Installation

Standard module installation applies.

The module will automatically create a "Weblinks" vocabulary which is used to define the categories (terms) for the links.

A new content type is created, named "weblinks."

See the next page for information on choosing a CSS file for styling.

Settings

The module settings page is at admin >> site configuration >> weblinks (http://www.example.com/admin/settings/weblinks).

NOTE: This section mostly pertains to the 5.x version and to some extent to the 6.x-1.x versions. However, the 6.x-2.x versions have been greatly overhauled and many of these settings no longer exist or have been changed. At the moment, the best thing to do is to post a support request if the settings pages are unclear.

General Settings

Vocabulary to use for Weblinks

If more than one vocabulary is assigned to the "weblinks" content type, you may choose which one to use for the module. If there is only one applicable vocabulary, this setting will not be displayed.

Allow duplicate URLs

If this option is "yes" then the URL will be checked to see if it already exists when a user tries to enter it. Most users will want this, but occasionally you might want to have the same link appearing in more than one group.

Maximum link title length

This controls how much of long URLs will be shown in a link in full node view or when showing the URL on the main links page. Zero (0) means unlimited.

Maximum block title length

This controls how much of a node title will be shown in a block to conserve space. Zero (0) means unlimited.

Link Page Settings

Make categories collapsible

Enable this if you want the categories to be in collapsible fieldsets on the main links page.

Page Sort order

This allows you to sort the main links page in different ways.

Page information.

The main weblinks page can include a description at the top of the page. For example, you may want to tell the user the submission guidelines here.

Maximum group depth (main links page):

This controls how many subcategories, if any, will display on the main links page. Zero (0), and one (1) will show only the top level. A depth of 2, for instance, will display top level categories, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories.

Group Settings

Link Settings

Links lead URL or to Web Link node

Most people will want to leave this as URL. Specifying "node" makes it easier to edit the links, but requires an additional click to follow the link.

Web links open in new windows

If this option is selected, then clicking a link will open a new window for viewing the link. Note: If the previous option is "node" then this setting will not display. Note: If you use this setting the HTML will fail "strict" validation.

Link description display

This sets how the description will be displayed on the main links page. You may choose to not show the description at all, or to show it in teaser or full length.

Display URL

Do you want to include the actual URL on the links page?

Display link information

This displays link author, publish date, and revision date. This is independent of the theme setting.

Display comment information

Shows links for adding and viewing comments, if they are enabled for the individual node.

Spam link deterrent

If enabled, Drupal will add rel="nofollow" to all links, as a measure to reduce the effectiveness of spam links.

Link position on view

This option sets whether the link itself will be displayed above or below the description when viewing the node.

Category Settings

For each category, you can choose whether it is enabled, how many links to display and the maximum number of entries to display in main links page.

Show xxx - xxx is the group name.

Check to display this group on the main links page.

Maximum links to display

Leave blank if you would not like to limit the number of links displayed on the main links page.

Link Validity Checker

This feature will check links during a Cron run to see if they are still valid. It is configured on a separate tab on the settings page.

Check if link is valid when entered

If enabled, the module will attempt to use the URL to contact the site when the link is created or updated. If the link returns any error, the add/update will display an error message.

Enable link validity checker

Turns on this feature. If you enable the link checking feature, several more options will appear.

Links to include

This sets the number of links to be checked on each Cron run. See the caution below.

Unpublish link on second error

If a previous error has been detected, do you want the link unpublished?

Update link on permanent redirect

If a link is marked as a permanent redirect ("301"), do you want the link updated?

Cron interval

This sets the frequency of checking. If you run Cron frequently, you may wish to set this higher than your Cron frequency so that you don't overload the linked sites. The check will be run at the next scheduled Cron run after this interval expires. An interval of 0 means every Cron run.

Caution: Care must be taken in choosing how many links to check at a time because you may time out while doing so. The default PHP limit on time is 30 seconds. We have found that you can pretty well check 5 links in that time and maybe more, especially if they are okay. One must also exercise care in how often the links are checked. Some sites may impose limits and may generate false errors. It is better to check too infrequently than too often.