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Instructor Help: Adding Links
You can add links to outside web sites from your course site, to direct your students' attention to resources they might find useful or interesting.
- Why would I want to post links to other web pages on my class website?
- How do I add a link to another website on my course web page?
- How do I change a link once I've added it?
- How do I remove links from my class site?
- How do I organize the links on my class site?
- Can I reorganize the links on my class site later?
- Can I have both links and my own materials on my class site?
1. Why would I want to post links to other web pages on my class website?
There is a great deal of material available on the World Wide Web, and many of your students are going to look through whatever they find in the hope that it may help them with your course. Putting your chosen links on your class site will help guide your students in the direction you would like them to go, and it will also help them avoid the quantities of unreliable, questionable, and even completely wrong material that exists on the Web, and which your students might not be able to judge appropriately.
Then, too, you probably know of excellent web sites which would be a resource for your students, either directly in the area your class is covering or of more peripheral interest. Adding links to these sites from your course web page is a simple way to make sure all your students are aware of their existence, and your endorsement.
There are many different kinds of sites which might be of use for your course. A course on Dutch, for instance, may benefit from links to sites on the traditional culture of the Netherlands, online editions or translations of Dutch literature, some museums showcasing both modern and older artworks (such as the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam), online versions of newspapers and periodicals, pop music sites with downloadable audio, and a linguistic site with a sketch of the language itself and its relationship to English.
2. How do I add a link to another website on my course web page?
Go to the the page where you want to add the link (Homepage, Course Materials, or another Organizer Page) and follow these steps:
- Make sure that the Designer Options tab is selected.
- Under Actions > Options: Links, click Add page or tool.
- Under Pages, click URL.
- Part 1: type the name of the webpage in the textbox. This is the title that will appear below the icon when the link is added to your page.
- Part 2: enter the address of the link. It is very important to include the "http://" at the beginning of the URL. Select whether you want the link to open in a new browser window or the same browser window by clicking the round button next to the appropriate choice. Choosing "new browser window" will cause a new window to open with the page contents, with your course site open in the background window. Choosing "same browser window" means the new page contents will replace the contents of your course site window.
- Part 3: decide where you want this link to appear on your course site and check the appropriate box. You can add it to the Course Menu or to an Organizer Page, or to both. When you check "Organizer Page," you can choose which Organizer Page the link will appear on from the pull down menu. The default selection is shown. You can also control how the item will look by selecting/deselecting the options for showing the item title and showing the item icon. You can change the appearance of the link later if you don't like how it turns out.
- Finally, click Add to add the link to your site.
IMPORTANT: To test the link, click View, then click on the link.
3. How do I change a link once I've added it?
- Make sure that the Designer Options tab is selected.
- Click on the link you wish to change.
- Change the settings as desired. You can update the URL, change the icon and title, and specify a selective release for the item. If you need help configuring any of these settings, please contact your ITC.
- When you are finished, click Update to apply your changes.
4. How do I remove links from my class site?
- Make sure that the Designer Options tab is selected.
- Click on the round button to the left of the link you wish to remove.
- Under Actions > Options: Links, click on Delete.
- A window will open warning that you are about to delete an item. Click OK to proceed.
- The link no longer appears on your course site. If you want to add it again, you must follow the steps for adding links under question 2 above.
5. How do I organize the links on my class site?
You can simply add all the links to your course Homepage, but if you have many links, you may wish to organize them into separate groups. Doing so involves using Organizer Pages -- essentially, folders and subfolders on your class site. One empty one is built into every course website automatically, and usually titled "Course Materials."
Organizer Pages can be nested within each other, so that you can create one called "Study Materials," for instance, and within that have one titled "Homework Materials" and another "For Quizzes."
To learn how to create Organizer Pages, please visit our Organizing Materials page. Once an Organizer page is created, you can use the buttons under Actions > Options: Links to move existing links to that page, or to add new links to it. If you need assistance with moving and organizing your links, please contact your ITC.
6. Can I reorganize the links on my class site later?
Yes. You can login and rearrange your links at any time. Access to certain links can even be restricted to certain students, or to a limited time during which they will be available. You can use the buttons under Actions > Options: Links to move and edit your links. Contact your ITC if you need assistance.
7. Can I have both links and my own materials on my class site?
Yes! Just follow the steps for each. You can have them appear on the same Organizer Page, or you can separate your own materials from links to other web sites by putting them on separate Organizer Pages.