Purpose

The Link Collection List Microcontent type helps you create curated lists of external links. These links enhance your website's content. It's great for times when automatic generation doesn't work. You can also control how links are ordered and presented.

When to use

Use Link Collection Lists for:

Non-Automatic Lists: Use this module to add and manage a specific list of links that can't be generated automatically in other ways.
Custom Order: You can manually sort links in the list if you want to control their order.
Contextual Links: Link collections are meant to be added to other pages, like topic or landing pages. They give users useful external resources.
Partner Links: Showcase links to partner organizations or related websites.
Further Reading: Provide users with additional resources to explore a topic in more depth.

Elements of a Link Collection List

Title: Title of collection, limited to 75 characters (option to hide title)
Description: Brief description
Link URL: The link URLs for internal pages will be the title of the page, but for external pages the https URL link can be used
Link Text: Limited to 50 characters
Link Description: Content limited to 120 characters
Number of Links: Enter no more than 20 links. At least two links are required. Provide a valid URL and label for each link. Optionally, provide a link description in plain language to give more context to users, up to 120 characters.
Sorting: Option to sort links alphabetically

Example of a link collection:

Sample Links in a Link Collection List, displayed card style left to right

Note that new links may be dragged up or down in order to confirm placement.

Difference between Link Collection List and the Linkit tool:

Link Collections are best to use if:

For easier link updating since any changes made to a Link Collection are updated site wide
Highlighting important links that you want to stand out for users in a Basic Page or Landing Page

The Linkit Tool is best used if:

You have one link that doesn't need to be updated
The link doesn't need any images or special attention by using a card or image

When creating each link, put in the title of the existing "major content type" you wish to link.

A Sample link inside a Link Collection List

If a link is specified as "off platform" there will be an external link indicator.

If a link is specified as "on platform" there will be an internal link indicator.

External vs Internal link on Link Collection List

Link Collection Lists may be displayed in "card" format as well as in "list" format.
One individual link collection list may be placed throughout the site, such as on different landing pages.

Example of Link Collection Cards:

Link Collection List in Card format (light background)

Link Collection List in Card format (dark background)

Example of Link Collection List:

Log in to your site

You can login to your site from login.iowa.gov.

Each person on your agency team has a specific user role for the website. These roles set permissions. They control who can edit, review, and publish content. You can ask for a role change or remove a role. Just submit a ServiceNow support ticket if you need help.

Create a new Link Collection List

Link Collectiton Lists are a type of Microcontent. Create new content by navigating to Content > Add Microcontent > Link Collection (List) or directly to /node/add/link_collection_list.

The Link Collection list requires individual links, where a link consists of a URL, a Title, and optional text.

Remember to type in the page title, of the text you wish to link. This allows you to do "relative" links.

If you are typing in a URL, ie. https://va.iowa.gov, this will be an off platform "external" URL and will display as such.

Once your Link Collection List is available, place it into any Landing Page.

Work with Landing Pages

How to add Microcontent to the Landing Page

If you want to add Microcontent like Promo's, Link Collections, Link Collection Lists, Automatic Lists, etc. to your landing page can do that by clicking the "Layout" tab within your landing page edit bar:

Click the "Show content preview" button so that you can see a preview of what the Microcontent will look like

To add a Microcontent to the landing page we first need to click on the "Add section" and then choose which color background you'd like:

how to add color to micorcontent landing page

Next click "Add Section." The administrative label is optional but it's recommended to put an administrative label name on the section for additional help with organizing your landing pages:

administrative label helps with organization

Now that we have our section we can move on to adding our microcontent by clicking the "Add block" button and the list of Microcontent's that can be added will appear: