Time Limit Links Version 1.0
We will soon be releasing an application available to the public called Time Limit Links. It’s a great little program written in PHP that gives your visitors the power to add links to the front page. When the user adds a link, it shows up in a block that slowly makes its way to the top of the list. As time passes, blocks are “expired” from the page, making them shift to the top as they get closer to their expiration date.
Time Limit Links isn’t a new idea, but we’ve added some features to our application that give you more control. For instance, you actually have a back end and not just a configuration file to edit. In fact, nearly everything is done through the administration area. We’ve made it easy for you to change how many blocks can be shown, add keywords and a description to your site, and even change the expiration time limit from seconds all the way up to years. Granted, we don’t know why you would want to limit a block to showing for 10 years, but it’s possible!
One of the things we noticed that was lacking in similar applications was the ability to stop someone from taking up the entire set of link spaces. Our application can limit the number of live entries from someone, so others can have a chance to add their links as well. And speaking of security, we’ve also included ReCaptcha, the powerful spam fighting CAPTCHA engine that helps prevent spammers from flooding your forms. The ability is there, you only need to register for a free account from ReCaptcha in order to use it. Add the keys they give you into the security section of the application. Next turn it on and the submission form and login form will contain a ReCaptcha code that must be entered to process. Spammers hate that stuff.
Another piece of awesome that we’ve added which seemed to be lacking in some of the other applications was the Alert Me and Automatic Approval options. In other applications, anyone could add a link that didn’t need to be checked first. This usually resulted in the site getting flooded with content the owner didn’t want. That, combined with a limited backend (or none at all in many cases) meant the link stayed there. In Time Limit Links, you can control what shows up. If Automatic Approval is set to Off, every link that is added must be approved. You get to see the link address and decide if it’s something you want or not. If it is, approve it. If not, kick it out! There is also the option to approve all links in the queue, or deny all links.
When a link expires, it doesn’t actually get deleted from the database. Instead, it simply passes from the page. You can view all of the links that have been added, and even reactivate some old ones. This is very useful if you want to add one of your own and don’t want to keep entering it. Just reactivate it and its back on the site. However, if you do want to delete old links, we’ve added the ability to purge the database of all links older than 90 days. This will completely delete anything older than 90 days from the database.
But what if you want to keep some of those old ones around? Protect them!
Each link can be protected individually from purge deletion. If someone added a link that you like, simply click the “Protect” link, and the system purge won’t delete it. Pretty nifty, isn’t it? Thank Andrea for that one!
There is more to the Time Limit Links Application. Just jump over to our applications area and view the complete feature list. We have everything you need to know about the application, including the system requirements (as I said, it’s written in PHP). Check it out, we had a lot of fun making it.
Or, check out the online working version of Time Limit Links here.
I am the founder of Asheboro Creative. I'm a PHP and MySQL developer that thinks CSS is the greatest thing since the knife that sliced bread. I am a stickler for validating our websites and love to check out design galleries.
- Time Limit Links Version 1.0
We've just completed version 1.0 of Time Limit Links, our web links directory application that shows links for a certain amount of time before expiring and allowing those posted after it to move up the page. - My we have been busy latey
We have been very busy lately. July came and hit us like a hammer with application development and client work. Read about what we've been working on and what is coming soon. - Asheboro Creative Redesigned
We redesigned our website and put a lot of effort into what we wanted this time. Check it out! - Buying Benefits
Buying benefits is the key to getting what you need. When you buy solely based on price, you're not always going to get what you need. - Time Limit Links Maintenance Release 1.0.1
Time Limit Links has recieved a maintenance release to address bugs, security fixes, and feature enhancements.
Comments
Dave
06/2/09, 1:27am