# What Link Manager Pro does

Learn what each part of Link Manager Pro does and the five words you will meet on almost every screen. See where each part sits in WordPress.
Page: https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/
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What is Link Manager Pro? It's a WordPress plugin by Solvix Studio for short links on your own domain, redirects, click tracking, affiliate links, auto-linking and link health. This page lists what each part does, the five words you'll meet everywhere, and where each part sits in WordPress. New here? Start with [System requirements](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/requirements).

## Key facts

Link Manager Pro is a WordPress plugin by Solvix Studio. These are the facts people ask about first.

- Requirements: WordPress 6.0 or later and PHP 8.0 or later. Reading visitor countries from the country database needs PHP 8.1 or later.
- Where to get it: it's sold and downloaded from [linkmanagerpro.com](https://linkmanagerpro.com/?utm_source=docs&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=getting-started&utm_content=key-facts). It isn't in the WordPress.org plugin directory. Other plugins with similar names exist; this one is by Solvix Studio.
- Where it lives: under the WordPress menu **Link Manager**. Settings are at Link Manager › Settings.
- Imports: links from Pretty Links, ThirstyAffiliates and BetterLinks, in the browser or with WP-CLI, and redirects from Rank Math and SEOPress.
- WP-CLI: commands start with `wp link-manager-pro`.
- Hosting: short links are answered by your own WordPress site. No outside link-shortening service is involved.

## Getting started, step by step

Five pages take you from a fresh install to your first working short link. Read them in this order, or pick the one you need.

| Page | What it covers | Pick this if |
|---|---|---|
| [System requirements](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/requirements) | The WordPress and PHP versions you need, and where to check yours | You haven't installed yet |
| [Install and activate](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/installation) | Uploading the zip, activating, what a new site starts with, and updating | You have the zip from linkmanagerpro.com |
| [Quick start: setup](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/quick-start) | Each setup step: your prefix and redirect type, tracking and privacy, your first links or an import | Setup just opened, or you want to run it again |
| [Create your first short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link) | Making a short link, testing it in a private window and finding its click | You're ready to make your first link |
| [Activate your license](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/license) | Entering your key under Link Manager › Settings › License, and what each status means | You've bought Link Manager Pro and have your key |

Moving from Pretty Links, ThirstyAffiliates or BetterLinks? Install and activate first, then go to [Migrate to Link Manager Pro](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/migration/) before you turn the old plugin off.

For task-by-task walkthroughs once you're set up, see [All tutorials](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/).

## Link Manager Pro features, area by area

Link Manager Pro covers six areas, listed below. Each line links to the page that explains it in full.

### Short links

- [Create and edit a short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/creating-links): make an address on your domain, like `yoursite.com/link/spring-sale`, that sends visitors to the destination you choose. A link can also get a start and end date, a password, link attributes such as nofollow or sponsored, UTM parameters and auto-linking keywords.
- [The Short Links list](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/managing-links): search your links, filter them by category or tag, copy a link and get its QR code.
- [Other addresses and conflicts](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/other-addresses): more paths that open the same short link, for example the address a link had in another plugin.
- [Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules): send matching visitors to another destination, by country, device, operating system, browser, date or number of clicks.
- [UTM parameters and forwarding](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/utm-parameters): add UTM tags site-wide or per link, and pass the visitor's query parameters on to the destination.
- [Categories and tags](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/categories-tags): sort your short links into groups.
- [Share a link or QR code](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/tutorials/share-a-link): from a link's report, share the short link on social sites or download its QR code.

### Clicks and reports

- [How clicks are counted](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/click-tracking): Link Manager Pro records clicks on your short links for its reports and leaves known bots out by default. That page lists what isn't recorded.
- [Dashboard](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/analytics): clicks over time, visitors by country, and a **Needs attention** card with open problems.
- [Link report](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/link-report): one short link's clicks over time, countries, devices and browsers. It also shows the posts and sites that send clicks, campaign traffic and the latest clicks.
- [Clicks on links to your own pages](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/internal-click-tracking): count clicks on internal links in your posts too. It's off until you turn it on.
- [Notifications](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/settings/notifications): a link health summary by email, daily, weekly or monthly. **Email digest** starts at **Disabled** until you choose how often.

### Affiliates and campaigns

- [Affiliates](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/affiliates): save a partner's domain with your affiliate tag once. New short links to that domain get the tag when it's missing.
- [Campaigns](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/campaigns): give a `utm_campaign` value a name and default UTM values. Every saved campaign, and every value your short links carry, gets its own report.
- [Affiliate disclosure](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/disclosure): show your disclosure text above or below a post that links to one of your affiliates, directly or through a short link, or has a link marked sponsored. It shows on the post types you choose, posts and pages by default. It's off until you turn it on.

### Links in your posts

- [Short links in your posts](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/link-masking): when you publish or update a post, its external links become short links. **Mask links when saving posts** does this, and it's on by default, so it edits post content.
- [Auto-linking keywords](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/auto-linking): keywords you give a short link or an affiliate become links when a post is shown. The saved post doesn't change.
- [Editor tools](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/editor-tools): your short links show up in the link search of the block editor and the classic editor. Both editors also get a button to search for, create and insert a short link. It's **Short link** in the block editor's toolbar and **Insert short link** in the classic editor.
- [AI Link Assistant](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/ai-link-assistant): while you edit a post, it suggests your existing short links to insert, using an AI provider an administrator connects. It also lists links in the post that aren't short links yet. Suggestions are off until you turn on **Link suggestions**.

### Link Intelligence

- [Link Health](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/health-monitoring): finds broken links **In your content**, and 404s that visitors hit (**Visitor 404s**). By default, **Track visitor 404s** is **Smart (sitemap-based)**, so 404s on addresses your sitemap lists are logged, and so are broken links visitors follow from your own pages (not bots) (every 404 while the sitemap can't be read). Choose **All URLs** to log every 404.
- [Link Audit](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/link-audit): finds posts that no other post links to (orphaned) and posts with too few internal links in or out (weak). It sums this up in a **Coverage score** from 0 to 100, which also counts broken links.
- [Link Equity](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/link-equity): ranks the URLs and domains your content links to, by how often and how prominently they're linked. It's an estimate within your own site, not Google's view.
- [Redirects](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/redirects): send an old address on your site, like `/old-page`, to a new URL with a 301, 302 or 307 redirect. No short link is involved.

### Moving in and running your site

- [Migrate to Link Manager Pro](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/migration/): import your links from Pretty Links, ThirstyAffiliates or BetterLinks.
- [Import SEO plugin redirects](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/migration/seo-plugin-redirects): bring exact-match redirects over from Rank Math or SEOPress.
- [Back up and restore](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/backup-restore): save the data you choose to a JSON file, and restore from one.
- [Privacy and personal data](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/privacy): shorten visitor IP addresses and set how long click data is kept. Answer requests with WordPress's export and erase personal data tools.
- [Access for editors](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/access): let editors manage links and see reports.
- [Webhooks and AutomatorWP](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/webhooks-automation): send events such as a short link click or a broken link found to another service, or use them in AutomatorWP.
- [Integrations](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/settings/integrations): clear page caches when links change, and wait for a cookie consent plugin before setting the tracking cookie.
- [WP-CLI commands](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/wp-cli): run imports and other jobs from WordPress's command line.
- [Uninstall and delete data](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/uninstall): deleting the plugin keeps your data unless **Delete all data when the plugin is deleted** is on.

## Five words to know

Five words come up on almost every screen and page: short link, destination URL, redirect type, redirect and other address. Here's what each one means.

| Word | What it means | Explained on |
|---|---|---|
| short link | An address on your own site, like `yoursite.com/link/spring-sale`, that sends visitors on to another address. The `link` part is your **Short link prefix**, and `spring-sale` is the slug. Links to your affiliates' domains can use an **Affiliate link prefix** instead. | [Create your first short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link) |
| **Destination URL** | Where a short link sends visitors: a full address that starts with `https://` or `http://`. | [Create and edit a short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/creating-links) |
| **Redirect type** | How a short link sends visitors on: 301 (permanent), 302 (temporary) or 307 (temporary, keeps the method). New links start with your site's default, 301 unless you change it. | [Which redirect type to choose](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link#which-redirect-type-should-you-choose) |
| redirect | An old address on your site that sends visitors to a new URL, with no short link involved. You manage them under **Redirects**. | [Redirects](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/redirects) |
| other address | One more path that opens a short link, for example the address a link had in another plugin. A link's report lists them under **Other addresses**. | [Other addresses and conflicts](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/other-addresses) |

The [Glossary](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/glossary) has the other terms, such as slug, nofollow and UTM parameters.

## Where to find everything in WordPress

Link Manager Pro lives under **Link Manager** in the WordPress menu. Every Link Manager screen also has its own header with the same sections and **Help & Support** at the right end. Link Intelligence screens add a tab row.

[Screenshot: The Link Manager Pro admin header in WordPress, marked: 1 the six sections, 2 the Link Intelligence tab row, 3 Help & Support]

- The six sections (1) are **Dashboard**, **Short Links**, **Campaigns**, **Affiliates**, **Link Intelligence** and **Settings**. The WordPress menu **Link Manager** lists the same ones. The logo at the left of the header takes you back to the Dashboard. In a narrow window, sections that don't fit move into **More**.
- **Link Intelligence** (2) opens **Link Health**. A tab row under the header holds **Link Health**, **Link Audit**, **Link Equity** and **Redirects**. Hover over **Link Intelligence** in the header to see the same four.
- **Settings** opens on the **General** tab. The other tabs are **Redirection**, **Tracking**, **Auto-linking**, **Link Intelligence**, **Affiliate disclosure**, **Notifications**, **Advanced**, **Integrations**, **Migration**, **License**, **Webhooks**, **AI Link Assistant** and **Backup & restore**. Only administrators see **Settings**.
- **Help & Support** (3) is the life-buoy icon at the right end of the header. It opens a panel with **Documentation**, **Get support**, **Send feedback** and links to your account and to linkmanagerpro.com and solvixstudio.com. Administrators also see **System information**, with a **Copy** button for support requests.
- Link Manager Pro adds two widgets to the WordPress dashboard. The Overview widget shows your total clicks, short links and broken links, and your top short links. The Quick Add widget creates a short link without opening Link Manager Pro ([Add a short link from the WordPress dashboard](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link#add-a-short-link-from-the-wordpress-dashboard)).
- The post editor gets the link search and the **Short link** button (**Insert short link** in the classic editor). It also gets the **AI Link Assistant** and the **Internal link optimization** box. See [Editor tools](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/editor-tools).

## Who can use Link Manager Pro?

Administrators can always use all of Link Manager Pro. Other users get into the **Link Manager** menu only when an administrator lets them, and **Settings** stays with administrators either way. The editor tools are different: they work for anyone who can edit posts.

- Administrators see everything, including **Settings** and setup.
- Editors can manage links and see reports once an administrator allows it. The setting is **Who can use Link Manager Pro**, under Link Manager › Settings › Advanced: choose **Editors and above**. It starts at **Administrators only**. Settings, backups, webhooks and the AI key stay with administrators. [Access for editors](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/access) has the details.
- Anyone who can edit posts, can find and insert short links in the post editor. Authors can also create them, and contributors can't. They also get its AI Link Assistant and Internal link optimization box. No access to the **Link Manager** menu is needed.
- The two dashboard widgets show only to people who can use Link Manager Pro.

## Details

For site admins and developers: the fixed names and addresses behind the screens.

| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| WordPress menu | **Link Manager** (screen title Link Manager Pro), at `wp-admin/admin.php?page=link-manager-pro` |
| Screen addresses | The app uses addresses after `#`: `#/links`, `#/campaigns`, `#/affiliates`, `#/link-health`, `#/link-audit`, `#/link-equity`, `#/redirects`, `#/settings/general` |
| Plugin slug | `link-manager-pro` |
| WP-CLI namespace | `wp link-manager-pro`. `wp help link-manager-pro` lists the commands |
| Who can open the menu | Administrators (`manage_options`). With **Editors and above**, also users whose role has `manage_link_manager_pro`, which activation adds to the Editor role. The **Settings** entry needs `manage_options` |
| Editor tools (link search, new short links, AI Link Assistant, Internal link optimization) | Anyone with `edit_posts` |
| Header on small screens | Under 783 px wide, the sections move behind a **Menu** button |

## Related

- [System requirements](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/requirements)
- [Install and activate](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/installation)
- [Create your first short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link)
- [Migrate to Link Manager Pro](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/migration/)
- [Glossary](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/glossary)