Extension Key: ab_linklist
Copyright 2005 - 2008, Andreas Bulling, <typo3@andreas-bulling.de>
This document is published under the Open Content License
available from http://www.opencontent.org/opl.shtml
The content of this document is related to TYPO3
- a GNU/GPL CMS/Framework available from www.typo3.com
This is a modern and extended linklist plugin compatible to the "cmw_linklist" extension.
It has the following features:
Backend users can create categories and links, they can accept or delete new links proposed by frontend users, accept or disable links reported broken by frontend users and can check for non-working links (the latter also from behind a proxy server as curl support is available).
Backend users can promote their own site by sending “1-click” promotion e-mails (with an image attachment if defined in the FlexForm) to the contact addresses provided with link records and manage the promotions within the (therefore extended) backend module.
Frontend users can rate links, the current rating/number of votes is shown in the detailed link view and also with small stars in the category view. Both features can be disabled in the backend.
Frontend users can specify a contact address and a banner image when proposing a new link. The maximum sizes for images in the category and detailed link view can be defined in the backend.
All link and category values (label, description, href, rating, banner image, parent category, ...) are fully editable in the backend which also provides comfortable, graphical category trees.
The extension features comprehensive, FlexForm-based configuration options for all important plugin settings.
For each category the total number of links (plus links in all subcategories) is shown in the frontend.
For each category an image can be defined which is shown in front of the category link instead of the standard black triangle.
The number of links shown on a page can be limited to a certain value, a comfortable page browser has been added.
Flexible "TOP lists" show the TOPx number of links concerning rating, clicks and creation time per category (and below).
A “TREE” view shows a tree of all categories and links on one page similar to other linklists around.
A “CATALOG” view shows a catalog of the categories and links similar to the google catalog.
date_stdWrap and time_stdWrap functions can be used to format the display of date and time.
An e-mail (with configurable subject) is sent to a specified address if a link is proposed/reported broken by a frontend user.
The plugin supports basic multiple-click and multiple-rating protection by storing the user's IP address.
A blacklist for words in the label and description fields of a link is provided. If the user-submitted label and/or description contains one of these words, the link proposal is refused with an error message.
A (simple and slow) search function has been added which provides searching on label and description of links.
The design and layout can be fully customized and fitted to your needs by editing the supplied CSS-based and table-based templates. “Default CSS-styles” with some basic CSS-definitions are also provided.
Caching of the output can be enabled and the extension also makes use of the new cHash mechanism.
The extension is capable of displaying multi-language content: Categories and links can be translated using the standard TYPO3 facilities.
The extension supports the versioning of links and the workspaces functionality offered by TYPO3 version 4.0.
The extension features an import wizard which allows to automatically generate a SQL query to import categories/links from other linklists/database tables.
The extension also features an export wizard which allows to export categories/links to different output formats (HTML, XML and TXT are supported so far).
The backend module offers a statistics functionality which allows to view statistics on the categories/links contained in the database.
FreeCap captcha support (extension: "sr_freecap") is integrated for the “Propose a new link” frontend form.
The extension supports frontend editing of link records.
The extension features sponsored links which are always shown first in the different views and can have assigned an additional description.
According to my investigations older versions of cmw_linklist are still widely used but contain serious bugs which allow SQL injections (see bugtraq or Security Bulletin TYPO3-20050304-1 for further information about this issue). So you're highly encouraged to migrate to this extension (perhaps even if you don't need the new features) which doesn't have any known security issues so far.
If you like this extension please consider to rate it at:
http://typo3.org/extensions/repository/view/ab_linklist/$CURRENT_VERSION$/rating/
Project homepage:
http://typo3.andreas-bulling.de/en/extensions/modern-linklist/
Subversion repository:
http://repos.andreas-bulling.de/ab_linklist/
Bugtracker:
http://typo3.andreas-bulling.de/en/bug-tracker/
Donations:
http://typo3.andreas-bulling.de/en/donate-money/
A demo with the most recent features enabled can be found here:
http://typo3.andreas-bulling.de/en/demos/modern-linklist/
Most of the new labels/backend options have only been translated to German yet. So please feel free to send me more translations to make this extension usable for more people!
This is the first of the three available main views, the “LIST” link and category view in the frontend. The style and the layout can easily be changed via a template and CSS of course. You can see a “Propose a new link” (display for anonymous users can be suppressed with a backend option) [1] and also three of the possible “TOP” lists available with 5 links each (can be changed in the backend): Rating, Clicks and Date of adding [2].
Illustration 1 - The frontend view
Following “Propose a new link” frontend users can propose new links with a form you can see in the following illustration. New links have to be approved in the backend before they become visible in the frontend.
The following is the same view as in illustration 1 but with an additional link path [1] for easier navigation in the category tree. You can see the stars representation [2] which can be disabled for the category view in the backend. You can also see the three links shown for each link: To view the details, to report a link as broken and to rate a link [3]. These features are shown in detail in the next three illustrations. Please notice that instead of the “report broken” link in this case only a short text is shown because the link has been reported as broken before.
From the category view the user is able to view a page giving detailed information about a link:
Another feature is the handling of broken links. Frontend users can report links as broken from the category view. After that a backend notification record is created for further handling by BE users.
Frontend user also have the possibility to rate links which you can see in the following illustration:
The following is one of the additional views, the “SEARCH” view. It displays a search function one can use to search for a word in the titles and descriptions of all links available in the frontend.
The second main view meant as an alternative to the “LIST” view is the “TREE” view which displays a tree of all categories and links on one page similar to other linklists around (for example sk_linklist).
The last main view is the “CATALOG” view which displays a catalog of the categories and links similar to the google catalog.
The extension's backend functionality can be divided into two main parts:
The “Modern Linklist” backend module
The functionality provided within the “Edit record” backend forms for categories and links.
The “Modern Linklist” backend module
Here you can see an overview of links submitted by frontend users. By clicking on the two icons besides each link you can accept or delete them. You can also select a different category for the link.
In this view you can see all the links that were reported as broken by frontend users. By clicking on the two icons besides each link you can accept or disable them.
Here you can see an overview of all links including their availability (online/offline). You have the possibility to enable/disable certain links by clicking on the two icons besides each link.
Here you can see an overview of all links and their promotion status. Furthermore you have the possibility to promote links by clicking on the icon besides a link.
Here you can generate a SQL query to import categories/links from other linklists/database tables. Just follow the instructions step by step.
Here you can export categories/links to different output formats. Just follow the instructions step by step.
The functionality provided within the “Edit record” backend forms
This is how the “Edit record” backend form for categories looks like:
And this is how the “Edit record” backend form for links looks like:
