Saved Links (Link Roundups Plugin)

Saved Links is a part of the Link Roundups Plugin that makes it easy to gather links from around the web and save them in WordPress. You can display the links in various ways in the Saved Links Widget, and add them to a custom type of post called Link Roundups, covered in detail on the Link Roundups page.

Saved Links Widget

The Saved Links widget allows you to create a list of links to pages anywhere on the web for display in a sidebar or other widget area:

Saved Links widget in a sidebar

You can save links from any page on the web in WordPress using a handy "Save to Site" browser bookmarklet. Options include showing thumbnails and adjusting the excerpt length (or just the title). You can also add your own descriptions and organize saved links using tags.

Requirements

The Saved Links Widget requires an installation of the Link Roundups Plugin. If you're an INN member making use of INN's Largo Project hosting, the Link Roundups plugin is already installed. Just contact us through the Largo help desk to have it activated on your site. Otherwise, you can install the Link Roundups in your WordPress Plugins, or download the plugin here.

Installing and Using the Save to Site Bookmarklet

A bookmarklet is a small button you can add to your browser's Bookmarks Toolbar (called Favorites Toolbar in Safari). You can use the Save to Site button by visiting any webpage you want to save a link to and clicking the Save to Site bookmarklet.

To install the Save to Site bookmarklet, go to Saved Links > Add Browser Bookmark:

Save to Site Bookmarklet page in Largo

Drag the Save to Site bookmarklet to your web browser's Bookmarks Toolbar. If you can't drag, click the Clipboard.

Save to Site Bookmarklet in the browser bookmarks toolbar

Now when you visit a page you want to create a Saved Link to, just click the Save to Site bookmarklet. A popup will appear (you may need to adjust your browser settings to allow the popup to be displayed) with a new Saved Link screen. If you're not logged in to your WordPress site, a login screen will appear before you're passed through.

The Save to Site Bookmark Tool attempts to pre-fill:

Title
URL
Description (excerpt or shortened version)
Source
Image (if available from the page)

You can edit the description just like any other post, and add relevant tags.

If you want to use the image from the web page, check the box to "Import as feature image." You can also select another image from your Media Library, or upload a new image.

Saved Links screen

Manual Method for Saving Links

Instead of using the bookmarklet you can add Saving Links manually by going to Saved Links > New Saved Link, and adding the link information much like a regular post.

Add a Title for your Link
A URL is required, paste a valid URL in the URL field.
Optionally define a custom slug, provide a short description and the source of your Saved Link, and add a Featured Image.

Saving a link screen manually in Largo

Editing Saved Links

You can see all your Saved Links, and edit them just like other posts, in Saved Links > Saved Links:

Saved Links list

Using the Saved Links Widget

Now that you have some Saved Links you can use the Saved Links Widget to display them. Add it to a sidebar and check the widget's settings:

The title defaults to "Recent Links" but you can change that as needed. You can set the number of Saved Links to display, adjust the excerpt length, show featured images, and add a "More" link with a URL at the bottom of the widget.

Link Roundups

You can also use Saved Links in Link Roundups posts which display like other posts on your site. If you have a MailChimp account for your email newsletter, you can also easily publish Link Roundup posts as MailChimp campaigns from your WordPress dashboard.

For complete details see the Link Roundups page.