Links Package

The Links Package is a multi-module set for managing URL links in a master directory, and attaching them in various ways to your content pages. It includes both an API for developers and user-visible content modules. This package is released for Drupal 4.7, Drupal 5.x, and Drupal 6.x. Drupal 7 support is in the works.

Links offers the following features:

• An API for managing URLs in a generic way, and for associating these links in a many-to-many relationship with nodes. Each link is "normalized" internally, to try to merge references to the same URL in the database. If the same URL is used multiple times, it appears only once but with many node references in the {links_node} table. This helps to make processes such as link monitoring and dead link detection more efficient. The API also allows each link-node association to (optionally) provide an unique node-local title that overrides the global title for that particular URL, but only when that node is being displayed. In other words, the same URL can appear to have multiple different titles.
• A main links.module that governs the behavior of the Links Package's global features, and which implements common functionality such as outlink tabulation of clicks. Click tabulation is by node and link, so that it is possible to find out not only how many times an outbound link has been followed, but also how many times it has been followed from each node that refers to it.
• A links_related.module which allows the administrator to add a link field to any desired node types in the system. Currently, the node type setting is just a boolean flag, and if on, the node can have zero to infinity links. In the next version, however, this will become an integer where 0 means no links for the given node type, +N means "up to N links" for each node of that type, and -N means "exactly N links required (non-empty URL).
• A links_weblink.module which defines a node type of 'weblink', which behaves very much like the node type of the same name by Ber Kessels, and which in fact was based on his module's code base but uses the new links API.
• A links_admin module that allows the links to be centrally administered by users with appropriate privileges. (This feature is not provided in the Drupal 4.7 version of the Links package.)

Screen Shots

The screen shot on this page shows the administrator settings page for the Links Package; other screen shots are available from the "docs" subdirectory in the latest releases of the Drupal 6 version of Links Package. (The screen shots are not included in the older versions.)

Release Status as of 2010-11-23

Work responsibilities have kept me away from much Drupal work for a while, but things are settling down and I'm back to working on this module set. Although it's been a while since the last upgrade, this package is emphatically not deprecated or abandoned. I use it across my own multiple Drupal sites as does my employer, so it absolutely will be updated for Drupal 7, and soon. I can't commit the "from day one" pledge, but I will be as close to that date as I can.

The version for Drupal 4.7 is still available but is not targeted for new development.

Sponsorship

The creator of this module (Scott Courtney, aka "Syscrusher"), would like to acknowledge the sponsorship of his employer, Sine Nomine Associates. The company has graciously allowed this module to be maintained on company time as an R&D project.

Development Roadmap

As of 2009-01-24, I'm taking a break from the existing Links modules except for critical bug fixes, so that I can focus more attention on getting the Links Package integrated with Views and CCK. Feel free to submit issues, but minor items may need to wait a bit for resolution.

Co-Maintainer added 2009-09-04

I'm pleased to welcome rsoper as a new co-maintainer for the Links Package. The integration between Links and Views just got a nice boost!