Installing Your Free Links:

The Free Links service can be installed easily by following these steps:

1. Register the Free Links service in your Member account
2. Copy the special code we provide to you
3. Open your webpage in whatever HTML editor you prefer to use
4. Paste the code onto your webpage where you want the link to your service to appear
5. Save your page and publish it to your site
6. Click the link that appears on your webpage to access your new service.

Getting Started:

The first step, once you have registered your Free Links service in your Member account, is to customize the look and feel and set up your various service options. All of that is done in the Free Links manager, in your Members Area. Login to your account with your Username and password and you will be shown the main Members Area menu. Click on the Service Manager link to begin.

Setting Up Your Free Service Options:

The Free Links Service Manager is broken into several sections. Let's look at the various sections and go over what you can do in each section.

General Settings

In General Settings you can set up several different options. Start at the top of the General Settings page and go through each option. Make sure you set each to the option you prefer. In this area you can set the url (web address) for the webpage on your site that you want your visitors to return to when they exit the service, enable or disable Flood Protection (which prevents a visitor from adding more than one link at a time to your service), enable or disable Link Approval/Review (which allows you to view and accept a link before it goes live in the service), and you can enable or disable the Visitor Ratings option.

Please Note: If you are adding a selection of your own links to start with, make sure the Flood protection is turned off until you are finished adding your links. The service will only allow you to enter one link, if you leave the Flood Protection enabled. Turn it off, enter your links, then go back and enable the Flood protection when you are done.

Once you have finished with your option selections, be sure to click on the Save changes button at the bottom of the page to make your changes permanent.

Colors and Fonts

This section allows you to define which fonts and colors your Free Links page should use. Each Color and Font option includes a Style or Color wizard which will help you pick a color or set the values for the text on your page. You can also manually enter your color values either by code (like #000000) or by color name (like black).

Set a style and color for each option and when you are finished, be sure to click the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.

Custom Images

This section allows you to set up your own existing web images to use in your Free Links service. All you need to do is type in the full URL (web address) of your image, in each section. You can use your own Title, Background and Separator images to match your website, or give your Free Links a customized and distinctive look.

Your images MUST be in .gif or .jpg format and stored on a webhosts server that allows remote linking (also known as hotlinking) to images. If your host does not allow remote linking, register the Photo Center service in your member account, and store your images there for use in most Bravenet services.

Once you have entered your title and background image information, click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page.

Edit Displayed Text

Use this portion to customize the title and main page text that appears in your Free Links service. You can enter your own service Title and Subtitle Description here, which will be displayed to visitors when they view your page. Once you have typed your message into the provided input boxes, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Save Changes button to make the changes permanent.

Edit Email Notifications

The Free Links service allows you to be notified by email when a new link is added to your service by a visitor. Select 'On' if you wish to receive an email, select 'Off' if you do not.

You can also customize the Thank You message that is sent to link posters. Add your custom message in the text box provided and then click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page to make your changes permanent.

Edit Links

As the title suggests, this is where you delete or edit the links currently in your service. You can update old links, or remove existing links altogether. Click on the Edit button to the right of each link, to edit or change an existing link. To delete a link from your service, place a checkmark in the box provided to the left of each link entry (under the red X symbol) and then click on the Delete Selected Entries on the bottom left of the page. Once you have completed editing or removing your links, be sure to click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page to make your changes permanent.

Edit Categories

As the title suggests, this is where you delete or edit the categories currently in your service. You can update categories, or remove them altogether. Click on the Edit button to the right of each category, to edit or change an existing category. To delete a category from your service, place a checkmark in the box provided to the left of each entry (under the red X symbol) and then click on the Delete Selected Entries on the bottom left of the page.

To add a new category, type in the category name you want in the box provided under the Add Category heading, and click the Add Category button.

Once you have completed adding, editing or removing categories, be sure to click on the Save Changes button at the bottom of the page to make your changes permanent.

Professional Options:

Upgrading to the Professional version of the Free Links service allows you to add your own webpage header and footer to the existing service, add up to 100 categories and 10,000 links! In addition, all of our advertisers ads are removed from the service pages and the emails sent to your visitors!

For more specific details about the Free Links Service, please Search the Knowledge Base.

For Information on the sections under 'UTILITIES', please click here.