How do I make a Link Page?

[Paul]

I need to make separate link pages and put them in IPOWER for my link partners. Can you tell me how to go about this?

Thanks,
Paul

[Skyrocket]

Hi Paul,

you have two choices, you can either look for some link management software to install on your site and let it dynamically create link pages and manage new and old links for you, or you can simply set up a new web page and list the links yourself with a link to this page on your homepage.

The first option sounds fantastic, software that does all the hard work for you. However, be warned, there are hundreds out there and a lot of them are not set up very well and can end up damaging your ranking, not improving it! Search engines are becoming a lot smarter these days and can detect "link farms", which you could get tarnished with if you use link management software.

I don't use any link management software so I cannot recommend any, however I suspect there are a few members that do and they'd be able to offer you some advice and recommendations should you wish to go down this route.

The other option of setting up a separate link page takes more work and maintenance but it does mean you are in total control and can make it more meaningful and personalized. I have written a tutorial on adding pages to your website, you can find it here:

www.theworkathomeindex.com/tops/htmltutorial.html#Adding

One good example of a separate link page would be Lori's, view it here:

www.work-at-home-biz.com/ExchangeLinks.html

Hope that helps,

Regards,

Jim

[Paul]

Thanks Jim,
I'm using Arelis business link management software, but the thumbnails, links and descriptions are going directly on my site instead of a link page. I think Arelis is great because it only puts up their link until they become a partner, then it puts up the thumbnail after I checkmark their site in the software program.

Thanks as always for your help!
Paul

[Skyrocket]

Hi Paul,

sorry it's taken a day or two to get back to you.

I'm aware of the type of software you are using but I've not used Arelis so I don't have any experience of using it. Normally this type of software works with a scripting language like PHP and dynamically creates link pages. To allow it to do this you need to have your folders and files on your IPower server set up with the correct permissions.

I expect Arelis has some kind of help files or a forum where you can get some instructions on how the folders should be set up or how it does dynamically create the link pages.

Normally this kind of software will have a forum set up, this is your best bet on getting specific help on it. If there isn't a link for a forum on the Arelis website then try searching for one in Google or something, many forums across the net may discuss the software within a web design or techie forum.

Regards,

Jim

[cnlb07]

I just joined iPower, but am having difficulty setting up my website. I want to set it up with links to other sites, but am having trouble figuring out how to do this. I'm not very computer savvy, so please give me the Kindergarten version! Thanks, Cheryl

[troyzone]

cnlb07 said:

I just joined iPower, but am having difficulty setting up my website. I want to set it up with links to other sites, but am having trouble figuring out how to do this. I'm not very computer savvy, so please give me the Kindergarten version! Thanks, Cheryl

Hi Cheryl,

The best suggestion I can give anyone starting the 3PP training who is new to web site creation and editing is to fully review "Skyrocket" Jim's TOPS Help Files Tutorial web site. He has created this guide to teach new members step by step how to organize their web site files, edit their web page (including adding links, images, text, and so forth), and publish (upload) their web site's files to their web hosting account (iPower in most cases).

He also includes some specific help for using NVU to do this as well since it is a free WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) HTML editor that many people here use, although you can apply the same principles and use a different HTML editor if you wish. Such editors make creating and editing web pages much easier for novice webmasters, as they are similar to using a word processing program and take care of most of the HTML code for you automatically.

It does help to learn some basic HTML principles however, which are also covered in Jim's TOPS tutorial. You can find his TOPS tutorial here:

TOPS Help Files tutorial site
www.theworkathomeindex.com/tops

Note that the previous post in this thread before yours was made by "Skyrocket" Jim, and he also has a link to the above tutorial in his forum signature. It says ":: TOPS Web Design Tutorials - Get Started Now ::" in bold, green letters. You will find it at the bottom of any of his posts if you ever need the link.

One other suggestion I'd like to make early on is to add your web page link to your forum profile's Signature and Web Site URL fields and to make sure that the most recent version of your web page is published at that link when you need specific help so that others here can view your web page and be better able to help you out as you progress through the 3PP training. You can find a FAQ post on how to do this here:

Adding Your Web Site URL To Your Forum Profile
erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=faq&thread=1184834593

Speaking of FAQs, we have two Frequently Asked Questions boards with several posts in them that should help you out with some of the more common questions asked. I also recommend that you check those out as well. They can be found here:

FAQ- Frequently Asked Questions
erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=faq

Website Creation Tool Kit
erichw33.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=tool

Hope this helps you get started.

Troy