Hi again, Yannic —
Thanks! Appreciate the details… I hadn’t found any documentation about those placeholders in Link Library, so they may come in handy at some point.
On the ability to automatically open a Link Library Popup with the external websites directly loaded (iFrame within the Popup): From what I’ve researched, I believe there are MANY people searching for this capability. There are lots of plugins and scripts that will do this on a link-by-link basis (within a page or post) — and some that will do this globally (a very desired feature from the forums and posts I’ve been reading) — but NONE that I’ve found has the ability to do this with the links from the WP Link Manager. I’ve done fairly exhaustive research (dozens of hours) — in the WP repository… through script sites such as Code Canyon… and through Google search. Your Link Library plugin may have a distinct and unique advantage there.
The reason this capability is important for an information-rich website such as the one I’m building is that it allows me to freely offer many links to external websites — without sending people away from my website. Most Lightbox/Popup frameworks allow for this (plus handling video / audio / docs / etc.) — but like I said, none of them that I’ve found will work with links in the WP Link Manager. Sure, I could send people to new pages/tabs for each link clicked… but after a few opened links, my site will get lost in the shuffle. Since I’m the referring site (and am spending a lot of time to bring them these high-quality links in the first place)… I want a foolproof way for people to stay on my site — while still being able to browse all the information I’m giving them. This is especially important on smaller screened devices.
Ideally (a wishlist), it works as follow:
1) There is a selection checkbox on the Link Library Setting Page to select “Open all external links in an iFrame Popup”. The Popup opens automatically with the website (iFrame) loaded — there is no additional link needed within the Popup.
—> This is most likely already built into any framework you would choose. I know you’re using a framework already for the Popup you have now… but a particularly good one is Fancybox ( http://fancybox.net ) — both for its capabilities and for being visually attractive.
2) There is the ability to select the Popup size in either pixels -or- percentage… so that a window size of “100%” would open up the maximum default, according to the Popup’s capability. It should be responsive, accommodating all window sizes.
3) There is the ability to include additional HTML of my choosing within the Popup — ideally, at the top of the Popup window — which could include a headline, description, perhaps the placeholders you already use, etc. A big bonus would be the ability for my WP Shortcodes to function within the Popup as well (load above the iFrame).
4) People can then navigate from there within the same Popup (lightbox), When they are done, they would simply close the Popup — and would still be on the original page containing the link they clicked (the iFrame / external website, is within the Popup).
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Not sure if you have any commercial intentions with your Link Library plugin… but this function would make for a great paid add-on, if you were so inclined. I’d be happy to assist with any additional input / function details, if you’d like, to iron things out.
Thanks!
