Use and configure a Summary Link Web Part or a Summary Link field control

A Summary Link Web Part and a Summary Link field control both provide an easy way to build a page of links to various resources, both inside and outside of your site. You can control the appearance, organization, and presentation of the links that you add to a Summary Link Web Part or field control.

What do you want to do?

Create a Web page that has a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Configure a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Use a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Create a Web page that has a Summary Link Web Part or field control

When you create a page, you can choose for that page to have summary links by selecting the appropriate page layout.

Two page layouts already contain a Summary Link field control when you use them to create a page:

• Article page with summary links

• Welcome page with summary links

• Welcome splash page

You can use the Summary Link field control just as you would use a Summary Link Web Part, except that you cannot add a field control to a page. Field controls must be added to a page layout before the layout is used to create a Web page.

Add a Summary Link Web Part to a page

Summary Link Web Parts can be added to a page only if the page layout supports Web Parts. You can add a Summary Link Web Part to a page that uses any of the following Welcome page layouts:

• Advanced Search

• Intranet Home

• News Home

• People Search Results Page

• Search Page

• Search Results

• Site Directory Home

• Welcome page with table of contents

• Browse to the page to which you want to add a Summary Link Web Part.

• On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

• Choose a zone for the Web Part, and then click Add a Web Part in that zone. The Add Web Parts Web Page dialog box opens.

• In the Add Web Parts dialog box, under All Web Parts, in the Default section, select the Summary Link Web Part check box, and then click Add.

Top of Page

Configure a Summary Link Web Part or field control

There are two sets of configuration options for a Summary Link Web Part: the standard Web Part configuration options and the Summary Link configuration options. The Summary Link configuration options are also available for Summary Link field controls.

To choose the standard Web Part configuration options, click the arrow at the top-right corner of the Web Part, and then click Modify Shared Web Part. For more information about these configurations options, see the article Customize Web Parts.

If you are already editing the page, the arrow at the top-right corner of the Web Part is labeled edit.

To choose the Summary Link configuration options, do the following:

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click Configure Styles and Layout. The Configure Styles and Layout Web Page dialog box appears.

3. You can choose the following options:

   • Default style for new links      Choose a display style for new links. The style that you choose is applied to each link that you add to the Summary Link Web Part.

   • Change existing links to use this style      Select the check box and then choose a display style to apply that style to all existing links in the Summary Link Web Part.

   • Set group headers to use this style      If you separate your links into groups, you can use this option to set the display style for group headers.

   • Number of columns for groups      If you separate your links into groups, you can use this setting to specify the number of columns that will be displayed. A Summary Link Web Part or field control can have up to five columns. If you use five or fewer groups, you can make each group appear in its own column by using the Number of columns for groups option to specify a number that matches the number of groups that you have. If you specify a number of columns that is less than the number of groups, the groups are evenly distributed across the available columns, and a new row containing the additional groups is added to the bottom of the Web Part.

Top of Page

Use a Summary Link Web Part or field control

You can use a Summary Link Web Part or field control to create groups that you can use to organize links, to add new links, and to sort the links and group headers that are in the Web Part.

If you plan to organize the links by using groups, it is a good idea to create the groups before you add new links. This allows you to place each new link in a group when you add the link. If you choose not to create groups first but then later decide that you want to use groups, you can edit each link to add it to a group, or you can drag each link into the group to which you want the link to belong.

What do you want to do?

Add a group to a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Add a link to a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Sort the summary links and group headers in a Summary Link Web Part or field control

Edit an existing link or group header

Add a group to a Summary Link Web Part or field control

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click New Group. The New Group Web Page dialog box appears.

3. In the Group Header Name box, type a name for the group. This name appears at the top of the list of links that you add to the group.

   Note: When you create the first group for a particular Summary Link Web Part or field control, any existing links in the Web Part or field control are added to that group. Additional groups that you create are initially empty.

Remove a group

You can also remove a group from a Summary Link Web Part or field control.

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click the menu next to the group that you want to remove, and then click Delete.

   Note: When you remove a group that contains links, those links are moved to the first group that remains. If you remove the only group, the links remain, and are no longer in a group.

Add a link to a Summary Link Web Part or field control

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click New Link. The New Link Web Page dialog box appears.

3. In the New Link dialog box, choose whether the link points to a person or to an item.

   Note: A Summary Link to a person is available only for sites that have a Shared Services Provider (SSP) configured. If your site does not have an SSP configured, the Person option is not available.

   If you choose to link to a person, a new option, Person, appears in the New Link dialog box. You can specify which person the link points to by typing in the Person box or by clicking Browse and then selecting a person from the Add Person Web Page dialog box. The Person option does not appear if you choose to link to an item.

4. Add a title and a description for the link by typing in the Title and Description boxes. You must supply a title, but a description is optional. If you add a description, you can check the spelling of the description text by clicking the Check Spelling button next to the Description box.

5. You can specify the address (URL) of the link by typing it in the Link URL box. If the link points to a person, the address will already be filled in. If the link points to an item that is in your site, you can click the Browse button to locate the item and automatically fill in the Link URL box. To test your link address, click Click here to test.

6. Select the Open link in a new window option to make the link open in a new browser window.

7. You can add a ToolTip to the link by typing in the ToolTip box. The ToolTip appears over the link when a page viewer rests the mouse pointer on the link.

8. You can associate an image with the link by typing the address for the image in the Image URL box. If the image is in your site, you can click the Browse button to locate the image and automatically fill in the Image URL box. If you associate an image with the link, the image appears beside the link, and page viewers can click either the image or the link to navigate to the link's target. To test your image address, click Click here to test.

9. If you specify an image to associate with the link, you can also specify alternative text for the image by typing the text in the Image description box. Alternative text is read aloud by page reading software when a page viewer who is using page reading software visits the page. This text is also displayed in lieu of the image if, for any reason, a page viewer's browser does not display the image.

10. If you have already added groups to the Summary Link Web Part or field control, you can specify which group the link belongs to by using the Group drop-down list. When you edit a link, you can use the Group drop-down list to add the link to a group or to change which group the link belongs to.

11. You can set the display style for the link by selecting an option in the Style box. Note that some styles do not display images, so if you have associated an image with your link, be careful to choose a style that displays images.

Remove a link

You can also remove a link from a Summary Link Web Part or field control.

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click the menu next to the link that you want to remove, and then click Delete.

Sort the summary links and group headers in a Summary Link Web Part or field control

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. Do one of the following:

   • In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, drag a link or a group header to change its position relative to the other links and group headers. A horizontal red bar appears where the link or group header will move.

   • Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons:

     1. In the Summary Link Web Part or field control, click Reorder. The Reorder Links Web Page dialog box appears.

     2. Click a group header or link that you want to move, and then click Move Up or Move Down.

        Note: If you move a link up or down, the link may be moved to a different group. If the link is at the top of a group and there is another group above it, when you click Move Up, the link is moved into the group above it. If the link is at the bottom of a group and there is another group below it, when you select the link and click Move Down, the link is moved into the group below it.

Edit an existing link or group header

1. On the Site Actions menu , click Edit Page.

   Note: This step is not necessary if you are already editing the page.

2. In editing mode, each summary link and group header has a menu, located to the left of the link or header. Click the menu, and then click Edit. Depending on whether you clicked the menu for a link or for a group header, the Edit Link Web Page or Edit Group dialog box appears.

3. The same options that are available when you add a link or add a group are also available when you edit a group or a link.

Top of Page