Adding/Editing Custom Links to your site:
Path, from the left navigation menu: ['Customization' section] > Custom Links
Custom Links, like Custom Pages, may be linked to from either or both of the 'Custom Nav Bar' and 'Footer Links' sections of the Partner Administration System. These links may be to any of the pages within your site, or even to pages on a completely different website altogether. For example, you may have created yourself a huge range of specialist niche audio-book stores, utilizing the ContentDirect and the SellDirect Tools - these sites can all be interlinked (resulting in a better search engine ranking) and that includes from your main Audio Book store web site. Using custom links you can direct customers to any web address you choose.
To load the Custom Links screen, you must select the 'Custom Links' menu option from the left navigation menu, within the 'Customization' section.
Fig. 2.5.6.1: The "Custom Links" link for reviewing / changing your site's 'Custom Links':
This will load the Custom Links screen, shown below:
Fig. 2.5.6.2: The "Custom Links" screen from which you select Custom Links for modification, and create new Custom Links:
Running through each of the headings you can see on the Custom Links screen, the below descriptions give a very brief overview of the different types of information listed, about the different Custom Links, on your screen.
URL
These are the full paths to your Custom Links as you specified when you first set them up. This is the address to which a customer will be taken when they click your Custom Link in either of the Custom Nav Bar, or Footer Links. You should take a moment to double check that your links are all active links, as it would be infuriating for your customers to end up at an error page simply because you mistyped a URL and failed to check it.
Link Text
The link text is the actual wording that will appear in either (or both of) the Custom Nav Bar or Footer Links. The customer will click on your link text, and will then be taken to the URL you specified for the Custom Link in question.
Edit (only visible when you actually have some existing Custom Links)
The 'edit' link takes you to the editing page for the Custom Link in question.
Delete (only visible when you actually have some existing Custom Links)
If you would like to delete a Custom Link entirely, you may do so by clicking the link entitled "delete". This will permanently remove this Custom Link from your list.
Creating new Custom Links:
You can create a new Custom Link by pressing the button labeled "Create New", at the bottom left of the Custom Links screen. This will open a blank version of the Edit Screen below, into which you may enter the relevant details (see below for details of the different fields of information required). You may then save your new link by following the instructions at the end of this section.
The Custom Links Edit Screen - Modifying existing Custom Links and Entering Details for New Custom Links:
Whether you've selected 'Edit' (to edit an existing Custom Link) or the "Create New" button, you will be taken to the following page:
Fig. 2.5.6.3: The "Custom Links Editing Screen" using which you may modify or enter the details of your Custom Links:
On the Custom Links Editing Screen, you will see a couple of editable options in the center of the page. Below these options are 'delete', 'cancel' & 'save changes' buttons. Each of the elements on the page will be discussed below, to help your understanding of the types of changes you can make here.
URL
This field is the full path to your page, or filename, to which you would like the customer sending when they click your Custom Link. The URL should be in the format: http://www.web-address.com/filename.html. You should test your link thoroughly before saving it on your website to minimize the chance of your customers being sent to an error page.
Link Text
Whilst the URL is the actual path to the remote page or file, the URL is not what the customer sees as a link on your website. Instead, this field 'link text' specifies the actual text the customer sees as the link to click. This obviously makes for far more attractive links.
That's all there is to it - just save your Custom Link as per the instructions below, and it'll be available for use within the Footer Links and Custom Nav Bar pages.
Deleting, Canceling or Saving your Custom Link changes
As was mentioned earlier in this section, there are two buttons at the bottom of the Custom Links Editing Screen. Their functions are as follows:
"Delete" Button: This button deletes the current link (being viewed in the current edit window) and returns you to your list of Custom Links.
"Cancel" Button: This button allows you to return to your list of Custom Links without saving any changes you may have just made to your Custom Link Page. You can effectively abandon your proposed link by clicking the "Cancel" button. Only clicking the "Save Changes" button (details of which are below) will you commit your changes.
"Save Changes" Button: This button saves any changes you might have made in this session to the Custom Link you are editing. On clicking this button, as well as saving your changes, the system will redirect you back to the list of Custom Links, ready for you to make your next editing selection, or ready for you to create a new Custom Link.
Tip:
Inter-linking between your own audio-book sites and those of your affiliates makes for better search engine rankings - it is generally good practice and this Custom Links tool is a great way of adding such links to your site.