Link to New Asset or Link to Existing Asset

Linking gives users a means of explicitly associating two assets with each other through easy-access reference points, called links. Links assist with setting up these associations from one WebCenter Portal asset to another. For example, using links you can associate a project plan document with a list of project issues. When users access the list, they can also immediately access the project plan by clicking a link that appears on the list. Links also provide a quick way to create new assets while establishing a link at the same time.

Links are scoped to portals. For example, the links that display in the Finance portal differ from the links that display in the Infrastructure portal, even though links are accessed from the same places in both portals. The assets to which you can link also depend on the following:

• The tools that have been enabled in your portal.

• The tools for which you have permissions.

Anywhere you see a Links icon, you can create a link to both new and existing assets.

There are two Links icons that each indicate the state of the Links dialog:

• The empty Links icon indicates that no links are present in the Links dialog.

• The gold Links icon indicates that links are present in the Links dialog.

Use the Link to Existing option in the Links dialog to link to existing WebCenter Portal assets, such as documents.

Use the Link to New option in the Links dialog to both create aWebCenter Portal asset and link to it in a single operation. Select Link to New to upload and link to documents, enter the URL of a web page to link to, and create and link to other types of assets.

The items you can link to differ between the Link to New and Link to Existing lists. For example, while you can link to a new note, you cannot link to an existing note. Additionally, the items you can link to from the Home portal differ from those you can link to from a portal. The following table lists the types of assets you can link to and from.

Table 3-4 Linking to Assets

Asset Type	Link to New	Link to Existing	Home Portal	Portal
Document/Wiki	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Event	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Note	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
URL	Yes	No	Yes	Yes

Given the right permissions, other users can see your links, and you can see the links of other users. What you can do with a link (such as view, create, delete) depends on your advanced permissions for Links. However, with notes, you can delete a link only if you also have delete permission for Notes.

What you can do with the linked asset is handled by the target asset's security and your permissions to work with these assets.

Most links are bidirectional, but some are not. Links on notes, URLs, and list rows do not create a reciprocal link on the link target. For example, if you create a link from an event to a note, from an event to a URL, or from a list row to a document, then a reciprocal link is not created on the link target. However, a link from an entire list (rather than an individual list row) does create a reciprocal link from the target.