function buttons at the top:
- Click the Edit Links button if you wish to remove an undesirable link. All links will appear, with a Delete button next to each one. Simply click the Delete button next to the link you wish to remove, as shown in the example below, to immediately remove that link from your Links page:
- Click the Emailer button to create a form-letter message which will be automatically emailed to each viewer who subsequently adds a link to your Links page. Enter Your Email Address, a Subject line, and Your Email Message body in the fields, then click the Update button as shown in the example below:
- Click the Options button to adjust additional options for your Links page. You can enter text for the Headline to appear at the top of your Links page. Use the pull-down menu to select a Maximum number of links for each category of either 25 or 50. The other pull-down menu allows you to select whether to Display the user-provided Link Descriptions… if you choose Yes both the Title and Description for each link will appear on your Links page; if you choose NO only the Title of each link will be shown. When you are finished, click the Update button to save your changes to your Links page, as shown below:
When you are finished making changes in the FFA Links Page Edit window, click Close Window to return to the Member Menu.
You should check your Links page often so that you can remove any undesirable links that may have been added by viewers. Each link should also be checked from time to time to make sure that it is not a “dead link” to a site which no longer exists. Keep your Links page cleaned up regularly, and it will be a useful resource to help the viewers of your web site find other valuable sites online.