Summary of EE-Link's Link Management System

We designed the Link Management System (i.e. LMS) to automate adding new links to the EE-Link website. The system has grown to become much more than what this original idea described and now manages all aspects of our site production for the 200 -300 core pages of EE-Link. The LMS is now a fully featured site management tool (which is very different from an HTML editor). Features include:

- A link database that contains link name, description, date added, expire date, contact and administrative email addresses, the page (s) in which you would like the link to appear (can be many pages), weather the link is visible on the web (for links that break but that you want to retain in the database), any number of link attributes (like popular), the priority of the link (controls link sort order on each page, and more. (EE-Link currently has over 1200 links in its database.)

- A page database that contains one record for every page on EE-Link's web site. Each record contains the page name, and pointers to full HTML files that contain the page description, page template, page subtemplate (defines how links are coded), family file information (usually used to list related links), and meta tags. The page database also contains a sort order for how links should be ordered on a page.

- The authoring system has separate databases for job listings, internal configuration, survey administration, and a staff logging mechanizm.

- The tool also has the ability to count outbound clicks as users leave your site for an external site.

- Lastly, the tool auto generates email for expiring links, it autogenerates html pages for new links by month (or whatever period is appropriate, and it autogenerates a series of "highlights" html pages that can be used to showcase links for a link-specific period of time.

Because the LMS is a template-driven, database-driven tool that is designed specifically to manage large sites like EE-Link, site changes can be implemented quickly and easily whether they apply to a single page, a single link, or to all pages site-wide. No matter what changes you are making from a the color of links across the site to text on a certain page or group of pages, the LMS is designed to require you to only need to make one edit instead of multiple edits to multiple files.

The LMS is used by EE-Link site users and by EE-Link site administrators to develop rich pages of links, presented attractively on web pages.

Special Tools

Since implementing the LMS, we have been constantly adding new tools. Some times these tools are very short scripts that manipulate data in a new way. Other times, these tools are major programming efforts. An example of a small but important tool is our family file tool. This tool taks a configuraton file and writes an html snippet of code for each line in the configuration file. The resulting files can be used to present a context-sensitive feel to our site.

Another small tool populates our search engine configuration files with some or all of the URLs in our link database. This allows our users the option of searching EE-Link web pages for content we well as the web pages of all the sites we link to -- a very powerful but simple tool.

An example of a large-scale tool is our capability to download all the image and html content from a remote site to our server when we make a link. This capability helps us maintain content availability to our users, aids us in repairing broken links and is used in our searching capabilities. Because copywrite issues are evolving rapidly for Internet applications and content, we currently use this feature for internal use only.

Database Interface for Link Management

Users who want to add a link will go to a Add-A-Link web page. There, they will fill in a form that asks for the URL to add, page or site title, a description of the page, a contact e-mail address, and an administrative e-mail address.

When the user presses a Submit button, the information from the form is checked (via perl CGI). If information is missing (such as the administrative e-mail address or the URL), the user is asked to enter it. Once all fields are filled in, the data from the form is added to a database on the EE-Link computer. The system will send an email each morning containing all the requests made during the previous day. These emails will be used primarily as a notification devise. All the information needed to review link requests will be available on the www as a dynamic page.

New requests in the database are off-line, not visible to the public, until the entry is approved by an EE-Link administrator. EE-Link administrators have password-protected access to a web page they use to approve new entries and move them on-line. EE-Link administrators can also change or delete any entry in the database.

If the link request is approved, the system automatically sends e-mail with the final link URL and description (so the requester can see any changes that were made) to the administrative e-mail address that the user entered, to indicate that the link was made and how long the link will remain on the EE-Link site.

If the link request is denied, the system automatically sends e-mail to the administrative e-mail address with a form letter rejection letter. The data in that record will remain on our machine. We will use this data to allow us to later approve requests that were initially denied. Also, it has been suggested we use this information as a blacklist to automatically deny second attempts at rejected links. A mechanism also exists for taking rejected items off the blacklist to allow through a previously rejected URL.

E-mail to the link requester's administrative addresses will be sent from an EE-Link return address. If the mail bounces because the administrative e-mail address is no longer valid, EE-Link administrators will be aware that the link is expiring and needs attention. The system automatically rebuilds the HTML web pages each night and also on demand of administrators through a web button. These HTML pages are based on the format that EE-Link uses now, but they will be generated by the Perl programs passing data to html templates.

Templates

The use of templates will cover not only the over-all layout of the generated web pages but a template can also be applied to the generation of the links that will appear on a given page. By having a page template and a link sub-template, we can control the over-all look of the page completely.

The entire site has a default page template. This template draws out a well designed page with standard elements on it. The template also contains a site search box on the bottom of the page. The template also includes variables that will be replaced by the data from the category database and link database.

The category database contains the category name which is inserted into the template on the title and header and, optionally, in other locations as well. The category database allows for a description of the category to appear as a field in the data. This description field is full html (less than 10K preferably but no limit) that could be generated in any html editor (all though a specific editor [Adobe Page Mill 3.x or even Netscape Communicator] would be used to maintain style consistency). This html can include tables, multiple forms and other elements. The system would strips the header and body tags (and others like title) off this html before inserting it into the generated category page.

The category database will also contain a field which specifies a non-default template for the page. This functionality will allow us to create separate looks for different areas of the site and for specific pages. Template names should be kept short and templates should all appear in a single directory.

The last template element is the link sub-template. This template will be used to generate the links the repeat down the course of a page. Producing this html code through a repeatable template allows us to customize the look of the links appearing on the page either with graphics or tables or other enhancements.

It's not currently implemented but there may be a need for some "if, then. else" logic for this segment in the case that we begin accepting link records without complete data.

Lastly, we have said nothing about the order that links will appear on a given page. Links can be sorted on any field in the link database but site name is the default setting. We will be adding an additional field to the database that will allow sorts to be run on that data.

Families

Our family concept is designed for relating groups of pages to one another. Basically, the family is a list of related pages. Family information is kept in a separate html file, one for file for each family. Each family file has links to the pages in that family. By interacting the family html with standard links on the page template, it is possible to create an easy to navigate site quite quickly.

Database Engine

PostGreSQL -- A FREEWARE tool with a solid reputation originally from UC Berkley.

Special Cases: Job Listings

Job postings include:

* Job Title
* Salary
* Contact information (listing URL, Organization's URL, e-mail,
phone, postal mail)
*Name of contact person
* Job description
* Application deadline (if any)
* Administrative e-mail address

Job listing pages are generated dynamically due to the need to organize listing by category, chronologically, etc.

Highlights Pages and Email Notification

The highlights functionality has two purposes. For one, it allows us to create a page of various links that are new or special in some way. Highlights pages could also have a theme. I expect the highlights page will be renewed with new highlights every two weeks or each month. Old highlights will be kept as a resource for users who like the highlights concept and wish to review previous highlights. I am not sure if these old highlights should be kept on separate pages with some sort of index to the pages or if they should be appended to a single huge page. I lean toward the former.

We will also use the highlights functionality to generate an email. This email will be sent to an announce email list running as an ezmlm email list. It will also be sent to usenet news groups and probably some other email lists as well to provide regular site promotion to a wide range of audiences.