Arnica LinkServer is a web-based tool, which helps you create and present customized sets of links. Arnica LinkServer add many great features to what may otherwise be considered a simple task of displaying links. These features are: authentication, authorization, conditional display, randomized display from a pool of available links, display and click quota, rotating links, links with special presentation features, server-side processing of click event, detailed click statistics reporting, etc.

True Thin Client 

Arnica LinkServer is a true thin client solution: design, execution and administration are all done through a web browser. To ensure broader compatibility, LinkServer uses pure HTML/XML/CSS content on web pages and does not utilize client-side ActiveX components, DLLs, or heavy-duty JavaScript libraries. Remote design, maintenance and customization through a web browser provide great flexibility and opportunities in both internal and outsourced development and management. 

Template Driven 

Arnica LinkServer is a template-driven system. Templates are created using standard HTML content fragments with evaluatable expressions and may be used to customize virtually any presentation part of link listing output: top level link composition, composition within link subcategories, design of actual link presentation, etc. Link presentation may be defined as text content or images, with various effects provided by HTML and CSS, for example, image fading effect when displaying rotating links with each link presented as an image. Shared presentation features saved in a template may be used for multiple link categories and managed centrally. A contemporary default template may be used for all new solutions, with further modifications added to fit your style requirements.

Feature-Rich Management Options 

Arnica LinkServer provides designers with many powerful management features, which affect whether a link is displayed, how it is displayed and what happens when user clicks on the link:

• authentication and authorization (to determine whether user is authorized to see the link and/or click on the link)
• customized presentation of link content based on type of user and other conditions
• link list (link category) template
• individual link presentation template
• use text and images in clickable link area
• display quota (specifies maximum number of times the link may be displayed)
• click quota (specifies maximum number of times the link may be clicked on)
• rotating presentation of links
• randomized presentation of links
• click count
• click activity and link popularity statistics
  
• vertical, horizontal or custom link list layout orientation
  
• flexible link position relative to other links
  
• conditional display within a specified date range, which also accepts evaluatable expressions to dynamically calculate the date range
• rich set of server-side actions, which may be configured in response to user clicking on link, e.g. display content saved with link definition, execute web request GET/POST against web services with specified URL and display received content, HTTP redirect, download file, execute server-side script, etc.
  
• dynamic links - generate links as a result of database query
  
• condition scripts, which may express any condition affecting link presentation and click action
  

Central Database Repository  

Arnica LinkServer stores its meta data (link categories definitions) in a central database repository (based on Microsoft SQLServer or free SQLServer Express Edition) and allows for certain operations to be performed simultaneously against multiple link categories and links at design time, for example, metadata search and updates against several link categories, link category export/import, ability to use global parameters shared by multiple links, etc.  There are no individual files to deploy on multiple servers to make the solution available at runtime, as all link definitions and templates are stored in the database and LinkServer pulls all this information from database at realtime when displaying link categories with links. 

Broad Compatibility and Integration Capabilities 

Web interface of Arnica LinkServer allows you to easily integrate your LinkServer solution with virtually any contemporary tools and technologies supporting HTTP communication, such as .NET, PHP, Java, COM, Microsoft SharePoint, IBM WebSphere, open source portals and other integration platforms. Users can retrieve links for presentation by link category to achieve the effect of a customized menu system on a standalone page, or links may be presented as a portlet on a portal page using web requests.

Access Control and Activity Log 

Arnica LinkServer supports user authentication and authorization provided by .NET and allows granular user access control with zero programming efforts through integration with Arnica UnifiedLogon identity management system (single application version of Arnica UnifiedLogon is included at no cost with Arnica LinkServer).

Arnica LinkServer publishes detailed activity events into a central database repository, enabling you to perform statistical analysis of activity by various parameters, such as click per user, click per link, within specified date range, etc.