# Create and edit a short link

Know what each short link form field does and what it starts with. Learn how to schedule, password protect or change a link.
Page: https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/creating-links
Use when someone asks: short link settings; password protect a link wordpress; link expiration date wordpress; schedule a link
Intent: How-to / Info
Also searched as: branded short link; branded links; custom short url; custom short link

These are all the short link settings in Link Manager Pro, in the order the form shows them. For each one you'll find what it does, what it starts with and what your visitors get. It's the same form for a new link and an existing one. For your very first link, start with [Create your first short link](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link).

## Branded short links

Every short link is a branded short link: it uses your own domain and a slug you can choose, like `yoursite.com/link/spring-sale`. The **Short link prefix** (`link` unless you changed it) comes between them. If you set an **Affiliate link prefix**, a short link whose destination is on one of your affiliates' domains uses that prefix instead, like `yoursite.com/recommends/amazon-deal` ([General settings](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/settings/general#affiliate-link-prefix)).

## Before you start

- You need access to Link Manager Pro. Administrators always have it; editors only when you allow it ([Access for editors](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/access)).
- Nothing you type is saved until you select **Create short link** or **Save changes**. One exception: a category or tag you create from the form is saved straight away.

## Every field in the short link form

The form has five main fields on top and five optional sections below them. This table lists every field in order, with the section it's in and the value it starts with on a new link.

| Field | Section | Starts with | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Destination URL** | Top | Empty (required) | Where visitors go. A full address starting with `http://` or `https://`, up to 2,048 characters. |
| **Slug (optional)** | Top | Empty | The part after the prefix: `spring-sale` in `yoursite.com/link/spring-sale`. Up to 64 characters, no spaces or `/`, unique; empty means random ([slug rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link#choose-the-slug-for-a-custom-short-url)). |
| **Redirect type** | Top | Your **Default redirect type** (301 on a new site) | 301 (permanent), 302 or 307 (temporary). Left untouched on a new link to an affiliate's domain, it saves the affiliate's type ([which to choose](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/getting-started/first-short-link#which-redirect-type-should-you-choose)). |
| **Categories** | Top | None | Link categories. **New category** at the bottom of the list asks for a **Name** and a **Color**. |
| **Tags** | Top | None | Link tags. Type a new name and press Enter, or select **New tag**. A name that exists already says **That tag already exists.** |
| **Starts** | **Schedule & access** | Empty ("Immediately") | The date and time the link starts working. |
| **Expires** | **Schedule & access** | Empty ("Never expires") | The date and time the link stops working. Must be after **Starts**. |
| **Password protection** | **Schedule & access** | Empty ("No password") | A password visitors enter first. Up to 128 characters. |
| **Forward query parameters** | **Schedule & access** | Off | **Forward the visitor’s query parameters to the destination**: what comes after `?` in the visitor's address goes on to the destination. |
| `nofollow`, `noopener`, `noreferrer`, `sponsored` | **Link attributes** | All unticked | `rel` values on the links auto-linking and masking make for this link. |
| **Replace keywords automatically**, **Keywords**, **Priority**, **Auto-link only on** | **Auto-linking** | Off; **Priority** 10 | Turns words in your posts into this link. |
| **Source (utm_source)**, **Medium (utm_medium)**, **Campaign (utm_campaign)**, **Term (utm_term)**, **Content (utm_content)** | **UTM parameters** | Empty | Five campaign tags added to the destination on every click, with a **Preview**. |
| Rules | **Routing rules** | None | Send matching visitors to another destination. |

These are Link Manager Pro's own categories and tags, not your posts'. One made with **Create and select** or Enter is saved at once, even if you cancel the link ([Categories and tags](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/categories-tags)).

## Open the short link form

You open the form from the Short Links screen, the Dashboard or a link's report. A new link opens the **New short link** dialog, and an existing one opens **Edit short link**.

Link Manager › Short Links

1. For a new link, select **New short link** at the top right. On the Dashboard, it's the plus button at the top (its tooltip says **New short link**).
2. To change a link, select the **Edit** icon (the pencil) in its row. Or open the link's report and select the pencil next to **Copy link**.
3. Fill in the fields you need, such as **Redirect type** and **Categories** (1) and **Tags** (2). Turn on the switch of each optional section you use, for example **Link attributes** (3).
4. Select **Create short link** (new link) or **Save changes** (existing link).

[Screenshot: The New short link dialog in WordPress with example short link settings, marked: 1 Redirect type and Categories, 2 Tags, 3 the Link attributes section switched on]

**Short link created.** or **Short link updated.** appears. A new link's report opens; after an edit, you stay where you were.

The edit dialog loads the link fresh from your site and opens the sections that hold something. **Save changes** stays grayed out until you change something.

A section's switch only shows or hides it: switched off, what you entered is still saved and still applies. A section in use is tinted, and its header says what's set, like "2 set". A section with a problem opens and shows **Needs attention**.

To leave without saving, select **Cancel**. If you changed anything, **Discard changes?** asks first; **Discard** leaves the link as it was.

## Schedule a link with a start and expiry date

Use **Starts** and **Expires** under **Schedule & access** to make a short link work only for a while. Outside those dates the short link sends nobody anywhere, and WordPress answers its address as if the link didn't exist.

Link Manager › Short Links

1. Open the link's form (new, or **Edit** on an existing link).
2. Turn on **Schedule & access**.
3. Pick a date and time in **Starts**, in **Expires**, or in both (1). Leave one empty for no limit on that side.
4. Select **Create short link** or **Save changes**.

[Screenshot: The Schedule and access section of a short link with a start and expiry date filled in and a saved password, marked: 1 Starts and Expires, 2 Password protection with Remove password]

What happens around the dates:

- Times use your site's time zone (WordPress **Settings › General**).
- While the link isn't live, WordPress shows what it would show without it, normally your theme's 404 page. No click is recorded. Its [other addresses](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/other-addresses) behave the same.
- The Short Links list marks the link **Scheduled** or **Expired**; the report shows the dates in the **Active** row.
- Before **Starts**, the 404 isn't cached, so the link works from its start time.
- An expired link isn't deleted. Clear or move **Expires**, save, and it works again.

The dates switch off only the short link's address. Everything that points at it stays in place:

- Its keywords still become links in your posts while **Replace keywords automatically** is on.
- Links already in your posts, emails or QR codes still point at it.

A visitor who clicks one of them outside the dates gets the 404 page. So before you schedule a link, turn **Replace keywords automatically** off on it, and turn it back on once the link starts. Or remove the link from posts that shouldn't show it.

If the form says **The expiry date must be after the start date.**, **Expires** is the same as **Starts** or earlier.

## How do I password protect a short link?
Enter a password under **Password protection**, and visitors get a password page before the redirect. Once they've entered it, their browser goes straight through for the next 24 hours.

Link Manager › Short Links

1. Open the link's form and turn on **Schedule & access**.
2. Enter the password in **Password protection** (2). The eye icon shows what you typed.
3. Select **Create short link** or **Save changes**.

Only a scrambled (hashed) form is saved, so nobody can read it back. Later the field shows "Password set: leave blank to keep it".

- To change the password, type a new one and save.
- To remove it, select **Remove password**, then save. Until you save, **Keep the password** undoes that.

### What visitors see on a password-protected link

Visitors get a page titled **Password required**, with a **Password** field and a **Continue** button.

- The right password: the visitor goes on, and a cookie lets that browser through this link for 24 hours.
- A wrong password: the page shows **Incorrect password.** and asks again.
- Too many wrong tries: 5 wrong passwords from one IP address, less than an hour apart, lock it out of this link. The lockout lasts 15 minutes. Meanwhile every try shows **Incorrect password.**, even the right one.
- After a lockout ends, each further wrong try locks it again, twice as long each time, up to 1 hour.
- Changing or removing the password ends every earlier pass at once.

The lockout uses the IP address your site sees. Behind a proxy or CDN, that can be one address for every visitor, so 5 wrong tries by anyone lock everyone out. **Trust proxy headers** under Link Manager › Settings › Advanced lets your site read the real address.

The password page isn't a click; the click counts when the visitor goes through. Other addresses ask for the same password.

## Forward query parameters and link attributes

**Forward query parameters** sits under **Schedule & access**. It passes the query string on to the destination: the part after `?` in the address the visitor opened. With **Forward the visitor’s query parameters to the destination** on, `yoursite.com/link/deal?sub=mail` sends the visitor to your destination with `sub=mail` added.

- `pid` isn't passed on. Link Manager Pro uses it to tell which post a click came from.
- A forwarded parameter replaces one of the same name that's already in the destination or set in **UTM parameters**.

**Link attributes** sets the `rel` values on the links that auto-linking adds for this link's keywords. They also apply to links that masking makes to this link's destination, and when you replace old shortcodes with short links ([Replace old shortcodes](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/migration/replace-shortcodes)). Your site's rel settings under Link Manager › Settings › Redirection are added on top.

Links masked when a post is saved get your site's rel settings, or an affiliate's own, plus these ticks when masking reuses this short link. Links inserted with the editor's short link button get what you tick there. A link to your own site never gets `nofollow` or `sponsored` from auto-linking or masking.

## Auto-linking, UTM parameters and routing rules

Each of these sections has its own page; here's the short version.

### Auto-linking

Auto-linking turns words in your posts into this short link when a post is shown. The post itself isn't changed.

Turn on **Replace keywords automatically**, then enter **Keywords** separated by commas, like `running shoes, trail shoes` (up to 50, each up to 120 characters). **Priority** runs from 0 to 100 and starts at 10. **Auto-link only on** limits the link to some categories or tags; empty means every page.

**Priority** decides who gets a keyword that more than one link uses: the lower number wins. With the same number, the link added to your site first wins. An affiliate with auto-linking on always beats every short link for the same keyword, whatever the numbers.

- **Auto-link only on** lists your WordPress post categories and tags.
- **Auto-link only on** is checked before the winner is picked. If the top link is limited to some categories, a post outside them gets the next link in line for that keyword.
- Keywords become links only while **Link keywords in posts automatically** is on under Link Manager › Settings › Auto-linking. It's on by default.

[Auto-linking keywords](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/auto-linking) covers post types, the limits per page and how matching works.

### UTM parameters

UTM parameters are campaign tags added to the destination on every click: `utm_source`, `utm_medium`, `utm_campaign`, `utm_term` and `utm_content`. Each takes up to 255 characters.

- **Select campaign…** fills all five fields from one of your saved campaigns, replacing what's in them.
- **Preview** shows the destination with the tags, for example `https://example.com/spring-sale?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email`.
- Your **Site-wide UTM parameters** (Link Manager › Settings › Redirection) and an affiliate's own UTM parameters are added too ([UTM parameters and forwarding](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/utm-parameters)).

### Routing rules

Routing rules send some visitors to another destination, for example visitors from one country or on mobile. Select **Add rule**, then set the rule's **Priority**, **Match when**, **Destination URL** and **Redirect type**. Add conditions with **Add condition**. **Between** limits the rule to a date range, and a rule with **Active** turned off is skipped.

Rules are checked from the lowest **Priority** number up (a new rule starts at 100, and an emptied field saves as 100). The first match sends the visitor to its own destination with its own redirect type; with no match, the link's **Destination URL** is used. [Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules) explains every condition.

## Change a short link you already made

Most edits apply from the next click. The slug is different: it's the link's address.

- The destination or redirect type: the next click uses the new one. Posts, emails and QR codes keep working, because they use the short link.
- An empty slug: clearing the slug field and saving keeps the current slug. It doesn't make a random one.
- An affiliate's tag (taken from its **Affiliate URL**): it's added to the destination only when a link is created. Change a destination to an affiliate's domain later, and it's saved exactly as you typed it.
- Categories, tags and rules: they're sent only if you changed them in this dialog, so a change made elsewhere in the meantime isn't wiped.

::: warning
Changing the slug changes the short link's address. The old address, like `yoursite.com/link/old-slug`, stops opening this link. That breaks it wherever you used it: in posts, emails, social posts and printed QR codes. To keep it working, add the old address under **Other addresses** in the link's report after you save ([Other addresses and conflicts](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/other-addresses)). After a rename, saving a post never makes a new short link under the old slug.
:::

To change the slug, enter the new one in **Slug (optional)** and select **Save changes**.

## What the form's error messages mean

Each message shows under its field, and opens a folded section that holds one. These are the ones you're most likely to see.

| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| **Enter the destination URL.** | **Destination URL** is empty | Enter the full address |
| **Enter a full URL starting with http:// or https://.** | The address has no `http://` or `https://` | Add `https://` to the front |
| **Enter a full URL, starting with https://** | The site refused the destination: it uses `ftp://`, `mailto:` or `javascript:`, or has no host | Use a full `http://` or `https://` address |
| **Spaces are not allowed in a slug.** | The slug has a space | Use a hyphen instead |
| **Use 64 characters or fewer.** | The slug is too long (the same message with 120, 128 or 255 is for a keyword, the password or a UTM value, and with 2048 for the destination) | Shorten it |
| **This short link slug is already in use.** | Another short link has this slug | Pick another slug, or leave the field empty |
| **Use letters, numbers or dashes in the slug.** | The slug is only markup, so nothing would be left | Type a plain slug |
| A slug message asking you to remove "/" | The slug has a `/`, a line break or a control character | Remove it |
| **The expiry date must be after the start date.** | **Expires** isn't later than **Starts** | Move one of the dates |
| **Use fewer or shorter keywords.** | The keyword list is too big to store | Remove some keywords |
| **Use 50 keywords or fewer.** | **Keywords** holds more than 50 | Remove some keywords |
| A message that names a field | The server refused a value the form let through | Fix that field |
| **This short link couldn’t be saved. Check your connection and try again.** | The save didn't reach your site | Check your connection and save again |
| **This short link couldn’t be loaded.** | The edit dialog couldn't read the link | Select **Retry** |

## Get more out of it

- Send everyone to a sale page for a few days, then back. Add a routing rule with no conditions and set **Between** to the sale dates. Unlike **Expires**, the link keeps working afterwards.
- Cut off a shared password at once. Changing or removing the password ends every earlier pass immediately. While the password stays the same, a pass lasts 24 hours.
- Mark affiliate links as sponsored. On a new site, the rel settings already give every link to another site `nofollow` and `noopener`. Tick `sponsored` in **Link attributes** for auto-links and for masked links to that link's destination. For other masked links, go to Link Manager › Settings › Redirection, leave **Sponsored** on **Selected domains only** and enter your partner domains in its list, one per line, as bare domains like `shop.example.com`. On an affiliate's domain, the affiliate's own **Link attributes** replace these settings when any are ticked, and new affiliates start with `nofollow` and `noopener`: tick `sponsored` on the affiliate too ([Affiliates](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/affiliates)).
- Win a shared keyword. Give your main link a low **Priority**, like 1, and it beats links left on the default 10.
- Pass a sub ID to your partner. Turn on **Forward the visitor’s query parameters to the destination** under **Schedule & access**, then share `yoursite.com/link/deal?sub=newsletter` and `?sub=social`. Your partner's site gets `sub` with each visit.

## If something goes wrong

- If a short link shows your 404 page, then check **Starts** and **Expires** (the list shows **Scheduled** or **Expired**) and your site's time zone.
- If **Save changes** is grayed out, then you haven't changed anything yet.
- If a visitor keeps getting **Incorrect password.** with the right password, then their IP address is locked out after too many wrong tries. It ends after 15 minutes, or up to an hour after repeated lockouts.
- If a keyword doesn't become a link, then check **Replace keywords automatically** and **Link keywords in posts automatically**. A lower **Priority**, an affiliate or **Auto-link only on** may also keep it off that post.
- If old addresses stopped working after you saved, then you changed the slug. Change it back, or keep the old address as the Warning in [Change a short link you already made](#change-a-short-link-you-already-made) explains.

More fixes are on [Troubleshooting](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/troubleshooting).

## Related

- [The Short Links list](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/guides/managing-links)
- [Routing rules](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/conditional-rules)
- [UTM parameters and forwarding](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/utm-parameters)
- [Auto-linking keywords](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/features/auto-linking)
- [Troubleshooting](https://docs.linkmanagerpro.com/troubleshooting)