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Links Directory
The Link Directory is different from the Links Pages in that it gives you more control over your link organization. You can set up different categories to organize your links into, plus it has a form for another user to fill in when they want to exchange links. Also, I have found that some directories that check for reciprocal links cannot read banners that are added to the Links Pages, so the Link Directory is beneficial for your link being picked up. The Link Directory would need to be requested through the Helpdesk to be added.
For reference, here again is step one for saving the banner to the site you want to link to.
Step One - for both Links Pages and Links Directory
- Right-click the banner you need to save. Select 'Save Picture As' and save it to your computer.
- Log in to your Store Manager, and go to 'File Utilities'. Click on 'Product Pictures' in Upload Utilities.
- Find the banner that is on your computer by clicking on 'Browse'. Once you find the image, click on it, and then click the 'Open' button. Then click the 'Upload' button. It will now be in your site's files.
- Next, under Picture Utilties, click on 'Main Listing'. Find the banner that you want to use, and click on the image.
- This should then display your image/banner in a new smaller window. In Internet Explorer, right-click on the image, and this time select 'Properties'. Copy the Address URL. If you are using Firefox, right-click on the image and select Copy Image URL. You can leave this window open if you wish.
TIP: if you know the name of the banner once you have saved it to your site, the url will be: http://www.YOURSITE.com/fpdb/images/IMAGE.jpg . Replace YOURSITE with your own domain name, and replace IMAGE with the name of the image. You may even need to change 'jpg' to 'gif' if necessary.
Step Two - Setting up your Links Directory
- Once inside your Store Manager, click on 'Configuration'. Over to the right under Master Store Mode, click on 'Links Directory'.
- On this page, find and click on 'Control', which is at the top of the page. This is where you will do the initial setting up based on your own preferences. Be sure to set up your link exchange details at the bottom. NOTE: although you may have it set to make the Links Directory Active, if one of the staff hasn't added it to your template it will not show until they do.
- Next, before you can do anything, you MUST set up categories. Click on the 'Add Category' link across the top. You can add as few or as many as you like.
- Now you are ready to add links to your directory. Click 'Add Link' which is at the top of the page. Below is what this page will look like.
 The only required fields are Link Title, URL, Link Description, and Category. - Link Title - Title of the site you are linking to(this is not your own site)
- URL - URL of the site you are linking to (this is not your own site URL), be sure the URL begins with http:// and that it is in there just once.
- Link Description - Enter a short description of the site you are linking to
- Image URL - this is the URL of the image for the banner, which you would have obtained in Step 1, be sure the URL begins with http:// and that it is in there just once.
- Select Category - choose from one of the categories you created
- Reciprocal Link - this would be the URL of the page where YOUR link has been added to the other site. If this has not been done yet, then don't worry about filling it in.
- Contact Name and Email - name and email of the point of contact for the other site you are linking to(not required)
TIP: If you do not want to add a description, you can just add a space and it will allow you to save. Add a space by clicking in the description box so your cursor is there, and then hitting the spacebar once. Once you have added a link, it should now be active. If a link is submitted, you will receive an email. If you have it set so that you have to approve new links(in Control), you will need to activate them before they show in your directory. To activate a link, click on ' Admin Link Entries' which is at the top of the page. Next to your categories, you will see how many Active or Inactive links there are in each category. Click on the category title to view any links within that category. You will need to tick the box in column A, and then click the Activate button.
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